I can't offer specific answers for your specific problem. However, I would like to say that I have friends who shrug their shoulders when I say I'm trying to learn about internet security. Whether this is affecting you, I can't say just yet, without other info (like a hijackthis log). For now, I can give some suggestions that might help you to ** start ** clearing this stuff up.
First, I would suggest a good cleaning. You didn't say what your Operating System is (Win 98Se, XP, or whatever). I use 98SE, but a lot of this will apply to others, too.
Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Make sure that Temp, Temporary Internet Files, and Recycle Bin are checked, and let it delete those files. Then, right under Disk Cleanup, click on Disk Defragmenter, and let it run....all the way until it finishes (could be an hour or more, depending on how long since you did this). When all that is done, reboot.
I doubt this will solve your problem, but it is a first step (gets rid of some of the "junk" and gets files back where they belong).
Next, go to
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware and download AdAware. Once you have it installed, double-click the AdAware icon and, when you have the opening screen, click Check For Updates (let your system go online). When you are sure you have all the updates, close everything (including this browser window) and open AdAware again. Click Start, then...in the next window...tick Use Custom Scanning Options, then click Customize. Once in that window, do the following:
Make sure the following settings are made and on -------"ON=GREEN"
From main window :Click "Start" then " Activate in-depth scan"
then......
click "Use custom scanning options>Customize" and have these options on: "Scan within
archives" ,"Scan active processes","Scan registry", "Deep scan registry" ,"Scan my IE
Favorites for banned URL" and "Scan my host-files"
then.........
go to settings(the gear on top of AdAware)>Tweak>Scanning engine and tick "Unload
recognized processes during scanning" ...........then........"Cleaning engine" and "Let
windows remove files in use at next reboot"
then...... click "proceed" to save your settings.
Now to scan itīs just to click the "Scan" button.
When scan is finished, mark everything for removal and get rid of it. .(Right-click the
window and choose"select all" from the drop down menu) then press next and then say
yes to the prompt, do you want to remove all these entries. Keep in mind that the first time you run it, there may be a LOT of entries (I just did this for a friend and his first scan showed 191 entries....don't worry about how many there are....just mark "select all" as described above and get rid of them....)
When you have done all of this, restart your system and see if it is any better. There is more you can do, but this should at least get you started.
I would suggest Spybot next, but their site has been overwhelmed and may not be available right now, so I'd say to just do this much and post back the results (stay in this thread...don't start a new topic). Next will probably be a HijackThis log, but run AdAware first and see what happens.
Best....Riven08
