Sound played out of nowhere

This was totally strange. I was in Mozilla and had 2 tabs open. I was also in my instant messengers (AIM and MSN). Suddenly this ad for an online job search site started playing through my speakers. Neither of the sites I had loaded had any Flash ads running on them and there are no popups. I had my away messages on in both my IMs, which mutes any sounds. So where could this strange ad have come from? Sorry, but I can't remember what sites I was at, except they had no ads on them. Could it be spyware?

 

Forgive me for sounding stupid, but where is the Downloaded Progs folder for Mozilla? I looked in the folder and there was nothing like that there. There was a folder called Components which had a bunch of .JS files, but I recognize most of them. There was also a folder called Plugins that had some .CLASS files downloaded. But those were just the plugins I'd downloaded, like Flash and QT.

Thanks again.

 

Just recently moved to Mozilla myself so I don't know the "folder location ". But if the program was loaded in background, it should show up here... On any Mozilla screen, Go to ...
Tools | Download Manger... click
Look for any suspicious entry, click on it once. If it is resident on your HD, the "File Location" tab should high light on the toolbar on the top of the screen in this view. Clicking on that tab should deliver you to where the program resides. Also notice to the far right of the entry, displays the URL "source ". This is where the file was downloaded from.

You may not find a "file" resident, but if you find a suspicious URL, this could be how it is "streaming" the audio/ advertising.

 

Hi Shadowhawk,

Not happy reading if you're an AIM user: http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=10620

Regards - Charles

 

I searched my computer and did find GTAOD.EXE. Is this what caused me to hear that ad from out of nowhere? Can I safely delete it without losing my AIM service?

 

Hi Shadowhawk,

*Is this what caused me to hear that ad from out of nowhere?*

Based on what I've read, highly likely.

*Can I safely delete it without losing my AIM service?*

I'm not an AIM user, so can't answer as one. I would handle this in the following manner: If its a startup, stop it. If not, you have System Restore, so take a Restore point prior to doing anything. If removal has adverse affects, you can recover. Also, I assume you have the means to reinstall it.

Regards - Charles

 

I looked in my services thing and didn't see it mentioned. I'll run a spyware check later on. Yeah I can reinstall if need be.

 

Hi,

*I looked in my services thing and didn't see it mentioned.*

????? hope you mean the startup tab in msconfig - this wouldn't be a service, I don't think.

Regards - Charles

 

Install path.. C:\Program Files\aod\GtAOD.exe
Comes as an unannounced companion in AOL products....
AIM, Netscape 7.1, Realone Player.
Does put alot of spam / links on your computer, and GtAOD.exe will try to send out packets on the Internet. One poster said he "deleted" the complete folder with no problems. I would put a firewall block on GtAOD.exe to start with. If that stops it, rename GtAOD.exe until you decide the safest way to remove it.

 

I checked in my firewall and it isn't listed anywhere.

 

Hi Shadowhawk,

Going with Dennis's idea of renaming, that'll stop it dead in it's tracks w/o it being a big deal to revert back if a problem. You may find out when and by what its being used.

Just make sure that another copy doesn't get generated - thats a trick MS pulls every once in awhile, ie, Loadqm, that thoroughly useless program that come along with MSN Messenger.

Regards - Charles

 

I renamed the GAOD.EXE. Can I also get rid of LOADQM.EXE with no problems?

 

Hi Shadowhawk,

*Can I also get rid of LOADQM.EXE with no problems?*

You got it. But, stop it from loading at startup - msconfig > startup tab, or doing so in a startup manager, if you're using one. Don't try deleting it.

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Quote
This task loads the MSN Queue Manager and is installed when you install MSN Explorer or MSN Messenger. LOADQM gobbles up system resources and appears on most end-users’ Task Lists who come to us complaining of low System & User Resources or very slow, "crawling ", PCs. In January 2003 this is still one of the worst behaved Microsoft programs !

Recommendation :
Disable immediately,
end quote

For the rest, go to the site. They give you a way to delete it from the system and also how to rename it.

Regards - Charles

 

I looked in my list of running tasks. Loadqm is NOT there, eventhough I have MSN Msg. Weird, but cool.

 

It happened again!

I renamed that one file. But I just put up my away message on AIM and that CareerBuilder ad played over my speakers again. I brought up Task Manager, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Am I gonna have to put up with this **** whenever I use AIM?

 

I renamed that one file. But I just put up my away message on AIM and that CareerBuilder ad played over my speakers again.

Have you checked to see if the same file was recreated? If yes, you may have found your culprit.



Am I gonna have to put up with this **** whenever I use AIM?

Continue to look for the cause / cure.
-or-
Install "Trillian or Gaim "

 

I searched for GTAOD.EXE with no results. I also did 2 spyware scans last night, also with no results. I'll look into GAIM.