Techy Thread: Post your puter problems in here - Apps 'R' Us!

[Blumf]

By the sounds of it you need to get your hands dirty as the analyses is too complex and specific for any general utility to be suitable on its own.

Would splitting the log entries into fields and pumping it into a DB be possible/worthwhile?[nb]there's the 'SIMILAR TO' regex type operator in SQL99, PostgreSQL and Firebird have it[/nb] Then hammering out the various WHERE clauses as you dig through it all is pretty easy.

[alan nagsworth]

Yo tech hedz, is this shit gonna fuck me up large? I've sent a bunch of CVs off in an attempt to find work and this was the supposed application form and job description and.. even as I'm typing this I'm realising how fucking stupid I am. I'm an idiot for even believing this is any kind of legitimate thing, aren't I?



Please don't beat around the bush calling me out for the idiot I am. I guess I'm so fucking desperate for a job that I believed this shit was legit. That's how they get you.

Right?

[KLG-7B]

I don't understand what's going on in that screenshot. Where did these files come from? It being .exe wrapped up in .zip might just mean that somebody who shouldn't be allowed near a computer has prepared the application pack. Surely the important thing here is whether you were given this file by Lord Sugar or found it in some railway sidings.

[alan nagsworth]

Here's the dubious email from whence they came:

Dear Applicant,

I am pleased to confirm that you have made my shortlist. Interviews will take place in the next few weeks so you will need to fill in the application form and send it back to me.

The application form can be downloaded from here APPLICATION FORM, JOB DESCRIPTION

We were most impressed by your qualifications and work record and feel sure that you will be a considerable asset to our team.

We are confident you will be able to make a significant contribution to the success of our Company and look forward to working with you.

Benefit Information:
Vacancy: Fulltime & Parttime Available

Incase there is a problem downloading the above file, the application form can also be downloaded below.

Sincerely

NO SIGNATURE. It's from "Janet Anderson <remiawosile@yahoo.com>" and the subject line reads: "Reply to your Application - 27000 per annum" which is a fucking lot of money considering the positions I'm applying for. There's also nothing to suggest that there's another way of downloading the file as mentioned, either. No links or owt. It all sounds a bit vague and all-encompassing, doesn't it? I've had emails from people not mentioning the job title, but this doesn't look right to me.

[KLG-7B]

Yeah... sorry Naggsy, ya messed up: http://ushirokesa.blogspot.co.uk/2011_11_01_archive.html

Don't log into your online banking until you've cleaned this up. In the meantime, play Ween - Pumpin' 4 the Man on repeat.

[alan nagsworth]

I feel so... so used. First I thought I'd never be stupid enough to break a bone in an accident, and then I thought I'd never be stupid enough to get tricked into this. Desperation really is exploitable.

[Big Jack McBastard]

If the .exe(s) weren't enough to arouse suspicion then 'Dear Applicant' alone should set alarm bells ringing there. Though that could be you censoring the mail I suppose so whatevs.

Also get shot of Winzip and use WinRAR instead, no shitty ads in that and it has a bit more functionality.

Oh and 451 unread mails?! You lazy bastard, get that inbox cleaned out.

[KLG-7B]

Also get shot of Winzip and use WinRAR instead, no shitty ads in that and it has a bit more functionality.

And then get shot of WinRAR because it's shareware and shit and get 7zip.

[alan nagsworth]

If the .exe(s) weren't enough to arouse suspicion then 'Dear Applicant' alone should set alarm bells ringing there. Though that could be you censoring the mail I suppose so whatevs.

Also get shot of Winzip and use WinRAR instead, no shitty ads in that and it has a bit more functionality.

Oh and 451 unread mails?! You lazy bastard, get that inbox cleaned out.

You don't fuck around do you?! ;)

Ha, like I said, I'm so desperate for a job that I was overlooking simple things like the ambiguity of 'Applicant', and plus the files just extracted onto my desktop with Word icons, I didn't bother to check the file extension until after I'd tried to open it, which is shortly before I came here. Windows has a history for being a cunt with mistaking file extensions or being quite vague with what they are. I'm not very computer literate so I just assumed I hadn't extracted the files properly or something. Also, Windows Vista. That's my cover letter.

As for the other stuff, suck my choad.

[Big Jack McBastard]

And then get shot of WinRAR because it's shareware and shit and get 7zip.

Or use both for when one fucks up and won't play ball.

[JesusAndYourBush]

...and plus the files just extracted onto my desktop with Word icons

You shouldn't have file extensions hidden then you're always aware of what type a file is.
Now might be the time to scan your pc with an antivirus if you haven't done so already.
If you don't have one you can upload the exe files here which will scan them and tell you what type of virus/trojan they are, then you can google for removal advice.
EDIT: Never mind, the link KLG-7B posted has all the info about what it is, but yeah, get your pc de-lurgified if you haven't already.

[Big Jack McBastard]

The important thing is that he's not run/double-clicked them. If you've not done that then just bin 'em and fully delete them then check your Taskmanager for any new/weird processes and then Run 'msconfig' and have a nosey in the 'Startup' tab for anything untoward.

As a matter of fact if you're so inclined Nags do us a screenshot of your taskmanager window and we'll probably be able to tell you if there's any lurgy currently running. Though of course you *could* have something that starts up of it's own accord/when you do something specific in which case an AV scan might be an idea.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Oh yes, if neither of the files have been doubleclicked then no harm has been done.  If you're careful it's quite safe to unzip the file and have a look at the contents and rightclick to look at the properties etc.

[Wilbur]

I feel so... so used. First I thought I'd never be stupid enough to break a bone in an accident, and then I thought I'd never be stupid enough to get tricked into this. Desperation really is exploitable.

