I Just joined the forum to see if I can get some help with Limewire.

I've been using LW for awhile now, with no major problems. Now Geek squad techs are telling me its ruined my computer. I cannot make music CDs through WMP or Itunes anymore (CDs burn blank).

They've confirmed that the CD ROM drive is working properly burning other things.

Having used this P2P system for a long time without problems, I'm skeptical.

I'm headed over to the tech forum now to cross post this. I hope there is someone here who can help!

Respects,

Lehr

OS: Vista
Trend Micro Anti Virus
2 GB DDR RAM
125 GB free HD space
Wireless Broadband 1.5 MBps
Linksys WRT54G router
Lime Wire 5 Installed and working

*Double post, so threads merged*

Hello all,

I recently took my Toshiba laptop to the Geek squad for what I thought was a hardware problem.

After 3 years of burning music CDs using Windows media and Itunes, the disks no showed any music files burned to them (mp3 OR mp4). They would show 0 bytes and wouldn't play on anything.

The geeks called me today and said the CD ROM drive works fine with other programs (jpegs, text files, etc), but that malicious software from Limewire has corrupted Windows Media Player and Itunes!

I am skeptical. I've used Limewire for years without this kind of problem.

Before spending the $130 they are going to charge to fix this, I thought it best to consult the experts here.

Can anyone help?


OS: Vista
Trend Micro Anti Virus
2 GB DDR RAM
125 GB free HD space
Wireless Broadband 1.5 MBps
Linksys WRT54G router
Lime Wire 5 Installed and working

Lehr

You are more than probably right, it is highly unlikely that LW can or would do anything to ruin your computer.

However, it is possible that some malware could have crept into your PC, possible using LW as a conduit, and has changed some registry settings.

As you already have an AV, I would suggest you run a battery of Anti-Spyware apps to see it there is anything there.

Ad-Aware: Ad-Aware by Lavasoft - Antivirus software, free spyware removal, firewall

SpyBot: The home of Spybot-S&D!

Malwarebyte: Malwarebytes.org

MS Malicious Software Removal Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/security/ma...e/default.aspx

Good Luck



UK Bob

Thanks for the fast reply Bob!

Indeed...I couldn't believe most of what this tech was saying. He was actually telling me Limewire DELIBERATELY infects computers with malicious software, and that's "the price you pay for getting free music".

...of course, he also admitted that a disabled CD ROM drive was something he hadn't seen before!

I'll be getting my laptop back this weekend. I'll run all the programs you suggest then.

Respects,

Lehr

the tech was an a$$...a dime a dozen....I would go back and get that laptop before they can do anything they are going to charge you out the butt for...what an a$$hole

__________________


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I would not pay $130 for something, which to me sounds like, doing a repair install of Vista and Reinstalling iTunes, but then again I fix computers part time for a living.

Maybe try uninstalling iTunes and trying burrrn burrrn.net - The home of Burrrn and Mr QuestionMan

It really is impossible to say for sure if it will work, just by the little info they are giving you. But I can tell you one thing. There are lots of better players/burners out there.

The easiest way is to just pay up. That way you avoid any hassle.

Yes trying a different software or reinstalling sounds wise. At least just to check. There are forums you can go to get assistance for removal of any such viruses, etc. you may have encountered. Bottom of this page http://www.gnutellaforums.com/open-d...uld-aware.html step 5 in red shows options to choose. You can get 'Hijack This' assistance.

Yes the viruses might have damaged WMP/iTunes & after removal of the virus(s) may need reinstalling.

Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

One suggestion the tech made was to use the recovery disk to remove the virus/malware. I'd like to try some of the other ideas you present here before doing that, however.

Lehr

Some companies seem to be in the pocket of the RIAA.
I'm told that Gateway strongly discourages LW, and also frequently suggests that a p-p program was the cause of the problem (they removed LW from my friend's computer without her consent!).

I suggest that when your pc is running correctly, dump WMP and switch to Burrrn (and Mr Question Man, from the same site, provides a detailed list of all your MP3s; interesting if not useful). For a player, I recommend GOM Player, or VLC Player (both are free). You'll find your system less bloated, and you won't have to wonder what WMP is reporting to Microsoft.

With the recent wave of increasing complaints about iTunes, you can find a multitude of free alternatives for loading and playing music, videos, and pictures on your iPod (and for easily playing iPod files on your pc).

Well Gateway removing Limewire, saying it caused the thing to crash, doesn't necessarily have to be a lie... well truth of course being files downloaded through Limewire from the Gnutella network. Both the famous .wma files and other types, often dual-extension, can be quite malicious.

I have had two laptops in lately, where the use of programs like Limewire most definitely were the cause of their trouble. One of them was 1 1/2 months old and was not able to even start up without using Windows repair install to fix the boot and replace the hal.dll