btinternet and missing cd writer

[royston]

I have tried to help a friend without any success.
Access to his cd writer/reader seems to have disappeared. No sign of it in "all programs" or any desktop shortcut.
He has BT dial up internet and when accessing this gets a box up to show that the number he dialed is not a cheap rate one ?. He does get into the internet but, when he attempts to open anything he very often gets " page not found or similar ".
I have Wanadoo broadband so find Btinternet operation very strange and have not been able to sort it for him.
I am wondering if his dial up number has been altered. I did experience this when I had dial up and had to reinsert the correct number several times.
A relation of his has loaded a program to download music files from the net and could this have any effect on his cd writer/reader ?.
Any help would be appreciated. (not too technical please)
Thanks Roy

[MarkJ]

Roy,

If your friend is finding his machine is using a different number to access the web - then I would stop all access to the internet from that machine - disconnect the dial up connection from the wall for now. Not saying this is the problem, but there are malicious programs out there called diallers. These change the dial up number from your ISP (in this case BT) to a premium rate ( read : very very expensive) number. Is the number 09 something? Many diallers use those codes. The error message is most likely connected to the possible infestation.

If you suspect a dialler, then run your anti virus software and look for problems. If possible, I would advise locating a knowledgeable person who can run a series of programs - anti virus, trojan removing, spyware removing etc software - on the machine to ensure it is clear of nasty things.

Downloading music from the internet was mentioned. Was this using what is called a peer to peer program? Something like kazaa or emule or similar? I would seriously recommend that these type of programs should not be run on a PC unless you know what you are doing - and frankly I would not use one even then. Many very dodgy files exist on peer to peer networks, often masquerading as some great tune or other. At the very least, if using one of those networks, you need to have bang up to date anti virus software and a decent firewall - preferably spyware removal tools too.
I have cleared many hundreds of computers of viruses and trojans etc - and, in all except a handful of cases, the cause of the infection was peer to peer networking downloads.

If it will help, I can recommend a selection of free software to help remove problems - and, more importantly - to stop them getting back again :)

Sadly, there are a lot of very nasty things out there on the web - but there are plenty of good free (or indeed good paid for) programs to help keep a machine clean and remove any issues which maen run your anti virus software and look for problems. If possible, I would advise locating a knowledgeable person who can run a series of programs - anti virus, trojan removing, spyware removing etc software - on the machine to ensure it is clear of nasty things.

I would seriously recommend that these type of programs should not be run on a PC unless you know what you are doing - and frankly I would not use one even then. Many very dodgy files exist on peer to peer networks, often masquerading as some great tune or other. At the very least, if using one of those networks, you need to have bang up to date anti virus software and a decent firewall - preferably spyware removal tools too. I have cleared many hundreds of computers of viruses and trojans etc - and, in all except a handful of cases, the cause of the infection was peer to peer networking downloads.

Hopefully, your friends issue will not prove to be such a problem - but its worth being safe and disconnecting the PC from the dial up connection for now until you are sure the number it is dialling is legitimate.

Mark

[royston]

Thanks for your advice, Mark.
I will show your answer to my friend. I do not know if he would be willing to get rid of the music download program.
Do you know the number that should show for BTinternet when dialling up ? Also how to reset this and any other items to look out for. Hope that I am not being a nuisance.
Thnaks again, Roy

[MarkJ]

Thanks for your advice, Mark.
I will show your answer to my friend. I do not know if he would be willing to get rid of the music download program.
Do you know the number that should show for BTinternet when dialling up ? Also how to reset this and any other items to look out for. Hope that I am not being a nuisance.
Thnaks again, Roy

Off hand, no, I don't have any idea what dial up number BT use nowadays. I would guess it will be 0845 something, which would be a "local rate" number. ANything beginning 09 would be premium rate and indicate a real problem.Either nosing round BT or ringing them on the helpline number would provide the information on the number if it is not mentioned in the set up information he got when he joined BT dial up I expect.

BT have a fairly useful section on diallers and such on their site -
http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/premiumrates/index.html
That should explain how to remove any rogue diallers with useful programs such as Spybot S&D or AdAware.

Good indicators of problems caused by malware are -

changed "home" pages - so you may see something other than your normal home page when signing in

pop ups for various casino sites or worse appearing at random times

a severe slow down in accessing sites

strange icons or DOS boxes appearing on your desktop or flashing up as your machine is booting which did not happen before (some programs - e.g audio programs - will do this normally - its new ones you need to look for)

There are lots of other signs, but those are the most common ones I see. I would recommend up to date anti virus software and something like Spybot S&D or AdAware to keep the PC fairly clear of junk. Likewise a good firewall is vital today. The WIndows one is OK for most people but others are available, such as Zone Alarm, which offer a higher degree of protection albeit with a little more complexity.
On dial up, it could be tempting to not update Windows - but that is a mistake. Keeping Windows patched is vital to prevent some of the issues which can arise - it may be a good idea to download the patches overnight if on dial up I guess. Broadband does not suffer the dialler issues because it does not "dial" as such. Of course, it does still suffer many of the other problems which can infect machines.

The music downloading program may or may not be a problem. The official type ones - iTunes for instance - are fine as far as I am aware. It is the so called peer to peer ones which cause problems. I personally would not touch them.

Mark