So I lost an entire day Friday trying to troubleshoot an internet problem I didn't see coming. For no reason, I couldn't get any browsers to load the internet, even though I was connected to the network. Was resetting things, booting routers, about to buy a new cable modem, on the phone with my ISP...then I found it. Somehow my manual proxy server toggle had been flipped on in Windows 10, with no address set. So naturally, it was killing any outbound traffic. I flipped it back off, and POOOF! Problem solved. My question is, how did it get toggled in the first place? I know I didn't turn it on, I was never in that menu. Did something in Windows somehow trigger it? And if so, why? It was very detrimental to my setup. The only thing I did close to this time was uninstall/reinstall Spybot to troubleshoot an unrelated issue. But I don't see how/why it would have affected my manual proxy settings. I've run other antivirus scans, and I'm clean. Would love to know the cause, so I can prevent it in the future.
spybot is futile on a windows 10 system - because it lacks security vs defender. spybot could have gone wild - such programs have so many and hidden features which cover a lot of system functions - defender never would do this. those were? some malware is able to delete itself after compromising the system.
Thanks for the reply. I guess I should clarify that I have never used Spyboy as anything more than a simple on-demand scanner for some files and monthly maintenance to clear out the cobwebs. BitDefender Total Security is my main, and I run regular MalwareBytes/SuperAntiSpyware/Hitman/AdwCleaner/Rogue Killer combo to ensure I stay safe. Can I backtrack this to a specific event on my system that may have toggled it? Could the event viewer tell me when/how this setting was changed? If I had a day, time or action, I might be able to pin it to something myself.
and why not relying on Defender? anything between a frying pan and fire, all 5, highlighting the worst of those. if you dont trust bitdefender you should uninstall and dont use any second opinion scanners, it wont help you to resolve the issue, they just tell what they have not found. for me i consider any antimalware as futile if the security concept is stable and close to bullet proof. nevertheless windows defender has the smallest footprint and less impact while being competitive to others. but this wont help you in this case. i dont know about your system nor other used software, it could be a switch activated by accident in any of your programs concerning security whatever - or it could have been some malware. what i can tell you that no vpn software would do this, and not browsers (they use another method internally). so either it was a tweaking program, or some dodgy "security" program, that switch wont change by nothing. and it need admin rights because its a systemwide settings. result: if i dont know why it changed i would use a proper image where i am sure that it is clean. sorry, cant give you more.
you are welcome. for the board - i tried a lot of antivirus with windows 7 when i dropped ESET. none was satisfiying, so i started working without which is possible without having disadvantages. with windows 8 i disabled defender and used none. meanwhile with windows 10 defender is active, so now for windows 8. what i have achieved for me is a proper security concept without tons of security tools. i am able to investigate into unknown setups, thanks to sandboxie, i use shadow defender in some cases, windows defender is in the top 10 of antivirus lists, what do i need else? and when i read that norton has a built-in bitcoin miner (no opt-out), and now avira too (because it belongs to norton), i just think that it is time to say good bye. the rest of known antivirus programs is not that bad, but its feature catalog is widespread and has more negative impact on a lot of windows features and other programs that it helps out on malware. this is a looong story, 20 years now, so i have made up my mind for those. i only can recommend people to try to get along with the windows defender. for visualization - an antivirus is like a goal keeper - it does not make sense always to catch a ball when it moves over the goal line or was already behind. users need to act pro-active when trialing unknown software or dubious mails or web pages. the more this is done the more it gets into habit.
