What Happens:
Each time I jump to before Hotmail even loads its home page, I receive a Regedit error (about an attempt to download a key that is in the wrong format), and very shortly a download of GlobalDialer commences. I'm using Windows98 SE and Norton Personal Firewall on my laptop. I connect at home via dial-up and while staying with a friend while I work out-of-town, I connect using DSL. The difference in connection seems to make no difference.
What I've Tried:
* I've used Spybot to clean up the registry.
* I followed Symantec's directions for removing GlobalDialer, including uninstalling GlobalDialer, downloading the latest virus definitions and performing full scans, and deleting references to GlobalDialer in the Registry.
* I also did a global (Edit,Find) search through the entire registry and caught a couple of stray things Symantec didn't mention.
* I performed a Windows Update to apply any patches to cover vulnerability to this sort of thing.
* I did a global search of the registry to look at all references to hotmail and found nothing that appeared suspicious or related to downloading a dialer of any sort.
But the problem persists.
My Workaround:
I stop GlobalDialer immediately, uninstall it, and resume my surfing session.
Suspicious Symptoms:
* Whether I uninstall it via the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs or choose Uninstall by right-clicking on GlobalDialer's tray icon, I receive the same badly spelled message that the uninstall will complete at next system boot. (Is GlobalDialer blocking it's own deletion by merely hiding itself someplace else?) And when I do reboot, I see a message that says to wait (briefly) while the system is being updated, even though I've not downloaded or installed anything.
* The GlobalDialer download only happens when I try to go to hotmail - at least, that seems to be the pattern. And this isn't a problem at work, but that's probably because of the firewall and other security measures, I guess.
* My wife used my laptop at home last week and that's when the problem began (~1/14 - 1/15).
Any ideas?
ShuDan
Each time I jump to before Hotmail even loads its home page, I receive a Regedit error (about an attempt to download a key that is in the wrong format), and very shortly a download of GlobalDialer commences. I'm using Windows98 SE and Norton Personal Firewall on my laptop. I connect at home via dial-up and while staying with a friend while I work out-of-town, I connect using DSL. The difference in connection seems to make no difference.
What I've Tried:
* I've used Spybot to clean up the registry.
* I followed Symantec's directions for removing GlobalDialer, including uninstalling GlobalDialer, downloading the latest virus definitions and performing full scans, and deleting references to GlobalDialer in the Registry.
* I also did a global (Edit,Find) search through the entire registry and caught a couple of stray things Symantec didn't mention.
* I performed a Windows Update to apply any patches to cover vulnerability to this sort of thing.
* I did a global search of the registry to look at all references to hotmail and found nothing that appeared suspicious or related to downloading a dialer of any sort.
But the problem persists.
My Workaround:
I stop GlobalDialer immediately, uninstall it, and resume my surfing session.
Suspicious Symptoms:
* Whether I uninstall it via the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs or choose Uninstall by right-clicking on GlobalDialer's tray icon, I receive the same badly spelled message that the uninstall will complete at next system boot. (Is GlobalDialer blocking it's own deletion by merely hiding itself someplace else?) And when I do reboot, I see a message that says to wait (briefly) while the system is being updated, even though I've not downloaded or installed anything.
* The GlobalDialer download only happens when I try to go to hotmail - at least, that seems to be the pattern. And this isn't a problem at work, but that's probably because of the firewall and other security measures, I guess.
* My wife used my laptop at home last week and that's when the problem began (~1/14 - 1/15).
Any ideas?
ShuDan
