Hi there, this is my first posting and to be honest when it comes to computers it goes right over my head. Just wondered if anyone can help. For some reason when I am in anything be it Outlook, internet, word doc etc etc, the timer keeps running as if it is trying to do something else. it is particularly annoying when I am typing emails or word document as when the timer comes the words I am typiing don't appear - can anyone shed any light on why this is happening.

Thanks

Lea

has this happened before? have you checked for viruses/spyware?
if you havnt got an anti-virus/spyware remover, try these

AVG anti-virus: http://www.grisoft.cz/softw/70/filed...0f_338a597.exe
Lavasoft ad-aware: http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-...bj=dl&tag=top5

Run these and see if it finds anything,
also, follow Owens instructions and post a Hijack This log Here

have you recently installed any hardware/software that may have caused this?

Last week I kept getting an error message for internet explorer - can't remember what it was but it said Debug or Close. My dad told me to go on the microsoft page and download an XP update which I did - ever since then this timer thing keeps happening. I do have the AVG software and I also updated this to version 7 - I just don't know what's happening - could I have done something wrong - the timer thing is flashing up all the time and it's really annoying, especially when you are typing in web addresses cos who just type the start of it and the timer come up and deletes it .... very frustrating

have you tried a system restore? try restoring to a point before you downloaded the update

info about system restore here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...temrestore.mspx

I think I've sorted it I uninstalled AVG software and re-installed it again and run a complete scan and guess what - there was a virus there together with various trojan horses (not sure what they are????) Anyway I have also installed Spybot software and Ad-ware which was recommended on this forum somewhere - thanks for all your help here.

I've just typed all this and 'No Timer!!!!' fab


Lea

good, thank you for using d-a-l, glad to hear that your problem is solved, if you have any more problems, please feel free to come back

about the trojan:
a Trojan horse is a malicious program that is disguised as legitimate software. The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan horse. In the siege of Troy, the Greeks left a large wooden horse outside the city. The Trojans were convinced that it was a gift, and moved the horse to a place within the city walls. It turned out that the horse was hollow, containing Greek soldiers who opened the city gates of Troy at night, making it possible for the Greek army to pillage the city. Trojan horse programs work in a similar way: they may look useful or interesting (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, but are actually harmful when executed.

it's happened again !!! Switched on my computer today and the same thing is happening - timer keeps popping up. Did another AVG scan and it came up with a virus but it says it can't be healed as it is embedded in the archive - is there any way to get rid of this. Really thought I had sorted it yesterday as everything was working fine - don't know whats gone wrong - can anyone shed some light on this please

Lea