Computer woes

Since returning Sun. night from my long weekend, during which the computer
was ABSOLUTELY OFF, all sorts of weird things have been happening.
Presumably, something got into the box when I logged back on Sun nite-- odd,
because egl.net's filter catches most viruses.

1. After dialing-up, my "my yahoo" home page no longer appears
automatically.  Instead, I get some kind of search thing called
"C:\Windows\hp.htm" or another similar one with a msn URL.  Then I have to
type in the my-yahoo URL, whihc slooooowly loads. Yes, I have gone to
Tools>Internet options and made my-yahoo the default (many times), but it
doesn't help.

2.Most annoying-- when reading/scrolling emails, at random times text gets
selected and won't un-select, text size changes, scrolling stops
periodically; for no reason at all today, up popped the "do you really want
to delete these messages" box.

3. Then, I'm getting a ton more pop-ups than previously (yes, I know, what
else is new?)...My ISP is offering a free popup eliminator (Popup Stopper,
from Panicware inc!), but I'm not sure........

Obviously, nothing crucial but very very annoying.  Any suggestions? To
which gods/spirits ought I to pray or make sacrifices? Stick pins in a wax
image? Would incense help, or a small daily food offering, as the Balinese
do? (Of course, I use a Windows system, so perhaps there's simply no
recourse.....)

Reply