Hi Melissa,
I'd do a thorough scan for Parasites and the like. A Loooong post follows;
Do a little, bit by bit, and see if this will help with your issue:
Quick and basic scans from any of the following sites:
Doxdesk parasite scan
http://doxdesk.com/parasite/
Jim Eshelmans WSC on-line quick scan
http://www.aumha.org/a/noads.htm
Bugs Glitches and Stuff-ups
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/Darnit.htm
More In-Depth on-line scanners for parasites and Trojans:
GFI free on-line Trojan scanner
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/
Sygate Technologies Trojanscan
http://scan.sygatetech.com/pretrojanscan.html
PestPatrol on-line scan
http://www.pestscan.com/home.asp
SpywareChecker on-line scan
http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html
Parasites, spyware malware basics:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
Check for Spyware - How-to
*Most important* - Before you try to remove spyware using any of the
following programs, realize that the process of cleaning and removing
certain spyware and malware may possibly interrupt and kill your internet
connection. Therefore, you should obtain a copy of LSPFIX, and Winsockfix
which will then make it possible for you to re-establish your internet
connection if it gets terminated.
Download LSPFIX from the following sites:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/program/lspfix.html
http://www.securitywonks.net/lspfix/lspfixindex.php
Download Winsockfix here
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html (For Win2k or XP)
First, install the respective programs and then update them immediately, so
that they have the current versions, and definitions. **Read the Help Files
and Tutorials**.
After you've Updated Spybot S&D, and SpywareBlaster, you *must* ENABLE the
protections as well. These two programs do not automatically enable
protections obtained from the newest definitions and updates, therefore this
process but must be done manually. Without having enabled protections, the
current definitions obtained from updates will be *useless*.
Run the programs one at a time. With Ad-Aware you may have it generally
clean whatever it finds. The same applies for CWShredder. Spybot S&D
requires special attention, as does HijackThis (Only more so. Details listed
below) The programs are listed in order of their general strength, safety,
and purpose. It is perhaps best to install and run these in this order of
appearance. All are freeware programs, but if you are pleased with the
results and quality of the utilities, donations to the respective Authors
will be cheerfully accepted.
Another thing to consider doing is to run a program (only run one program at
a time) a few times consecutively. The reason for this is that the first
pass may kill certain Spyware programs, but may not be able to terminate and
kill all files and programs which may be running at the time. That is why a
second pass may be necessary to be thoroughly effective.
Under the most stubborn cases, running the programs in Safe-Mode will allow
for the best cleaning conditions, as there will be a minimum of interference
from processes running in the background.
Ad -Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
Ad-Aware Tutorial (might help if you look through this)
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=48
Ad-Aware VX2 Cleaner Plug-In
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/plugins/vx2cleaner.shtml
CWShredder (cleans all Cool Web Search malware)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
If the Authors site is unable to be accessed, then the following two sites
offer his programs as well.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/coolwebshredder.html
CWShredder Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=47
Coolwebsearch Smartkiller
http://www.safer-networking.org/files/delcwssk.zip
http://www.spychecker.com/program/miniremovalcw.html
The above item is sometimes necessary if CWShredder detects a SmartSearch2
variant on your PC.
Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
Spybot Tutorial (Must Read)
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=tutorial
Other tutorials for Spybot S&D (Also must read)
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=43
http://tomcoyote.com/SPYBOT/index1.php
http://tomcoyote.com/SPYBOT/index2.php
This item below is designed to *prevent* installation of malware and the
like by comparing known CLSID's of these "bad guys" with what is in its
definitions. By enabling a *Kill Bit* it prevents known malignant ActiveX
from being installed or run on your machine. It doesn't remove anything, nor
will it fix anything that is already in your PC. Rather, it will prevent
installation or re-installation of the item once it has been removed
manually, or by the use of another program which will perform the duty of
removing the spyware.
SpywareBlaster (prevents installation of Spyware, Trojans, etc.)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
SpywareBlaster Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=49
SpywareGuard (companion program to SWB, above)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
SpywareGuard Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=50
If you use Spybot S&D, be sure to clean *ONLY* the items displayed in *RED*.
