I have several stray shortcut icons on my desktop that I
can't remove. When I right click, and select delete I get,
Confirm followed by a 'cannot delete. Access denied. Make
sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the
file is not currently in use.' I seem to end up with these
stray icons and now have about 6 on my desktop for various
programs that have long since been deleted. I have tried
safe mode and get same access denied message.
Richard,
Are the icons Read-only maybe? (Right click - Properties). Or is the folder
that they're in write protected?
If not, are they icons for products you installed intentionally? Some spyware
(Morpheus for instance) installs shortcuts all over your computer, then protects
each shortcut by starting a stub program that attaches the shortcut icon. You
have to close the stub before you can delete the shortcut. And there may be a
second stub protecting the first.
First, download LSP-Fix and WinsockXPFIx from <
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm>,
and CWShredder from <
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html>. All are
free.
Next, close all Internet Explorer and Outlook windows, then run CWShredder.
Have it fix all variants.
Now check for, and remove, spyware. Get HijackThis
<
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155> and Spybot S&D
<
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download>. Both free.
1) Install and run Spybot. First update it ("Search for updates"), then run a
scan ("Check for problems"). Trust Spybot, and make all recommended deletions.
2) Install and run HijackThis. Do NOT make any changes immediately. Save the
HJT Log.
3) Have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the following
forums (and post it here):
<
http://forums.net-integration.net/>
<
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/>
<
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/>
<
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/>
If removal of any spyware affects your ability to access the internet (some
spyware builds itself into the network software, and its removal may damage your
network), run LSP-Fix and / or WinsockXPFIx.
Harden your browser. There are various websites which will check for
vulnerabilities, here are three which I use.
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
http://bcheck.scanit.be/bcheck/
https://testzone.secunia.com/browser_checker/
Harden your operating system. Check at least monthly for security updates.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Block possibly dangerous websites with a Hosts file. Three Hosts file sources I
use:
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/get_hosts.html
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
(The third is included, and updated, with Spybot (see above)).
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
