[satfrat]

Matt Pond PA - The FREE EP

It might help to know that this is a free album download from the website of Matt Pond PA, edit, I deleted the link as the download did something to my browzer that made it shut down after 15 minutes. I've been on the phone with MSN all afternoon trying to fix this issue so anyone trying to download this very good album btw,,, BEWARE!!!

Cheers,
Robin

In case anyone tried downloading this free album from my link yesterday, be warned of possible spyware issues that caused my MSN browser to shut down every 15 minutes. I've been on the phone with MSN all afternoon and I shall find out in about 7 minutes if they fixed the problem. It was a major PIA!


Ashame as it's a killer album. aa

Cheers,
Robin

Earlier the other nite, I posted a link to a free album download from Matt Pond PA, a very good indie rock album at that and here's the link that I deleted from the Music Circle, http://www.mattpondpa.com/?page_id=41 . After downloading this album and putting it into my hard drive library, my msn browser would shut down after 7-10 minutes regardless if I was using it or not. A notice would appear saying that MSN needed to close due to an unforseen problem with an apology for my convienence. If i tried to manually close out MSN before the notice appeared, the notice would automatically appear before I could do so. This issue was only with MSN Explorer which I use exclusively. When I went to Internet Explorer 7, there was no problems. I went thru 4 levels of support from MSN and Microsoft saturday afternoon, a good 4 hours with them sharing my computer and the day ended with the last guy uninstalling MSN and messing with my registry before reinstalling MSN. He then hung up on me and cut his share connection. It was all for not! I've spent the rest of tonite trying out a number of spyware as it was suspected that this download did something to my system to make the browser react like it was. Using a Verizon PC Security program that's free for 3 trys, I actually found a virus on my Asus motherboard but alas that didn't resolve my MSN browser shutdown issue. I was beginning to accept the fact that I might need to move to Internet Explorer which I really hate using.

Then,,,,,,,, as it usually is with my slow demeaner, I remembered that I had emailed this link to some friends ( who I immediately got back to once I realized this download link might be a browser issue). I went into my email, found the copy of the email that I had sent in my "sent messages" file, deleted the damn thing, then went to the "Trash Can" and deleted it from there too. BAM, problem solved. Now I'm sure there's a simple explanation why this free download site was causing issues in my mail but I can't see it being a virus or spyware as none of many virus/spyware/adware programs that I had used highlited anything. I still have the album in my library and it's not an issue. Yet having this link in my email files was a problem. Live and learn I guess, my sole purpose for this thread is to share my headache to anyone who might be having the same problem from this link that I had posted in the Music Circle the night before. My advise for free downloads is download, don't email.

Cheers,
Robin

[Folsom]

How strange...

Here are a few helpful tools for the future

http://free.avg.com/ - The only anti-virus thing I have found worth crap. It does not hog all the system resources, you can set scan times, not scan, whatever, it just works well, and for free.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html - Spybot Search and Destryoy. The best anti spyware program I have used to date. It also have a few protection items offered. Here is what no one will tell you on their website selling or offering any anti spyware stuff... The best way to scan for it is to download the latest anti spyware version each time you scan, but update it first. This is because people make smart spyware that will actually get around anti spyware software, but the later versions catch it, however sometimes the updates can not correct the problem, a whole new install is the only way.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ - The best browser out there, free. It has tabbed browsing, block up blocker, all the control buttons, an html field and search field next to it that can search with your desired search engine, set on Google by default. I love the Bookmark Toolbar. It comes setup with some Mozilla ones, I right click on them and change them to Hotmail/MSN/Gmail, then I have one that is a folder labeled "Audio" which I have AudioCircle, DIYAudio, and Hawthorne Audio in. You can right click and tell it to open all containing ones. Further more I have Hourly Weather and 10 Day Forecast buttons. There is no limit and the best part is you can rename them to whatever you want by editing them. I also think the tabbed browsing is superior to other browsers, it works fast, you can open new tabs by middle clicking links, just fast, easy X buttons to hit. The only thing I do not like is having to setup the "ask me where to place files" thing when you first use it, or it will save to some new downloads folder.

Back to the problem... I wonder if MSN keeps the mail open at all times (when browser is open) for quick access and it was not so much a hyperlink as it was an active thing that was like an image that would change or do some sort of action, but looked like a hyperlink because it did not display right.

[satfrat]

Thanks for the advise DOS, I'll look into some of those ideas. I don't have a clue as to why it happened but because I had this free album link posted in the "What are you listening tonow" thread, i felt obligated to bring this issue to light. At the time, I felt it had to be a virus or spyware so i deleted the album link. But now I don't think that was the problem, I just don't know. I have the album in my library and have run numerous spyware/virus programs w/o anything showing up. This was definitely an experience I won't soon forget. I take no pleasure allowing an MSN tech who can't speak clear english access to my computer.


Cheers,
Robin

[Folsom]

Computers have even more completely ill-logical connections between what is going on and the source than any audio. The weirdest damn things affect each other that from a logical stand point should be ignored. They have personalities. A lot might be dull and plain but... there are some that need sweet talking. A lot of people just format to fix stuff though haha.

Good thing you caught the problem and can help anyone else with that.

I might just have to download the album when I get a working CD burner drive. My laptops cord somehow started getting wedged in between the chassis and the sliding piece instead of hiding behind it so eventually it just severed after scraping too many times. I was always wondering why it was more difficult to push in after some certain point in it's life.