amateur

Hi again,

It's recommended that you download the antivirus and the firewall applications onto a flash drive or CD before you reformat and reinstall; unplug the computer from the internet; Reformat & reinstall the operating system with all its patches. If you have problems downloading SP2, as it is rather large and you are on dialup, you can order the SP2 CD for 'free' from Microsoft that will save you all the hassles of trying to update online here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx

Once you have the Windows installed with all its patches, install the antivirus and the firewall using the flash drive/CD where you've downloaded them earlier, before you connect to the internet. Then, you can connect to the internet and update your system.

If you don't have any sensitive information on the computer and do not use it for banking, we can attempt to clean it. You might like to print these so that you can have access to them at all times:

1. Download AVG Anti-Spyware from HERE

• Install AVG Anti-Spyware
• Double-click the icon on Desktop to launch AVG Anti-Spyware

You will need to update AVG Anti-Spyware to the latest definition files.

• On the top of the main screen click Shield
• Click the word active to change it to inactive
• On the top of the main screen click Update.
• Then click on Start Update. The update will start and a progress bar will show the updates being installed.

• Once the update has completed select the "Scanner" icon at the top of the screen, then select the "Settings" tab.
• Once in the Settings screen click on "Recommended actions" and then select "Quarantine".
• Under "Reports"
  • Select "Automatically generate report after every scan"
  • Un-Select "Only if threats were found"

When you have finished updating, EXIT AVG Anti-Spyware. Do Not run a scan just yet, we will shortly.

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Make sure that you can see hidden files
· Click Start
· Open My Computer
· Select the Tools menu and click Folder Options
· Select the View Tab
· Under the Hidden files and folders heading select Show hidden files and folders
· Uncheck the Hide protected operating system files (recommended) option
· Click Yes to confirm
· Click OK
** These files are hidden to stop you accidentally removing something important.
It is advisable to hide them again after fixing your computer. **

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Please download Brute Force Uninstaller to your desktop.

• Right click the BFU folder on your desktop, and choose Extract All
• Click "Next"
• In the box to choose where to extract the files to,
• Click "Browse"
• Click on the + sign next to "My Computer"
• Click on "Local Disk (C:) or whatever your primary drive is
• Click "Make New Folder"
• Type in BFU
• Click "Next", and Uncheck the "Show Extracted Files" box and then click "Finish".

RIGHT-CLICK HERE and choose "Save As" (in IE it's "Save Target As") in order to download Alcra PLUS Remover.
Save it in the same folder you made earlier (c:BFU).

Do not do anything with these yet!

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Download SDFix and save it to your Desktop.

Double click SDFix.exe and it will extract the files to %systemdrive%
(Drive that contains the Windows Directory, typically C:\SDFix)

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Please then reboot your computer in Safe Mode by doing the following :

• Restart your computer
• After hearing your computer beep once during startup, but before the Windows icon appears, tap the F8 key continually;
• Instead of Windows loading as normal, the Advanced Options Menu should appear;
• Select the first option, to run Windows in Safe Mode, then press Enter.
• Choose your usual account.

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Then, please go to Start > My Computer and navigate to the C:BFU folder.

• Start the Brute Force Uninstaller by doubleclicking BFU.exe
• Behind the scriptline to execute field click the folder icon and select alcanshorty.bfu
• Press Execute and let the program do it's job. (You ought to see a progress bar if you did this correctly.)
• Wait for the complete script execution box to pop up and press OK.
• Press exit to terminate the BFU program.

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Next, still in Safe Mode:

• Open the extracted SDFix folder and double click RunThis.bat to start the script.
• Type Y to begin the cleanup process.
• It will remove any Trojan Services and Registry Entries that it finds then prompt you to press any key to Reboot.
• Press any Key and it will restart the PC.
• When the PC restarts the Fixtool will run again and complete the removal process then display Finished, press any key to end the script and load your desktop icons.
• Once the desktop icons load the SDFix report will open on screen and also save into the SDFix folder as Report.txt
  (Report.txt will also be copied to Clipboard ready for posting back on the forum).

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IMPORTANT: Do not open any other windows or programs while AVG Anti-Spyware is scanning, it may interfere with the scanning proccess:

• Lauch AVG Anti-Spyware by double-clicking the icon on your desktop.
• Select the "Scanner" icon at the top and then the "Scan" tab then click on "Complete System Scan".
• AVG Anti-Spyware will now begin the scanning process, be patient this may take a little time.
  Once the scan is complete do the following:
• If you have any infections you will prompted, then select "Apply all actions"
• Next select the "Reports" icon at the top.
• Select the "Save report as" button in the lower left hand of the screen and save it to a text file on your system (make sure to remember where you saved that file, this is important).
• Close AVG Anti-Spyware.

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Please post me a new hijackthis log and the logs from c:\BFU\log.txt , the Report.txt and the AVG Anti Spyware log.