I have no idea. . .

No. Never mind, that file is ok.

How is your computer running?

I believe its doing much better. Since we've managed to stop those horrible windows installer messages, everything's pretty much back to normal.

Do you have any idea what could have been behind all the issues?

Thank you so much for all the help. Whatever it was, it was definitely a nightmare wrestling it, and I can never thank you enough for helping me. Especially since it seemed like when you got one thing fixed, something else would go wrong, and it was just so overwhelming for me. But I believe everything is being contained as of now. So, even if there is still something lurking around, I think I've got everything set up with my firewall and stuff so it can't do too much.

I'll keep an eye out for anything strange, and if things start acting up again, I know where to go to.

Good. It was malware causing the trouble... for sure.

Now, let's clean up and make sure you are in good shape.

Now to get you off to a good start we will clean your restore points so that all the bad stuff is gone for good. Then if you need to restore at some stage you will be clean. There are several ways to reset your restore points, but this is my method:

• Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System tools > System Restore.
  
• On the dialogue box that appears select Create a Restore Point
  
• Click NEXT
  
• Enter a name e.g. Clean
  
• Click CREATE

You now have a clean restore point, to get rid of the bad ones:

• Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk Cleanup.
  
• In the Drop down box that appears select your main drive e.g. C
  
• Click OK
  
• The System will do some calculation and the display a dialogue box with TABS
  
• Select the More Options Tab.
  
• At the bottom will be a system restore box with a CLEANUP button click this
  
• Accept the Warning and select OK again, the program will close and you are done
  

To remove all of the tools we used and the files and folders they created, please do the following:
Please download OTC.exe by OldTimer:

• Save it to your Desktop.
  
• Double click OTC.exe.
  
• Click the CleanUp! button.
  
• If you are prompted to Reboot during the cleanup, select Yes.
  
• The tool will delete itself once it finishes.
  

Note: If any tool, file or folder (belonging to the program we have used) hasn't been deleted, please delete it manually.

==

Please download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

• Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
  
• It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
  
• Click the Start
  button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp
  files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute
  or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
  
• Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

==

Download Security Check by screen317 from SpywareInfoforum.org or Changelog.fr.

• Save it to your Desktop.
• Double click SecurityCheck.exe and follow the onscreen instructions inside of the black box.
• A Notepad document should open automatically called checkup.txt; please post the contents of that document.

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you! I've been abnormally busy. I'm not an expert on these logs, but does it say my Java is out of date? I suppose I better go get some updates. . .

Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.1
Windows XP Service Pack 3
``````````````````````````````
Antivirus/Firewall Check:
Windows Firewall Enabled!
Antivirus up to date! (On Access scanning disabled!)
``````````````````````````````
Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:
HijackThis 2.0.2
CCleaner
Java(TM) 6 Update 18
Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 5
Java(TM) 6 Update 7
Java Auto Updater
Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_03
Out of date Java installed!
Adobe Flash Player 10
Adobe Reader 8.2.0
Out of date Adobe Reader installed!
``````````````````````````````
Process Check:
objlist.exe by Laurent
Comodo Firewall cmdagent.exe
Comodo Firewall cfp.exe
``````````````````````````````
DNS Vulnerability Check:
GREAT! (Not vulnerable to DNS cache poisoning)

`````````End of Log```````````

Java is not out of date, but you will need to remove these updates:

Java(TM) 6 Update 3
Java(TM) 6 Update 5
Java(TM) 6 Update 7

===

Please download the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe.com

Before installing: it is important to remove older versions of Acrobat Reader since it does not do so automatically and old versions still leave you vulnerable.
Go to the Control Panel and enter Add or Remove Programs.
Search in the list for all previous installed versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Uninstall/Remove each of them.

Once old versions are gone, please install the newest version.

====

Please read the following information that I have provided, which will help you prevent malicious software in the future. Please keep in mind, malware is a continuous danger on the Internet. It is highly important to stay safe while browsing, to prevent re-infection.

Software recommendations

Antivirus/Antispyware

• Microsoft Security Essentials: this is Microsoft's free antivirus/antispyware program. It equips you with protection against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, and worms. It is also light on the computer's performance. Note: when installing this, you have both an antivirus and antispyware. Make sure you also get a firewall.
  
• AVG Free: this is one of the most powerful, and easiest to use security software. The free version equips you with protection against viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits, worms, and rogue software. Note: when installing this, you have both an antivirus and antispyware. Make sure you also get a firewall.

Firewall

• Tallemu Online Armor: the free version is just as good as the premium. I have linked you to the free version.
  
• Comodo Firewall: the free version is just as good as the premium. I have linked you to the free version. The optional security suite enhances the firewall by 40% increase. If you would like to install the suite that includes antivirus, then remove your old antivirus first.
  
• PC Tools Firewall Plus: free and excellent firewall.

Note: Please keep ALL of these programs up-to-date and run them whenever you suspect a problem to prevent malware problems.

Resident Protection help
A number of programs have resident protection and it is a good idea to run the resident protection of one of each type of program to maintain protection. However, it is important to run only one resident program of each type since they can conflict and become less effective. That means only one antivirus, firewall, and scanning anti-spyware program at a time. Passive protectors such as SpywareBlaster can be run with any of them.

Rogue programs help
There are a lot of rogue programs out there that want to scare you into giving them your money and some malware actually claims to be security programs. If you get a popup for a security program that you did not install yourself, do NOT click on it and ask for help immediately. It is very important to run an antivirus and firewall, but you can't always rely on reviews and ads for information. Ask in a security forum that you trust if you are not sure. If you are unsure and looking for anti-spyware programs, you can find out if it is a rogue here:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Securing your computer

• Windows Updates - It is very important to make sure that both Internet Explorer and Windows are kept current with the latest critical security patches from Microsoft. To do this just start Internet Explorer and select Tools > Windows Update, and follow the online instructions from there.
  
• hpHosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one containing well known ad sites and other bad sites. This prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1, which is your local computer's loopback address, meaning it will be difficult to infect your computer in the future.
  

Please consider using an alternate browser
Mozilla's Firefox browser is a very good alternative. In addition to being generally more secure than Internet Explorer, it has a very good built-in popup blocker and add-ons, like NoScript, can make it even more secure. Opera is another good option.

If you are interested:

• Firefox may be downloaded from here: http://www.getfirefox.com
  
• Opera is available here: http://www.opera.com/download/
  

See this page for more info about malware and prevention.

Thank you for choosing GeekPolice. Please see this page if you would like to leave feedback or contribute to our site. Do you have any more questions?

Nope! No more questions. Thank you so much for all your time and help!

Alrighty. Get started on the Academy when you want.

Thanks a bunch! I need to start hitting the Academy hard now that I'm finally getting some free time again! Its been taking me forever on my current log because I just have not been home at all. . .one of those series of unfortunate events type of months. Things are dying down now, and I'm just really eager to get back to working on the academy logs.

Again, thank you so much for all your help. . .and thanks for telling me I need to delete those old Java and Adobe updates, I never knew you were supposed to. In fact, I probably would have never thought of it. A million thank yous for everything!

You're welcome.