Hi, ladygreenwitch, thanks for the help! I downloaded programs and ran shoot the messenger. Then, selected first group to fix in hijackthis (didn't mark last one you mentioned about dial-up because I don't have a clue if it's necessary to my dial-up or not!). When I told it to fix selected it appeared to be working, then it popped up this error message:
"Unexpected error occurred!
Error #52 (Bad file name or number) in Sub GetLongPath(?.exe).
Please send a report to merijn@spywareinfo.com, mentioning what you were doing, and what version of Windows you have.
This message has been copied to your clipboard."

That just barely happened so that's where I'm at- is this something bad or can I continue w/ your sugggestions? (I have Windows XP Professional -SP2-if you need to know that). If I can continue, to show you how illiterate I am w/ computers, what is the OS CD I'm supposed to make sure to have in my drive? (I think I just figured out OS CD- Operating System CD as in my Windows Reinstallation CD, right?)

Good Job NoClue,

Your first code breaking of Techese. LOL.

If you wouldn't mind sending the information to Merijin it would be very helpful. He is so very ontop of everything.

I would reboot into Safe Mode, (simply continually tap the F8 key while booting up, use your arrow keys to select Safe Mode, then hit Enter) Rerun HijackThis! (HJT) and try to do the Fixes from there.

Looking forward to your reply,

TTFN

LGW

Quick question- am I supposed to have System Restore on or off while I'm doing this? If I'm getting rid of messed up stuff I would think have it off, but I don't know for sure, so thought I better ask!

**I am going to have to sign off for now- need to sleep so I'm not a zombie at work! I will check back later on Monday for your response and then will update you as soon as I continue w/ fixes. Thanks again for all your help!

Preferably you should have System Restore on. After we're sure your system is clean, we can then proceed to purge its data store.


And yes, LGW meant your Windows installation CD. If your system files are all fine, you should have no need of it though.

Hey Guys,

@Chia- Sorry to disagree, but System Restore should be OFF, in many cases simply having the files in that folder allow malware to replicate itself immediatley upon reboot. That's why turning it off is one of the first things a user is asked to do in the PreWork. I really think it's better to instruct NoCluePC in that direction.

@NC- If you only have the System Restore CD, the PC may still find the correct CAB files. However, if it doesn't post back and we'll try to point it in the right direction.

TTFN

LGW

Hello!

So I ran HJT and fixed files, then rebooted. Then I ran utility for missing/damaged system files- it ran and then the window closed when it finished- was it supposed to tell me anything? Rebooted again. Then used AVG (removed tracking cookies) followed by RegSupremePro (found almost 2000 errors- is that normal? and it fixed and/or deleted). Rebooted again. Unfortunately, still no change to background problem and startup still really slow.

When I was running the utility for system files, message said it would check to make sure files intact and in original versions. Could it be it isn't finding a messed up file because it's not original version as I have windows on automatic updates for 3 years? I'm wondering if fix is going to be re-installing windows and having to reinstall all programs/files again (I really hope that's not the case!). Any ideas??

Hi Noclue,

No I don't think we're there yet. Yes 2000 errors is not uncommon if you do not keep your registry clean. I would try the fix you were given back at the beginning of this thread again. It should have worked, and it's possible that since you have all that stuff cleaned up now, that it will.

Looking forward to your reply, and crossing my fingers for you.

TTFN

LGW