I am desperate for some computer help! I have run

[JimmyJazz]

Norton, microsoft beta and ad-aware and I have used a general clean up for temporary internet files and such. However, I still have an icon in the lower right hand corner, next to my clock telling me my computer is infected (this is a different computer). When I click on the icon (a red circle with an exclamation point) it takes me to spy ware that I have to pay for and that I never heard of - PR...something.

Does ANYONE know how to get rid of this pesky thing?

I also have another one near it which is a yellow triange witl a black exclamation point - it is flashing.

I am at my wits end here and could use some advice :(

Thank you in advance.

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. You may have to manually delete the files and edit the registry.

If you Google whatever the name of the spyware is, you should be able to find removal instructions.

[JimmyJazz]

4. so just going into my computer and seeing if those files are there

isn't going to help? The spyware removal didn't help :(

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. You should try Spybot in addition to AdAware...

it sometimes catches things that AdAware doesn't. Download link: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

[DS1]

13. Ad-Aware rips the definitions off from Spybot

Spybot has always been the surperior product in my eyes, especially with TeaTimer installed.

[JimmyJazz]

16. Nice avatar.

I'll clean up like you said and then download spybot. Is Norton useless?

[DS1]

20. No, Norton isn't useless

But the best fix is preventative.

[JimmyJazz]

29. I swtiched to firefox - btw!

:hi:

[Nomad559]

21. Is Norton useless?

Yes, Norton Is Crap, get rid of It.

Try scanning your PC here.
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

:)

[Crazy Guggenheim]

That is a piece of spywar/adware.

Go to www.pcworld.com and download Spybot and a trial version of Spysweeper.

If you have any questions PM me.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

2. Uninstall the programs and reinstall the freeware

[Clintmax]

3. Are you running XP? n/t

[dbonds]

5. Dumb question

Did any of the anti-spyware programs you used detect anything, and did you reboot afterwards? Also try Spybot.

[JimmyJazz]

11. not only did they detect stuff, but right after I ran Ad-Aware and

rebooted, I ran Beta and still got hits :(

[Carni]

7. You ran lavasoft ad-aware and it didn't work?

That has always blasted whatever I had out.

Only other thing I can think of is...can you still get to the net to search?

If so--Type in the name of the company that is trying to sell you something into google and then type something like "spyware" next to it and see if you can't find some postings from people who have faced the same ordeal.

I did that with one of my computers when I had a similar kind of a problem and I found a fix posted.

Good luck!

[DS1]

10. Spybot's better anyway

:shrug:

[Carni]

17. I think I have used that before

And yes, it did seem more thorough.

[DS1]

8. This will take a while, but

hit start - run - type

regedit

navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

then SOFTWARE

THEN Microsoft

THEN Windows

THEN Currentversion

Then Run

click on the run folder, and type every entry on the right in your reply.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

9. Make sure you have all the updates for Norton, Ad-Aware and

Microsoft.

Then reboot into Safe Mode and run everyting from there. Do you know how to get into Safe Mode?

[two gun sid]

12. Have you tried Spybot?

I use it regularly for spyware. You can download it for free at CNET.

[JimmyJazz]

14. No - but I've been told by reliable sources that the other THREE

spyware programs were all good. This is really frustrating. I guess I will try spybot - what do I have to lose?

[notadmblnd]

15. your annti spyware and anti adware isn't getting rid of it

because it is running when they are trying to get rid of it. You can stop this from running at startup.

This is what you will need to do.

Click on start

click on run
(when the window pops up, type in the box)

msconfig and hit enter
(at this point another window ill pop up, at the top it will say system configuration utility it will have about 6 tab)

Click on the startup tab

A list of Items that run at start up will come up, you need to find the items you don't want to run and unclick the box.

After this is done, reboot and run your anti virus and anti spyware/adware again, You can also try uninstalling the software if it shows up in your add/remove program located in the control panel.

this should take care of your problem.. Good luck

[JimmyJazz]

18. Thanks everyone very much!

I appreciate your input. This is so overwhelming for me since I'm not terribly computer literate.

I'll try some of your suggestions and let you know :hi:

:loveya: very much.

