A little computer help...

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2005-03-19 12:04am

Whenever I try to get on AOL Instant Messanger, I get a message that says that the program has to close, before the login box has a chance to appear. Because of this, I cannot use it. Has anyone else had this problem, and what is the best way to deal with it?

Laird · Post by **Laird** » 2005-03-19 12:19am

Switch to GAIM or Trillian.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-03-19 01:05am

Yes, get gaim so it can store your username and password in clear text!

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2005-03-19 01:40am

InnocentBystander wrote:Yes, get gaim so it can store your username and password in clear text!

If your computer isn't password-protected and easily accessible to other users, you shouldn't be storing passwords anyway. You also shouldn't store them if all users on the computer are administrators (which is f'ing stupid but that's how XP is set up by default).

But you're right, gaim should at least hash the passwords.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-03-19 02:01am

Take it for what it's worth. It's a password, it shouldn't be available to anyone to just look at. I'm sure I'm not the only person who uses one password for multiple things.

Simply put, it's a fantastic reason not to choose GAIM as your IM client. There are others out there that do not have blatent security flaws, pick one of them, or just reinstall your AIM client... heh

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2005-03-19 09:05am

GAIM is the only multi-client on PC that I like ... I really don't like Trillian much and at any rate I'm the only user of my laptop.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2005-03-19 09:09am

I've found out that my problem goes beyond that. My taskbar at the bottom of the screen isn't showing up, none of the games I have installed will run, I can't scan for viruses, and I keep getting a message saying that a hacker is trying to disable my antivirus protection. Pretty much the only thing I can do is go online.

Yesterday, one of the games I was playing crashed when I exited it. What would cause that, and would it have any connection to all the other things that are screwing up on my computer?

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2005-03-19 11:40am

"A hacker is trying to disable your antivirus protection"? That sounds suspiciously like the messages that some spyware apps will pop up.

Have you posted your HJT! log recently? It may help if you posted it in the HJT thread.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-03-19 07:49pm

phongn wrote:GAIM is the only multi-client on PC that I like ... I really don't like Trillian much and at any rate I'm the only user of my laptop.

Hey, as long as your PC doesn't become compromised, you are golden. And that could never happen...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2005-03-19 08:53pm

Oh, it could be. I could also get around the problem though EFS you know

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-03-19 08:58pm

phongn wrote:Oh, it could be. I could also get around the problem though EFS you know

You could, but you won't