spyware/virus issues (I'm assuming)

[Booty]

I've got a PC that appears to have been molested pretty badly by ad/spyware and/or virus(es?). Pretty crappy. I've thoroughly searched the forums and attempted to run various spyware/adware removal programs with nothing to show for it. I scanned the drive in my system which has the most recent virus definitions (Norton), and it came up clean. I put the hard drive back in the original system, which I know has a working connection to the net because I'm able to ping outside our network... DNS also seems just fine. However, IE doesn't go anywhere, so I haven't been able to perform and on-line scan from Trend Micro or anywhere else.

When the computer starts up, multiple erros pop up, including ones mentioning powrprof.dll, c:\windows\system\mpr.dll, and winmm.dll - these errors also come up when attempting to run certain programs (like Adaware, which was already installed before I got my hands on this machine, as well as Norton AV). I also get these types of .dll errors when I try to install something new, such as Spybot S&D. So I am unable to do online scans, unable to install new ad-removal tools, and it doesn't seem like tools are able to update through the web either. I'm going to try installing Mozilla to see if I can get to an online scan that way, but other than that, I'm really running out of ideas. I'm certain this is spyware, not sure whether it's in combination with an actual virus or trojan of some sort, but either way, I have no idea what else I can do to attempt to clean it. I'm about to hit the big red button (reformat/reinstall), but if at all possible I'd like to save their installation.

Any ideas? F*ck spyware.

 

[Schadenfroh]

What is Spyware? Well, in the words of Patrick Kolla, "In easy terms, spyware is software that transmits personally identifiable information from your computer to some place in the internet without your special knowledge."
What is Adware? Again, in the words of Mr. Kolla, "Adware is also often a side-effect of spyware, as both monitor you for a sole purpose ? delivering you advertisement that is especially tailored to your habits"

Both can harm you computer in various ways, such as annoying popups (that appear even after you disable windows messanger), browser hijacking and strange slowdowns, etc.

How can i check my system and remove spyware/adware from my computer? please follow the following steps to clean your computer of spybots, adware and the like.

1st Run LSP-Fix

2nd Run CWS smartkiller removal tool

3rd Run CWShredder check for updates and run

4th Run Spybot search and destroy
check for updates and install them then Check for problems and fix problems, Reboot if prompted at the end and fix problems after it scans on boot up, then go into immunize and immunize it, block bad pages silently and check the boxes down on the bottom to prevent hijacking

5th Run Adaware
update it, scan and delete the problems found

6th Run Spyware blaster and keep spyware from being installed, update first then apply the new ones
NOTE: if spyware blaster says msvbvm60.dll is missing, install this or if it says MSCOMCTL.OCX cannot be found, install this

7th for even more protection, try spyware guard, it functions much like zonealarm, except for spybots, with an item in your tray, and will help in real-time spyware protection.
NOTE: if spyware guard says msvbvm60.dll is missing, install this or if it says MSCOMCTL.OCX cannot be found, install this

8th Make sure your AntiVirus is up to date and do a full system scan. if you have no antivirus, you need to get AVG, a freeware antivirus that some people say rivals NAV.

9th make sure your firewall is up to date (to test your firewall, go here and run shields up!) and if you have no firewall, you need to get zonealarm

10th check your IE explorer settings (Tools>internet options>privacy) to make sure privacy is set on at least medium and security setting (Tools>internet options>security) is likewise and reset your homepage manually

Note: rember to keep all of these programs updated and run spybotsearch and destroy and adaware scans once a month at least.

11th If all else fails to fix your hijacking problems, run hijackthis and post its log on AT forums, in the meantime try
firefox, a great alternative to internet explorer that usually has less problems with spyware and hijacking

 

[EeyoreX]

If you have the software installed (AdAware and Norton) try running them in safe mode, see if that helps.

\Dan

 

[Booty]

Schadenfroh - Thanks, but I already searched the forums and went through the steps in that post (the ones that I was able to, that is)... I've dealt with spyware before, it just usually hadn't been this bad.

Eeyore - Safe mode still gives me some .dll errors and won't let me do jack. I think I'm probably going to just go ahead and format/reinstall. This is one of those times that fighting it is going to take way longer than just starting clean and getting everything back in place.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[OZEE]

You say IE doesn't go anywhere -- have you checked your hosts file??

 

[Booty]

Actually, no, I haven't... but I did install Firefox and was able to browse the web with it. I don't know if Sun's site is screwed up or what, but I kept getting a 'page not found' page from their site when I tried to grab the Java plug-in for Mozilla so that I could use an online virus scan.

The hosts file isn't going to do anything about the .dll errors anyway (at least, as far as I know) - they need this machine back as soon as possible, so as much as I'd like to actually solve this problem, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to reformat and reinstall... it could take hours to track down and fix all the issues, and I can't justify spending (let alone billing) that much time on this thing.

Thanks again for the suggestions guys.

 

[iwillhelp]

Mozilla has always been good to me !! highly suggested. But theres still most likely alot of spyware on your system.