[merh]

19. Sending you encouragement & hugs for the puter hell

:hug:

[usedtobesick]

22. Went thru this yesterday on my Ex's computer

Finally had to download the Beta version of the Microsoft's new Spy ware program and ran that. Afterward the icon still showed up. I right clicked on it and the delete button appears. Select it and the icon goes away for good. I could not keep it off until I actually deleted it. Maybe this will apply to yours as well. But it got rid of all of the extra "task bars" and such

[JimmyJazz]

26. Thanks - I seem to have gotten rid of the red icon, but

I'm not sure about the yellow triangle. I really appreciate everyone's input.

[dancing kali]

35. The little yellow triangle with ! icon.

That occasionally shows up on my computer at work which is running the latest version of XP. I *think* it signals that there are updates available to be installed on the computer from Microsoft. So if you click on it and it gives you a message to download and install the latest Windows patches and updates that's all that it is. The icon will go away until the next time there are updates. You should be able to get rid of the auto update by editing your start up (someone else posted the instructions for this somewhere above this post), or, right clicking on the icon might give you a menu that gives you the option to turn it off. If you turn the auto update off, you will occasionally have to go and check for any updates if you wish to keep your programs updated. I'm not on a computer with XP at the moment.

It could also be the icon that indicates that you have your sound muted.

I could also be completely wrong about both of these.

I run Spybot Search & Destroy (with TeaTimer), SpywareBlaster (which blocks spyware before it gets in), and AdAware. I highly recommend these to everyone. I briefly considered HijackThis but I'm not enough of a geek to really want to play with it (which is also why I'm not running Linux).

I also run something called Registry First Aid... I had a problem with Norton because of a corrupted file, which led to a dirty uninstall, which led to not being able to reinstall a completely legal copy of Norton Utilities and anti-virus. With this program I was able to find the registry entries and remove them and then reinstall Norton. It's not a freeware program, but it does have a demo version that will only allow a small number of changes to be made at one time (the full version has no restriction to the number of changes at once). It's pretty easy to use, and will make a backup for restoration purposes. Please keep in mind that changing things indiscriminately in the registry could be hazardous to your computer... be careful and make backups before doing any major changes.

A word about Norton... I found that it occasionally wouldn't "play nicely" with other resident programs that I was running and would cause all sorts of havoc and crashes. Removing Norton cleanly (and permanently) fixed that problem. However, I have no real proof that Norton was to blame and when it was working I was happy with it. I now run McAfee as my anti-virus and no problems.

Good luck.

[flakey_foont]

23. If you are running XP

you can do a system restore to an earlier point
I saw something similar to what you have called DEAD AIM.

[JimmyJazz]

28. I'm gonna have to get back to you - that's a little over my head.

If my problem isn't solved though, maybe you can talk me through your idea. I'm sort of a PC idjit. :)

[flakey_foont]

34. Anytime

actually, it's not that hard but be glad to help

[iconoclastic cat]

24. Spyware guru site/forum: www.spywareinfo.com

The folks in their forums should be able to help. There might be a specific tool that you can use.

http://www.spywareinfo.com

[LaurenG]

25. Have you rebooted since you ran the programs?

I know it's a stupid question but have you?

[JimmyJazz]

27. More times than I care to count over the past 24 hours.

:(

[miss_kitty]

30. try hijack this

http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/

When you get your log, you can copy and paste it into a forum, and some geeks will tell you what to take out. The forums are listed at the site you download the hijack this at.

[JimmyJazz]

32. thanks, dalring. I'm under control at the moment. *whewf*

and I switched to firefox.

I can tell you what did me in, too. Clicking on lyric sites. I can't remember which one I clicked on, but it was right after that all my problems began :( From now on, I'll consult liner notes!

[abbeyco]

31. Have you tried Stinger?

I've used this against a ton of viruses out there. It's a reputable product from McAfee and looks for some 53 known viruses. My last company even used it successfully.

Here's the site:

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

I just ran the s-t-i-n-g-e-r.exe locally and after about 15 - 20 minutes, all was done.

Good luck to you!

[JimmyJazz]

33. UPDATE: thanks everyone. My PC seems to be doing quite well

at the moment. I really appreciate all your input and I am bookmarking this thread in case I have problems in the future.

FTR - :yourock: <---- all of you!