how to fix this ???

[tapper]

my dad has had xp for about 6 months now. we set messenger so that it would
not run when outlook fired up. yesterday, messenger fired up and logged him
on. I checked the settings and there was someone else's hotmail account
listed in the field for "how you want to appear on line". a whole bunch of
email contacts were added to his OE address list when messenger was running.
also, there was one message received on messenger. I checked oe and it
still didn't have "messenger to fire up when outlook opened" checked off in
it's options. I shut down messenger, checked with regcleaner to see if it
was listed to start on system start up but it wasn't. also, an avg scan
that a.m. (runs daily) didn't show any problems. he just emailed and said
that the addresses are back in his oe again. is this a virus or something.
he has avg.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Run your virus and antispyware scanners at one. If needed there are free
online virus scanners. For a list Google "free virus scan" and take your
pick. This sure looks like an email virus.

 

[Max Wachtel]

my dad has had xp for about 6 months now. we set messenger so
that it would not run when outlook fired up. yesterday, messenger
fired up and logged him on. I checked the settings and there was
someone else's hotmail account listed in the field for "how you
want to appear on line". a whole bunch of email contacts were
added to his OE address list when messenger was running. also,
there was one message received on messenger. I checked oe and it
still didn't have "messenger to fire up when outlook opened"
checked off in it's options. I shut down messenger, checked with
regcleaner to see if it was listed to start on system start up but
it wasn't. also, an avg scan that a.m. (runs daily) didn't show
any problems. he just emailed and said that the addresses are
back in his oe again. is this a virus or something. he has avg.

Avast has an IM scan feature. Microsoft Anti-Spyware can disable
Windows Messenger(diferent than MSN Messenger).
I have written some pages to help you.
Virus Removal Instructions: http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/
-max

 

[Guest]

This appears to be spyware of the worst kind. It seems to be able to hijack
your email, and then will send out emails on it's own (with you getting the
blame for it). Do numerous anti-virus and anti-spyware scans until you've
eradicated this bugger.

Meanwhile, keep the system off-line as much as possible and use a software
firewall to control the access attempts.