what the hell is up with the metorfi free internet thing?

Question

i opened a window and i got this weird thing thats trying to get me to sign up for this metrofi thing and i tryed to type in another site but i kept going to the metrofi thing, finally i gave in and signed up for the damn thing and now my computers freakin messed up and i cant even type right- sorry bout the typos! but can someone please tell me whats going on? am i the only one with this MetroFi free wireless internet crap?

Answer 1

You are infected with ad-ware, spyware, and who knows what else. Your machine is probably taken over, and is being used as a bot for posting email spam, and they can take full control of your computer for any purpose. It will suckup your bandwidth.

First follow the instructions for removing spyware and setting up your security. You may have to repeat the procedure, if the virus/program are still active ( they dont die the first time).
You could also try to roll back your machine to an earlier time, with the system restore tools. But do the things below first.
If you decide to roll your system back at a later time, re do this procedure.

If you are running XP, press control alt delete at the same time.
choose task manager
see the running tasks,
click Processes, this is what is using your cpu time.
But your computer is infected with spyware, all computers are, and it gets pretty bad if you dont remove it.

First fix your security and memory settings:
This is the most common setup problem affecting speed.
Open Internet Explorer.
On the top menu,
Tools, Internet Options, Delete Cookies, OK
and again
Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files, check the box to delete all offline content, then click OK.
( it sounds bad, but is really just deleting your cached junk files).
Tools, Internet Options, Settings,
Be sure to adjust your disk space slider bar, to less than 35MB. This is usually set to some astronomically high number. Each time you visit a web site, the PC searches your cache for the last time the page was accessed, if the cache is very large, this takes a long time, slowing down web browsing.
Tools, Internet Options, Security.
Click the world INTERNET, the slider should say Medium, if it set to low, an application has modified this to open your pc to attack. On the right, click DEFAULT to reset it to medium.
Tools, Internet Options, Security, click LOCAL, then select DEFAULT.
Tools, Internet Options, Security. click Trusted Sites.
you probably should not have any listed here. You may have added your bank or microsoft or something, but generally no web sites should be listed here, if you find any write them down and remove them.
Tools, Internet Options, Security, Restricted Sites
This should be filled with sites that should be blocked. If it is not, we will fix this with the program immunization procedure described below.
Be sure the slider for this is set to high, again click the default button, to prevent these sites from exploiting your internet connection, even if it has no entries at this time.

Best bet to improve performance, is to remove spyware.
Download Spybot search and destroy 1.4, and Adaware 1.06
They are both free, and excellent programs at removing keystroke loggers, cookie trackers, viruses, and other spyware.
Install them, and then perform an update for each to get the latest dat files.
Then restart your computer in safe mode, and scan your computer. Things run faster in safe mode, and the programs can remove active spyware better if it is not running.
If spybot finds anything, " Oh,and it will", remove it, and dont look back.
When Spybot starts, after you search and download updates, press the Immunize button on the left. You have to also press the Immunize button at the top, a green Plus symbol, to complete the operation.
Then scan your PC.


Next:
Look in your start up group.
on your start button on the lower left...
START, RUN,
then type msconfig
the System Configuration Utility will start.
These programs start when Windows loads.
You can uncheck them if you know what they are.
You can probably uncheck almost all that you see, and your computer will still function, but dont uncheck anything that says microsoft, or looks like your antivirus.

When you get things working smoothly, make a system restore point. Or in win98 you can make a registry backup.
XP Start, Accessories, System tools, System restore,
then check the option, Create System Restore Point, give it a name, and follow the prompts. If something goes wrong, you can restore these settings. Actually Xp automatically makes many restore points, so you can generally go back without doing this too often.
But Win98 doesnt do as well.
On Win98.
Go to a command prompt ( DOS prompt)
Scanreg
It will say something like no problems detected, would you like to backup your registry today, say yes. thats it.

If you have norton or Mcafee, these are hosing your PC, I hate them. Uninstall these pieces of crap, and install AVG link below.
It wont slow or cripple your PC, and is FREE. Excellent.

*** If you have broadband ( DSL or cable), the best security measure you can take is to be sure you have a router in-between your DSL/Cable Modem and your PC.
The router presents your PC to the internet as one port, instead of thousands, and blocks you PC from sending out identification listing you as "victim here", try to hack this.
It is like hiding your house behind a cloak, so the burgler cant see your house to know to try to break in.

Routers are cheap, well worth the effort. Get a D-Link or NetGear.

Wireless Ethernet10/100 routers are great. The fastest connection will be through a direct Ethernet cable though.
But you probably wont notice the difference 20 vs 100mbits/s


May the force be with you...

Answer 2

The love of God is the best thing there is and it's not only free, free, free but there is an abundance of it. The smile of a child. It's laugh. It's first steps. All free. The wagging of a puppy's tail or the blinking of a kittens big eyes as they look at you. All free. The air that you breathe that sustains you. Free. The BEST things in life are free. Not the best MATERIAL things. You could grow your own food. Raise your own chickens. That could be free. You could make your own clothes. That could be free if you went to craigslist and got the material for free. Rent could be free if you moved in with someone. All your material possessions could be free if you made the effort. But there are some things in this world that just don't have price tags. It all depends on how you look at it.