DO NOT clean any items displayed in Black or Green at this time.
Lastly there is HijackThis. Hijack this is a very powerful, last resort type
of program which is generally best used in conjunction with help from those
who deal with the findings of the log created by the HijackThis scan. It
does nothing in the scan itself; it merely says what is present and/or
running on your PC. The items must be checked-marked to be "cleaned". You
must know *exactly* what you are checking-off before you proceed. If you
don't, you can quite possibly disable many useful and vital functions of
your PC. Remember; read the Tutorials, and seek help at SpywareInfo Forums,
Net-Integration, or TomCoyote forums for safety's sake.
HijackThis
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
If the preceding site is down, you may get HijackThis from other sites
Hijack This (from Major Geeks)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
http://computercops.biz/downloads-cat-14.html
HijackThis Tutorials **(MUST READ)**
(All are similar; some are better / more comprehensive than others)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=42
http://aumha.org/a/hjttutor.php
http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/
http://s89223352.onlinehome.us/mirror/hjt/
Where to seek help with your HijackThis scan log
SpywareInfo Forums
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
other help forums for HijackThis:
Net-Integration
http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?c=19
TomCoyote
http://forums.tomcoyote.com/index.php?showforum=27
Anti-Virus Tools
AVG Anti-virus by Grisoft
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
avast! Virus Cleaner - free virus & worm removal tool
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_cleaner.html
McAfee AVERT Stinger
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
NOTE: With the above tools, particularly Avast Virus cleaner, be sure to
disable your background PC Anti-virus utility.
F-Prot for DOS (I don't know if this will work on XP systems however)
http://www.f-prot.com/products/home_use/dos/
http://www.f-prot.com/products/home_use/
http://www.claymania.com/f-prot.html
If you can use this program, be sure to make certain the most recent Updates
are obtained for it.
http://www.f-secure.com/download-purchase/dos_updates.shtml
F-Secure Anti-Virus for DOS (F-PROT edition)
Update Macro.def to your system to get up-to-date macro virus protection.
The other Anti-Virus databases, Sign.def and Sign2.def are updated weekly.
They have definitions for all other kinds of viruses except macro-viruses.
MACRO.DEF definition file
SIGN.DEF definition file
SIGN2.DEF definition file
On-Line Virus scanners:
RAV Antivirus Online Virus Scan
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
Command on Demand
http://www.authentium.com/solutions/cod/index.cfm
Freedom on-line virus check
http://www.freedom.net/viruscenter/onlineviruscheck.html
TrendMicro Housecall (also detects some Trojans)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
BitDefender Scan Online
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
Kapersky Online Virus Scanner
http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html
The above scanner works differently from most; it is a server based scanner,
and will only scan individual files, or directories which are limited to 1
MB in total size. It will not do a full system scan.
Hauri LiveCall Online virus scanning
http://www.globalhauri.com/html/products/livecall.html
The above is also server based if I remember correctly
Panda on-line virus scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp
McAfee FreeScan
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp
Symantec Security Check (page offers security and/or virus scan)
http://snipurl.com/7gz1
More general info you should be aware of:
The Parasite Fight; Quick Fix Protocol
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
How to surf the Internet more safely with Internet Explorer
http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/surf-safe.html
So how did I get infected in the first place?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This last bit is just a general extra FYI and isn't important right now. Try
this at some other time, when time permits.
Other vulnerability tests:
Jason's Toolbox Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
Qualys' Free Browser Checkup
http://browsercheck.qualys.com/
MyNetWatchman - WinPopUP Tester
http://www.mynetwatchman.com/winpopuptester.asp
Firewall tests: (YMMV
Sygate Technologies Stealthscan
http://scan.sygatetech.com/prestealthscan.html
PortScan from Hackerwatch.org
http://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/
ShieldsUp ports and security tests
http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Site which links to various tests
Security-Ops
http://www.security-ops.tk/
How to disable Windows Messenger Service or WinPopup
http://www.opentechsupport.net/forums/archive/topic/11211-1.html
HTH -
--
LuckyStrike
(e-mail address removed)
How to make a good newsgroup post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/post.html
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