Internet/Windows explorer both been 'taken over'

[Guest]

a program has taken control of my internet and windows explorer and has added
a tool bar which I am unable to remove as the "toolbar" is not changable. It
shows up a a search toolbar and whenever I click the remove toolbar button it
puts me through to a scan/adware advertisement. Stopzilla seems to be the
controlling factor. I am also getting pornographic popups which started
about the same time. I have system restored to time previous to the start of
this but to no avail. Any ideas , please

 

[Galen]

In Dave <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

a program has taken control of my internet and windows explorer and
has added a tool bar which I am unable to remove as the "toolbar" is
not changable. It shows up a a search toolbar and whenever I click
the remove toolbar button it puts me through to a scan/adware
advertisement. Stopzilla seems to be the controlling factor. I am
also getting pornographic popups which started about the same time.
I have system restored to time previous to the start of this but to
no avail. Any ideas , please

Try running all three of these:

Spyware:
www.lavasoft.de - AdAware
http://security.kolla.de/ - Spybot
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx -
Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta

Before cleaning download this:

LSP-Fix - a free program to repair damaged Winsock 2 stacks:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

Use that should cleaning out your PC remove or damage your in-place winsock
and you can't connect to the internet.

From the virus and trojan category pick one application, they're all free,
download it and install it. Make sure that you update it. From the spyware
category pick all three, download them and update them to the latest
definitions. Reboot, press the F8 key over and over again, from the menu
select Safe mode without networking. Do your cleaning in there. Reboot to
regular mode and run the scans again. This isn't going to be quick or easy
but it might just solve your problems and it should prevent you from further
problems so long as you keep them updated and scan often. Most of them can
be enabled to update and scan automatically.

Galen