If its any consolation you are by no means alone. One of my customers who had already let scammers take over his machine and extorted £500 from him persuaded him to let them do it AGAIN on the grounds that they needed to so they could refund him £400 of it. Sigh.

[chocky909]

I'm trying to recover my xbox account and Microsoft is pissing me off. Every time I go through the whole 'prove who I am' form to reset and enter my new password, then it asks me to log in and it states "Looks like someone is trying to access your account click here to verify you are who you say you are" and the whole thing starts again.

Any ideas how I can sort it?

[Wilbur]

I'm trying to recover my xbox account and Microsoft is pissing me off. Every time I go through the whole 'prove who I am' form to reset and enter my new password, then it asks me to log in and it states "Looks like someone is trying to access your account click here to verify you are who you say you are" and the whole thing starts again.

Any ideas how I can sort it?

Make sure you are using Internet Explorer. It probably uses activex.

[chocky909]

Good idea. I'll try that.

[NattyDread]

I'm trying in vain to connect my laptop to my telly via VGA. The telly will show the laptop screen for a few seconds then it'll disappear and say 'check signal cable'. If I change the channel then go back to the pc channel, it'll do the same thing. Anyone got a clue what's going on here? Any help would be much appreciated.

[Nuclear Optimism]

I'm quite concerned here.

A folder called e4ef99725955e71c0a521ab9de has appeared on my external hard drive. Apparently it's been here since 16 Nov. I have no idea how I acquired it. When I open it there's a list of about 25 folders folders called 1025, 1028, 1031 etc. I tried to open one of these folders, but it said:

You don't currently have access to this folder.

Click continue to permanently get access to this folder

Naturally I clicked continue, but then it said:

You have been denied permission to access this folder. To gain access to this folder you will need to use the security tab

So I clicked on the security tab, and it said:

To continue you must be an administrative user with permission to view this object's security properties. Do you wish to continue?

This made no sense to me, because I only have one user account on my laptop, so obviously I'm the administrator. I clicked continue anyway, and it looked like:



Zodiac is the "name" of the computer. I don't see my own user account name. I can't click Add or Remove, and I can't tick any of the little boxes.

I've tried to delete the e4ef99725955e71c0a521ab9de folder, but it said:

You'll need to provide administrator permission to delete this folder

Continue   Skip   Cancel

I clicked Continue, but the same message came up again, but with a Retry button this time. Retry just brings it up again. I've tried deleting each individual folder, but with the same results. I'm really concerned that it won't let me delete suspicious files on my own bloody external drive, which I've removed in the meantime.

Please please help.

[Puffin Chunks]

It's a folder to do with Windows Update/temporary files/system files and it's a pain in the arse. Basically, as I understand it, Windows finds the largest available drive connected and dumps the files there. Then it makes it very hard to delete.

Now you know what it is, someone else can come along, tell me I'm wrong and tell you what you can do about it.

[Nuclear Optimism]

So it's not bad Russian hackers trying to steal my credit card information or anything like that?

[JesusAndYourBush]

When I close my browser (Chrome, but other browsers have behaved similarly) it often takes literally 2 minutes for the final process to terminate, that 2 minutes accompanied by a lot of disc churning.

The problem is flash. If I've been doing anything that requires flash such as watching a few youtube videos the browser becomes totally screwed, every site I subsequently visit taking a long time to load with heaps of disc churning so I have to close the browser and reopen it to make things work normal again.  Is flash just shit, and this is a side effect of flash I have to accept?

[Big Jack McBastard]

So it's not bad Russian hackers trying to steal my credit card information or anything like that?

You could give Unlocker a go, once it's installed right click the offending folders and you should get some options for unlocking/opening/deleting in the menu.

[Nuclear Optimism]

I managed to get it sorted in the end. I found that if I changed the owner to my user account first, I could then tick the permissions boxes for Administrators, and then I could delete the folder. The problem was I had to do this for each individual folder.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Is anyone else having problems with the latest version of Chrome?

...

EDIT: Never mind. I removed the "Smooth Gestures" plugin and things seem to be running a lot less clunkily now.

[Marty McFly]

Not really a computer problem as such, because it happens on every computer/phone in my house.. yes, it's a broadband problem!

I got Sky Broadband a few months ago. I can't fault the speed of it (just under 4mb).. when it bloody works. A lot of the time I get a '400 error' or '404 error' when browsing, which is being thrown up by their supplied router (A Sagem something-or-other). There's no internet connectivity at all - streaming videos stop playing, torrents stop downloading, TweetDeck doesn't update, etc - and then in a minute, or two minutes, or five minutes, or even just few seconds, it's working fine again. Consistently inconsistent, and bloody frustrating. So what can be done? Tell Sky to naff off? Get a new router?

[MojoJojo]

Something wrong with your broadband - probably not the modem, although the only way you'll find out is by getting Sky involved.
Hopefully you won't end up with the deadlock of Sky saying it's BT and BT say it's sky.

(oh - I suppose it's possible the phone lines in your house are dodgy - any correlation between someone on the phone, or something thingy being used when it cuts out?
It's most likely just something you need to phone sky about though)

[Wilbur]

I expect you have checked you have filters on each socket?

[NoSleep]

Is a neighbour nicking your unpassworded router's bandwidth?

[sirhenry]

Being completely on or off implies that it isn't stealing your bandwidth but rather a dodgy connection somewhere down the line. From experience (3 years of calling up Virgin at least once a month to sort out the same problem) I'd suggest you get them to check the server box down the road (as you say, they'll blame BT). They're those green boxes about a metre square that you see on the pavement every half mile or so in towns. If yours are anything like ours, they get opened every few days by kids to let in the rain and fingers, leading to dodgy connections[nb]Though it turned out that ours kept being hit by stolen cars failing to get around a sharp corner[/nb].