utorrent ruined Wi-Fi settings.

warren_1979 · 5 Feb 2013 at 18:24

Hi.

I downloaded utorrent, installed it and thought everything was fine.

Then using my web browser I couldn't connect to any web pages. So I uninstalled utorrent and it is still the same. It is not just my browser it is everything. Wi-Fi is 8kb a second.

At first I thought it might be my ISP throttling but my tablet connects to my router fine.

So I'm really stumped. Utorrent has messed up my Wi-Fi card but I don't know how to fix it.

I'm running an old dell laptop.

Any ideas?

gillywibble · 5 Feb 2013 at 18:28

Have you tried re-installing your wi-fi card software? I can't see it being uTorrent.

warren_1979 · 5 Feb 2013 at 18:37

Hi.

I run a tight ship and that is the only thing I have installed. It was only on Sunday. Downloaded a few torrents and then bam - can't connect to any web pages apart from Google search.

I've just removed my Wi-Fi card from my device manager but my computer failed to shut down properly and I had to do a hard reset. When it had booted up again the card is installed again even thought I removed it , but it seems to be OK now fingers crossed.

Man that was weird.

I'll have to keep an eye on it because it was fine when I came in before (I watched a Rab C Nesbit episode on youtube

) then it went extremely slow again.

yashiro · 5 Feb 2013 at 19:33

Run a spyware check. The newer utorrents have a 'bug' where the spyware toolbar and related crap get installed whether you untick them or not.

The crap that gets installed is pretty nasty too.

warren_1979 · 5 Feb 2013 at 20:15

Will do.

Just ran KIS2012 and no problems.

Will run Malwarebytes now.

yashiro · 5 Feb 2013 at 20:19

Adwcleaner picks up some of the utorrent/conduit malware crud if I recall correctly.

warren_1979 · 5 Feb 2013 at 20:48

I'm not into cleaners. From past experiences with Ccleaner they tend to be overzealous.

I'll see what Malware picks up.

yashiro · 5 Feb 2013 at 21:04

Adwcleaner isn't a 'cleaner' it's just the name of a malware removal tool.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

zakblood · 6 Feb 2013 at 11:33

warren_1979 said:
Hi.

I downloaded utorrent, installed it and thought everything was fine.

Then using my web browser I couldn't connect to any web pages. So I uninstalled utorrent and it is still the same. It is not just my browser it is everything. Wi-Fi is 8kb a second.

At first I thought it might be my ISP throttling but my tablet connects to my router fine.

So I'm really stumped. Utorrent has messed up my Wi-Fi card but I don't know how to fix it.

I'm running an old dell laptop.

Any ideas?

if your using the latest utorrent, it doesn't alter any setting outside of the program itself, so wouldn't alter any network setting wireless or not, and why you would want to use it anyway on a laptop is another question

KIA · 6 Feb 2013 at 12:36

uTorrent won't touch your WiFi settings and you can opt-out of the toolbar during program installation.

yashiro · 6 Feb 2013 at 13:42

Like I said earlier. on some of the builds the toolbar/conduit malware was installed regardless of opting out.

Azuse05 · 6 Feb 2013 at 13:47

Indeed. Most common problem with torrents is poorly configured hardware (namely routers) that have huge time-out values on connections and subsequently can't process all the ones they're trying to keep open - when they don't have too. Some wifi cards used to have a similar problem but that was years ago.

First thing you should have done was try system restore (before attempting a reinstall) - you might still be able to. However you either have a very bad driver problem - seems unlikely as windows built in drivers would have taken over once you uninstalled the manufactures. More likely you've picked up something dodgy or there's an inherent problem with the pc.

First thing to do for any malware is TDSSkiller from a live cd (because it only takes 2 min) and then the usual scans of malwarebytes etc.

If that hasn't worked then have a go at updating, from both Dell and MS (download and run the System Update Readiness Tool for your os first) then start looking into the mor time consuming options..

platypus · 6 Feb 2013 at 14:53

KIA said:
uTorrent won't touch your WiFi settings and you can opt-out of the toolbar during program installation.

Except the malware is installed regardless of what you tick/untick. I've tested it a few times.

dfarrall · 6 Feb 2013 at 16:43

platypus said:
Except the malware is installed regardless of what you tick/untick. I've tested it a few times.

There is no 'malware' in uTorrent..

If you've opted out the toolbar it wont be installed, thats the end of it. Doesn't mean some other 'features' wont be, but thats part of the package

warren_1979 · 6 Feb 2013 at 17:07

Hi all.

Thanks for replying.

The laptop is pretty old. Its a 2007 Dell Vostro. And no the router wasn't configured. When I was into torrents pretty big many years back I did configure my router properly by setting up a static IP address but I couldn't be bothered this time. Maybe that was the problem.

Anyway all seems good. Browsing is back to normal. One problem is my laptop won't shut down I just see the wallpaper.

I will have a look into the TDSSkiller and adwcleaner.

Its no big deal because I am upgrading my hard drive to a bigger size soon so I can just scrub everything.

Cheers.

KIA · 6 Feb 2013 at 18:42

platypus said:
Except the malware is installed regardless of what you tick/untick. I've tested it a few times.

It's adware, not malware and if you opt-out, it won't be installed.

platypus · 6 Feb 2013 at 19:14

Malware/adware is simply a semantical difference to me.