Good morning,
In the bar at the bottom of the screen, WindowsXP, SP2, Norton AV, I
occasionally get this bar that opens up, has a blank monitor on it and
then disappears.
Am I getting hits from virus, popups that are being dealt with,
attempts to access my computer by hackers?
Thanks for any insight you can share. It has only been happening for
the past week or two. Have had the above on the computer for over a year.
Linda S

At the bottom of your screen, on the left hand side, is the Start button.
Next to the Start button is a rather long bar called the Taskbar. To the
right of the taskbar, at the bottom right of your screen, is the System
Notification Area (also known as the system tray).

Are you seeing the blank monitor symbol in the Taskbar or in the System
Notification Area? [Icons in the Taskbar belong to programs you - or someone
else - have opened. Icons in the System Notification Area refer to programs
running invisibly in the background.]

Take a close look at the icon next time you see it: Does it really look like
a monitor, or does it look more like a blank window (i.e., a colored border
with a white inside)?
--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Linda S" <lindasacredheart57santoro@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:7c3cf.60857$zb5.6020@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Good morning,
> In the bar at the bottom of the screen, WindowsXP, SP2, Norton AV, I
> occasionally get this bar that opens up, has a blank monitor on it and
> then disappears.
> Am I getting hits from virus, popups that are being dealt with,
> attempts to access my computer by hackers?
> Thanks for any insight you can share. It has only been happening for
> the past week or two. Have had the above on the computer for over a year.
> Linda S

Linda

Right click on the Start button, select Properties, Taskbar, Customise.
You will a list of Current Items and then Past Items. For each icon
there is a Description. How does it describe the item you describe as a
blank monitor?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Linda S" <lindasacredheart57santoro@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:7c3cf.60857$zb5.6020@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Good morning,
> In the bar at the bottom of the screen, WindowsXP, SP2, Norton AV, I
> occasionally get this bar that opens up, has a blank monitor on it and
> then disappears.
> Am I getting hits from virus, popups that are being dealt with,
> attempts to access my computer by hackers?
> Thanks for any insight you can share. It has only been happening for
> the past week or two. Have had the above on the computer for over a
> year.
> Linda S

Ted Zieglar wrote:
> At the bottom of your screen, on the left hand side, is the Start button.
> Next to the Start button is a rather long bar called the Taskbar. To the
> right of the taskbar, at the bottom right of your screen, is the System
> Notification Area (also known as the system tray).
>
> Are you seeing the blank monitor symbol in the Taskbar or in the System
> Notification Area? [Icons in the Taskbar belong to programs you - or someone
> else - have opened. Icons in the System Notification Area refer to programs
> running invisibly in the background.]
>
> Take a close look at the icon next time you see it: Does it really look like
> a monitor, or does it look more like a blank window (i.e., a colored border
> with a white inside)?
Taskbar, colored border white inside

Gerry Cornell wrote:

> Linda
>
> Right click on the Start button, select Properties, Taskbar, Customise.
> You will a list of Current Items and then Past Items. For each icon
> there is a Description. How does it describe the item you describe as a
> blank monitor?
>
No blank screen there, no description. All folders/programs recognized
as being there on purpose.

That means that a program window has been opened, and if you didn't open it,
somebody else did. That somebody else is very likely an attacker - your
computer has likely been infected with some form of virus or spyware.

Although a window has been opened, you are not able to see it, because the
attacker has cleverly positioned the window outside the viewable area of
your monitor.

To get an idea of what program may be opening the window, run your computer
with Task Manager open and on top of all other windows. Open Task Manager to
the Processes tab and sort the results in order of CPU time. When you see
the window button in the Taskbar, glance over at Task Manager to see what
process is active.

Scan your computer for viruses and other malware (this will involve attempts
with several different scanners.)

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Linda S" <lindasacredheart57santoro@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:aqpcf.38174$qk4.35455@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Ted Zieglar wrote:
> > At the bottom of your screen, on the left hand side, is the Start
button.
> > Next to the Start button is a rather long bar called the Taskbar. To the
> > right of the taskbar, at the bottom right of your screen, is the System
> > Notification Area (also known as the system tray).
> >
> > Are you seeing the blank monitor symbol in the Taskbar or in the System
> > Notification Area? [Icons in the Taskbar belong to programs you - or
someone
> > else - have opened. Icons in the System Notification Area refer to
programs
> > running invisibly in the background.]
> >
> > Take a close look at the icon next time you see it: Does it really look
like
> > a monitor, or does it look more like a blank window (i.e., a colored
border
> > with a white inside)?
> Taskbar, colored border white inside

Linda

I am having the same problem you have described. Have you had any luck in
solving the problem? Sorry I don't have an answer but I have read several
post re: this same issue.

