Re: Adaware help
 

Sounds like there's something in your startup that no longer exists. If you run msconfig, you should be able to see what's in there and hopefully eliminate it.

Re: Adaware help
 

It also can mean that you are heavily infected. Certain viruses and trojans are designed to hijack security software. It may very well be the reason why NOD32 failed to install plus if you had an older version of Norton already installed there could have been conflicts between the old and new.

Follow Bungleu's advice and if you can access the internet try to link to the NOD32 online scanner that I gave and let them install their Active X. If you can run it let it clean.

Then go to SuperAntiSpyware and download and install their free version. Let it do its work.

Lastly, if you so wish, google BitDefender and allow them to install and clean. Whenever I am cleaning someone's system I find these work very well.

* Let us know if they work.

Re: Adaware help
 

..says browser is not supported and I can't launch IE.

..can't run msconfig..

Re: Adaware help
 

Do you have CCleaner on your desktop or loaded elsewhere on your system? If so, do the following:

Close all browsers.

Run the program and make sure all the boxes are ticked under the Windows and Applications tabs, including "Advanced" tabs(except for the Old prefetch Data option, this should be unticked)

Click the run cleaner button.

Do this at least twice.

*** Also, are you able to enter Safe Mode when booting up by pressing F8?

Re: Adaware help
 

I was able to run Windows update. I allowed all the updates available and of course it opened IE as well. I passed the link for ESET and I'm running the scan now.

2 threats so far..
..have not done the restart yet as per Win. update. Thought I would do the scan first.

I will be out of the house most of the day. I'll update ASAP.

Re: Adaware help
 

Variol, this sounds as if you have an aggressive, tenacious rootkit. Your PC is almost certainly in a botnet now. The reason you are seeing this behaviour now is because you are trying to remove it, and it's fighting back. The rootkit/trojan (or whatever it is) is resisting removal by disabling common repair techniques. You may be in for a long tough road; here is what you need to do..

1. Get VERY familiar with running apps in Safe mode. You will be living in this mode for a while.

2. If the Virus is denying internet access, you will have to transfer troubleshooting apps from another PC via flash drive. This means you need access to a second PC.

3. You may HAVE to do this...remove your infected HDD and make it a slave in another PC that has a good updated AV on it. Run the AV checks on the slave drive......and run it several times.

4. Get a rootkit detector, at least two, and have them check the slave drive. There are free rootkit detectors on the web.

5. If a lot of the advice you are getting sounds unfamiliar, then you may want to get professional help with the PC.

And even if you do all this, you may not be able to remove the problem. You may have to "nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure" (reformat the HDD). I hope you have your data backed up. Hope this helps.

Re: Adaware help
 

Elfbane has excellent. excellent advice. And he beat me to the slaving of the harddrive!

If you have a friend who knows how to build/fix PCs, even if he only does it as a hobby, have him read Elfbane's advice and follow his directions.

Re: Adaware help
 

I do have savvy friends all over; Titusville, Northfield, Michigan..

I'm just about to re-install ESET..

It found 2 bugs as I mentioned, but I had to go and the system seems to have bebooted. Probably due to the update I ran.

Re: Adaware help
 

I do have savvy friends all over; Titusville, Northfield, Michigan..

I'm just about to re-install ESET..

It found 2 bugs as I mentioned, but I had to go and the system seems to have bebooted. Probably due to the update I ran.

Re: Adaware help
 

I just did the CCleaner thing. I'll probably never get onto another forum again! :(

I downloaded and bought STOPzilla. It gave me a registry scanner to download. It says I have 709 registry issues. Is it worth buying, or will something else do this as well?

I now have Zonealarm, ESET, Adaware, STOPzilla and I don't know what the heck else..

Edit: Could someone also tell me how to put those icons next to my "Start" in the task bar, or start menu bar; whatever you call it? I usually put Firefox and T'Bird in there. Seems like things are working again; thanks everyone.