Who You Gonna Call?
Dear Fred; I have been a Plus subscriber for several years, and I always find the Langa List Plus very interesting and informative.
Lately I've been having a strange problem: While online (using IE6) I occasionally hear strange sounds - knocking on a door, and a loud door slam. These sounds just pop up at loud volume, and happen while I am on various web sites. The latest was the web site of the New York Times.
I'm very security conscious and I am using Norton Internet Security 2006, and the latest version of Windows Defender. There are no viruses or other malware that I can detect on my computer. I've searched my hard drive and there are no such sound files on it. When this happens there are no other windows or web pages hiding in the background.
Any ideas? Thanks for your help, Steven Spiegel
Assuming that an Exorcism isn't really necessary, and that it's not dear departed Aunt Midge trying to contact you from the Beyond, my guess is that you're hearing Instant Messenger-type sounds. Many of them use door knocks and slams to indicate people entering a "room" or conversation or leaving.
But with AIM, Yahoo messenger, MSN Messenger, and a host of alternatives, there's no way I can tell you exactly what to look for or where--- it depends on what's on your PC.
You might try running Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del in XP) to see what's running: anything in the Applications of Processes tabs with "messenger" in it's name would be a likely first suspect. You can also try Control Panel's "Add or remove programs" to see what's installed.
Once you know what's running, you can uninstall it, or at least explore its interface to better control it. IM toys running unattended are also a security problem; ideally, you only want such software running when you need it, and can monitor it.
Of course, it's also possible that an IM utility isn't the cause: Some forms of intrusive ads (often Flash animations, but sometimes Java applets) also can trigger odd sounds at seemingly-random times. If the ad has scrolled off-screen, you might not see the visual effects that the sound is meant to accompany. When you hear the sounds, you might scroll around to see of some ad is trying to get your attention.
And if *that* isn't it, try this: http://langa.com/u/ak.htm
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