Jason


"Linda S" wrote:

> Gerry Cornell wrote:
>
> > Linda
> >
> > Right click on the Start button, select Properties, Taskbar, Customise.
> > You will a list of Current Items and then Past Items. For each icon
> > there is a Description. How does it describe the item you describe as a
> > blank monitor?
> >
> No blank screen there, no description. All folders/programs recognized
> as being there on purpose.
>

jason wrote:
> Linda
>
> I am having the same problem you have described. Have you had any luck in
> solving the problem? Sorry I don't have an answer but I have read several
> post re: this same issue.
>
> Jason
>
>
> "Linda S" wrote:
>
>
>>Gerry Cornell wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Linda
>>>
>>>Right click on the Start button, select Properties, Taskbar, Customise.
>>>You will a list of Current Items and then Past Items. For each icon
>>>there is a Description. How does it describe the item you describe as a
>>>blank monitor?
>>>
>>
>>No blank screen there, no description. All folders/programs recognized
>>as being there on purpose.
>>
Hi Jason,
Ran my Ad-Aware (free version) and A2 Squared (free version) and
cleaned the few they found. Ran my Norton AV but did not find anything.
However, while I was on the computer last night, not connected to the
internet, the little window flashed in the taskbar. So, it is something
installed on the computer and sending out info of some kind.
I am going to see if I can find the posts from a couple weeks ago that
recommended several programs for seek and destroy of such programs.
Am not computer literate enough to go searching and know what I am
looking for to remove it manually.
Stay tuned. We will see what help we can find.
Linda S

Ted Zieglar wrote:

> That means that a program window has been opened, and if you didn't open it,
> somebody else did. That somebody else is very likely an attacker - your
> computer has likely been infected with some form of virus or spyware.
>
> Although a window has been opened, you are not able to see it, because the
> attacker has cleverly positioned the window outside the viewable area of
> your monitor.
>
> To get an idea of what program may be opening the window, run your computer
> with Task Manager open and on top of all other windows. Open Task Manager to
> the Processes tab and sort the results in order of CPU time. When you see
> the window button in the Taskbar, glance over at Task Manager to see what
> process is active.
>
> Scan your computer for viruses and other malware (this will involve attempts
> with several different scanners.)
>
Good morning,
My reply to Jason further down in this thread gives more current info.
Thanks,
Linda S

Linda

Delete Temporary Internet Files (IE Tools>Internet Options>General)
accepting the option to delete all offline content. Reboot and delete
contents of all TEMP folders and then your Recycle Bin.

Run HijackThis and post the HijackThis log to the HijackThis
forum here:
http://aumha.net/

You will need to register with Aumha to be able to post.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Linda S" <lindasacredheart57santoro@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:33Jcf.41227$qk4.18587@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> jason wrote:
>> Linda
>>
>> I am having the same problem you have described. Have you had any
>> luck in solving the problem? Sorry I don't have an answer but I have
>> read several post re: this same issue.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>>
>> "Linda S" wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Gerry Cornell wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Linda
>>>>
>>>>Right click on the Start button, select Properties, Taskbar,
>>>>Customise. You will a list of Current Items and then Past Items. For
>>>>each icon there is a Description. How does it describe the item you
>>>>describe as a blank monitor?
>>>>
>>>
>>>No blank screen there, no description. All folders/programs
>>>recognized as being there on purpose.
>>>
> Hi Jason,
> Ran my Ad-Aware (free version) and A2 Squared (free version) and
> cleaned the few they found. Ran my Norton AV but did not find
> anything.
> However, while I was on the computer last night, not connected to the
> internet, the little window flashed in the taskbar. So, it is
> something installed on the computer and sending out info of some kind.
> I am going to see if I can find the posts from a couple weeks ago
> that recommended several programs for seek and destroy of such
> programs.
> Am not computer literate enough to go searching and know what I am
> looking for to remove it manually.
> Stay tuned. We will see what help we can find.
> Linda S