OT : pop-ups, IE not launched

[Tx2]

I am trying to deal with an infected machine where, just sitting idle,
an IE pop-up will suddenly appear!

IE isn't launched by the user, which IME, is the more common issue of
pop-up's, these damn things just, well, appear!

I have run Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, CWS Shredder, Hijack
This, and amended all suspect looking .exe entries in the "RUN" part of
the registry to .old extensions ..... but it is still occuring!!

I have also installed NOD32 on the machine, done a full scan of all
extensions, and removed a few trojans that it uncovered.

I also installed Zone Alarm in an effort to try and catch whatever it
was that was communicatiing with the outside world, but nothing!

Short of formatting the hard drive, and re-installing Windows 98, i am a
loss where else i might look on this machine.

Any clues would be appreciated ... i'm not worried about editing the
registry et al

Help!

 

[Conor]

I am trying to deal with an infected machine where, just sitting idle,
an IE pop-up will suddenly appear!

IE isn't launched by the user, which IME, is the more common issue of
pop-up's, these damn things just, well, appear!

I have run Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, CWS Shredder, Hijack
This, and amended all suspect looking .exe entries in the "RUN" part of
the registry to .old extensions ..... but it is still occuring!!

I have also installed NOD32 on the machine, done a full scan of all
extensions, and removed a few trojans that it uncovered.

I also installed Zone Alarm in an effort to try and catch whatever it
was that was communicatiing with the outside world, but nothing!

Short of formatting the hard drive, and re-installing Windows 98, i am a
loss where else i might look on this machine.

Any clues would be appreciated ... i'm not worried about editing the
registry et al

Its not IE, its the Messenger Service.

This tells me two things:
1) You're not using a firewall - BAD IDEA
2) You're not using Service Pack 2.

 

[null]

Its not IE, its the Messenger Service.

This tells me two things:
1) You're not using a firewall - BAD IDEA
2) You're not using Service Pack 2.

Not likely that he is using SP2 since he uses Win 98


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

 

[null]

I am trying to deal with an infected machine where, just sitting idle,
an IE pop-up will suddenly appear!

IE isn't launched by the user, which IME, is the more common issue of
pop-up's, these damn things just, well, appear!

I have run Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, Spywareblaster, CWS Shredder, Hijack
This, and amended all suspect looking .exe entries in the "RUN" part of
the registry to .old extensions ..... but it is still occuring!!

I have also installed NOD32 on the machine, done a full scan of all
extensions, and removed a few trojans that it uncovered.

I also installed Zone Alarm in an effort to try and catch whatever it
was that was communicatiing with the outside world, but nothing!

Short of formatting the hard drive, and re-installing Windows 98, i am a
loss where else i might look on this machine.

Any clues would be appreciated ... i'm not worried about editing the
registry et al

On Win 98 there is little harm in using IERADICATOR which gets rid of
such problems once and for all. If that isn't an option (maybe it's
not your machine or maybe you just can't part with IE for one reason
or another) you can dig deeper into general malware detection in a
couple ways. Try the Escan av utility from my web site and update it.
It uses special extra defs for finding elusive malware of various
kinds. It doesn't offer cleaning but you can at least see if it
identifies some malware and go from there.

Another possibility might be to try a eval version of TDS-3. It uses
some generic "after the fact" Trojan detection methods, as I
understand it (for PCs already infested).

If the PC is yours, see my web site for suggestions on how to avoid
malware, particularly with Win 9X/ME ... and check out the safe hex
link to claymania.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg