Persistent image of a lock on my screen

[psychdoc]

In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside
it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my
doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time.
The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image.
Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which
turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer
present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a
difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm
but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact
on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone
have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation?

 

[Lem]

In the center of my screen, there is an image of a box - with a lock inside
it. For approximately 15 seconds, the lock remains shut. Then, without my
doing anything, the lock closes and remains so for the same amount of time.
The cycle goes on and on. There are no messages accompanying the image.
Attempting to put the cursor on it are fruitless. I ran virus scan - which
turned up nothing - although after having done so, the images were no longer
present. They have, however, returned. Rebooting does not make a
difference. Control Alt Delete yields nothing. I have shut down Zone Alarm
but the images persist. The images don't seem to have any functional impact
on the computer except that they block the middle of the screen. Does anyone
have an idea of what is going on and how to rectify this situation?

A "virus scan" alone isn't enough. See below, courtesy of MVP PA Bear:

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting your hijackthis
log to an appropriate forum.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis v2.0.2
(http://aumha.org/downloads/hijackthis.exe) is the preferred tool to use
(in conjuction with some other utilities). HijackThis will NOT fix
anything on its own, but it will help you to both identify and remove
any hijackware/spyware with assistance from an expert. **Post your log
to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html, or other appropriate forums for
review by an expert in such matters, not here.**

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[psychdoc]

Lem,
Many thanks. What a pain! I'll definitely look for a local computer pro.
psychdoc

 

[3c273]

Is this a Dell monitor and is the lock blue? If so, it could be the OSD
lock. There are instructions to disable it on this page.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/monitors/1901FP/en/controls.htm
Louis

 

[psychdoc]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It IS a Dell monitor and it WAS (in
contrast to "is" -thanks to you) a blue lock - and it appears to be history.
This stuff has consumed 72 hours of my time - time, which like for most of
us, could be spent much more productively. It feels GREAT knowing that I can
now get back to my life. I also just noticed that I can turn off my monitor -
something that I wasn't able to do last night. Do you have any speculations
as to how that happened? I certainly did not touch those controls. Never
have. And I certainly would prefer it not to happen again.
I'm also thinking too that had I brought my cpu - by itself - into a shop
for assistance in extricating whatever it was that had supposedly hijacked my
computer, I would have spent a lot of money and the answer would never been
found (in the CPU itself).
May I ask how it is that you are aware of such highly specific information?
So - thank vERY much. I really appreciate your input.

 

[3c273]

Not sure how they get that way. (Power surge, cosmic rays, the cat, who
knows?) I stumbled accross that article while I was trying to help someone
else and just happened to remember it. Glad the solution kept you from
having to spend any money.
Louis

 

[jpw2001]

Yeah, it is just simple a screen lock on the monitor

I have been so surprised by the responses I have seen for this issue. I saw a couple of Yahoo Answers that were telling the person that it was their HD and they needed to replace it and reinstall WINDOWS! I could seem to get rights to respond to the question and I wanted so bad to save that person.

If you ever take a screen shot of something weird on your screen but nothing shows up in your screenshot . . .check to see if it is the monitor. I manage a 1000 computers on a university campus (almost all Dells, with their 22" wide panels) and we have run into this a lot.