tetonbob

Hi pip.1 -

Yes, you should be fine.

A couple of details, and some prevention information for you:

P2P - I see you have P2P software (Limewire ) installed on your machine. We are not here to pass judgment on file-sharing as a concept. However, we will warn you that engaging in this activity and having this kind of software installed on your machine will always make you more susceptible to re-infections. It may be contributing to your current situation. This page will give you further information.

Please note: Even if you are using a "safe" P2P program, it is only the program that is safe. You will be sharing files from uncertified sources, and these are often infected. The bad guys use P2P filesharing as a major conduit to spread their wares.

References for the risk of these programs are here,
here and here.

I would strongly recommend that you uninstall them, however that choice is up to you. If you choose to remove these programs, you can do so via Control Panel >> Add or Remove Programs.

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Your Java is out of date. Older versions have vulnerabilities that malware can use to infect your system. Please follow these steps to remove older version Java components and update.

Updating Java:

• Download the latest version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6u4.
• Scroll down to where it says "The Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) allows end-users to run Java applications".
• Click the "Download" button to the right.
• In the drop-down menu next to Platform select Windows
• Check the box that says: "I agree to the Java SE Runtime Environment 6 License Agreement"
• Click Continue
• Click on the link to download Windows Offline Installation and save to your desktop.
• Close any programs you may have running - especially your web browser.
• Go to Start > Control Panel double-click on Add/Remove programs and remove all older versions of Java.
• Check any item with Java Runtime Environment (JRE or J2SE) in the name.
• Click the Remove or Change/Remove button.
• Repeat as many times as necessary to remove each Java versions.
• Reboot your computer once all Java components are removed.
• Then from your desktop double-click on jre-6u4-windowsi586-p.exe to install the newest version.

• After the install is complete, go into the Control Panel and double-click the Java Icon. (looks like a coffee cup)
  • On the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click the Settings button.
  • Next, click on the Delete Files button
  • There are two options in the window to clear the cache - Leave BOTH Checked
    • Applications and Applets
      Trace and Log Files
  • Click OK on Delete Temporary Files Window
    Note: This deletes ALL the Downloaded Applications and Applets from the CACHE.
  • Click OK to leave the Temporary Files Window
  • Click OK to leave the Java Control Panel.

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Your logs appear clean.You should be good to go. We still have a few items to address.

C:\Deckard is DSS working folder. You can safely delete it. Also delete dss.exe

C:\System Volume Information\ is where System Restore's cache is stored. Whatever is in there can't harm you unless you choose to perform a manual restore. Nevertheless, we shall be resetting/clearing the cache in a little while.


Reset hidden/system files and folders

• Click Start.
• Open My Computer.
• Select the Tools menu and click Folder Options.
• Select the View tab.
• Deselect the Show hidden files and folders option.
• Select the Hide file extensions for known types option.
• Select the Hide protected operating system files option.
• Click Yes to confirm.
• Click OK.

Clear & Reset System Restore's Cache

• click Start >> Run - type SYSDM.CPL & press Enter
• select the System Restore Tab
• tick on the checkbox - "Turn off System Restore on all drives"
• click Apply
• then untick the same checkbox & click OK

Now that you are clean, to help protect your computer in the future I recommend that you get the following free programs if you don't have them already:

• SpywareBlaster to help prevent spyware from installing in the first place.
  • Install & update SpywareBlaster with the latest definitions.
    After you have updated, click the button - enable protection for all unprotected items
• IE-SpyAd - IE/Spyad places more than 4000 dubious websites and domains in the IE Restricted list. This severely impairs attempts to infect your system. It basically prevents any downloads (Cookies etc) from the sites listed, although you will still be able to connect to the sites. An installation tutorial is available here.
  
  
• MVPS HOST FILE
  The MVPS Hosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one that will restrict known ad sites form serving you unsolicited advertisements. Basically, this prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1 which is the IP of your local computer.
  • Download Host.zip to your desktop.
  • From your Desktop right-click (hosts.zip) and select:
    Extract All from the menu.
    
  • Click Next, click Next, select the option:
    "Show Extracted files", click Finish
    
  • This will open the newly created hosts folder on your Desktop.
    
  • Double-click on the included mvps.bat file, this will rename the existing HOSTS file to HOSTS.MVP, then it will copy the included updated HOSTS file to the correct location on your machine.
    
  • Once updated you should see another prompt that the task was completed.
• ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
  It is very important that you have anti-virus software running on your machine. This alone can save you a lot of trouble with malware in the future. It is imperative that you update your antivirus software at least once a week (even more if you wish). If you do not update your antivirus software then it will not be able to catch new malware that may have come out.
  
  

  See this link for a listing of some online antivirus scanners:
  
  Anti-Spyware Tutorial

• FIREWALL
  Using a third-party firewall will allow you to give/deny access for applications that want to go online. Without a firewall your computer is susceptible to being hacked and taken over. Simply using a Firewall in its default configuration can lower your risk greatly. A tutorial on Firewalls and a listing of some available ones can be found here
  
  Do not install more than one firewall program because they will conflict with each other.

Here are some additional utilities that will further enhance your safety.

• http://www.trillian.cc ? Trillian or http://www.miranda-im.com ? Miranda-IM - These are Malware free Instant Messenger programs which allow you to connect to multiple IM services in one program! (AOL, Yahoo, ICQ, IRC, MSN)
  
  
• http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ - Firefox - Use this alternate browser. While Internet Explorer is not a bad browser, almost every exploit crafted is targeted to take advantage of an IE weakness.
  
  
• http://java.com/en/index.jsp - Sun's Java - It's much more secure than Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine.
  
  
• http://www.aumha.org/downloads/erunt-setup.exe - ERUNT - A useful freeware utility for users of Windows 2000/XP. It's made up of two parts - ERUNT & NTREGOPT.
  
  ERUNT will create daily complete backups of your computer's Registry. Whilst System Restore does the same thing, a corrupt registry file may prevent Windows from booting & this effectively renders disables System Restore. With ERUNT, you're able to restore the damaged Registry.
  
  NTREGOPT works by recreating each registry hive "from scratch", thus removing any slack space that may be left from previously modified or deleted keys. In other words, it compacts the Registry to a small size which allows Windows to load & perform faster.

In light of your recent troubles, I'm sure you'll like to avoid any future infections. Please take a look at these well written articles

• HOW DID I GET INFECTED IN THE FIRST PLACE?
• MAKING INTERNET EXPLORER SAFER

If you want to fight back the Malware Writers that have made your life a misery, please take a look here and read what you can do against it.

Please respond to this thread one more time so we can mark this thread as resolved.