I just dont know why...

[PhoenixFirewall]

So, my intertent basted programs (browsers, games, messengers, etc) would turn off automatically for reasons beyond my understanding. After a week of trying to figure it out, I said fugg it and just restored my system entirely.

After the restore, I went thru the motions installing drivers, hardware, and finally my ISP service. By default my system has Norton, which detected a virus and deleted it. OK thats good. Then detects another one that cannot be deleted, and the window would not go away. I hit OK and the window pops back up again. Only after shutting down my system and restarting can I make it go away. But after each restart the same thing would happen. After 3 hours of fighting with the window, I just deleted Norton. Not the smartest thing to do but I can always reinstall. I made a note of the "virus" that could not be deleted. C:/WINDOWS/System32/hwclock.exe

With Norton gone, I can work marginally better than with it in. Things still bog down and fink out and I have no clue why. I've done a few restores in my time but nothing ever got messed up this soon after restore. Any ideas as to what is going on? Thanks.

[EzyStvy]

You deleted your AV program cause it kept doing it's job

Try this one:
Free On-Line Virus Scanner
http://housecall.trendmicro.com

[PhoenixFirewall]

No, it did its job one time. Then the second time, the window would NOT close. And nothing would work unless that window is gone. I clicked OK, I clicked X and the window kept popping back up instantly. The only way for the window to stop popping up is to kill Norton.

[Stryker]

I clicked OK, I clicked X and the window kept popping back up instantly.

Probably because it kept detecting the virus.

[PhoenixFirewall]

I figured that much. But when the file is impossible to delete, it makes my AV software pretty useless. Isnt it enough that it informs me once and then goes away? How do I get rid of it? I also noted that Ctrl+Alt+Delete doesnt work right now. It gives me the icon in my start bar, but doesnt pop up on my screen itself.

[pam123]

This is what it is : http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/star....EXE-7823.html

It's was in your restore files, it acts like a trojan as well as a worm/virus, so buy eliminating Norton's 2004 and restoring the computer you've just let it run unchecked.
In the future when your av turns up malware google it so you know what it is and what to do about it.
What you did was the equivalent of shooting the messenger.
You're now going to have to reformat.
Save what you can, and scan those files before you reinstall them on your machine, and nuke the current install.
The reason you can't get to task manager is because that thing runs at start up and prevents you from doing so. It will very likely prevent you from using or installing any av or spyware removal tools also in addition to keeping you away from on-line sites like TrendMicro's Housecall.

edit : You shouldn't have gotten tagged at all. Keep Norton's up to date.
In the future after you remove a trojan disable System Restore and reboot the computer. That will dump all the restore files and the trojan with them, also dump all temporary files with Disk Cleanup.
Re-enable System Restore after you're sure you got everything.

[PhoenixFirewall]

Spiffy! Now, how exactly do I disable system restore? Hmm... now that I think about it, would it be a good idea to save my spyware programs to disc and install them before I even connect to the internet after a system restore? I found it kind of strange that Adaware found over 800 things to delete within one day of my system restore.

[mystvearn]

Press the windows key+ pause break key

Or just got the long way into system, there is a a tab called System Restore.
Check the first box: disable system restore.
HTH

[pam123]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFirewall Spiffy! Now, how exactly do I disable system restore? Hmm... now that I think about it, would it be a good idea to save my spyware programs to disc and install them before I even connect to the internet after a system restore? I found it kind of strange that Adaware found over 800 things to delete within one day of my system restore.

I'm assuming you meant reformat, as in "nuke and pave", not restore.
If the anti-spyware programs are ones you bought on-line and downloaded then by all means burn them to disk along with the rest of the data you want to keep.
If you downloaded Norton's 2004 then burn that also.
If the anti-spyware is the free version don't bother you can download another copy later.
If you'll tell us what computer you have, home built or OEM (that's Dell, etc.) and if you have an XP cd , a restore cd, or a restore partition, we can walk you through the necessary steps to get you back up and running.

The massive spyware invasion is what malware does and alot of what it installs is stealthed and/or self-reinstalling. You'd be clicking remove in Adaware forever.
I'm surprised you computer still functions at all.

[glc]

You could try to run Housecall in safe mode with networking after disabling system restore.

[PhoenixFirewall]

OK. I have (again) restored my PC back to only original programs. Everything that was on the HD was destroyed. Norton 2003 is included with the recovery software in addition to LiveUpdate.

My PC is a PowerSpec (www.microcenter.com), and is probably pretty outdated by now. I have a set of Recovery DC's that can recover origional componets or "Nuke and Pave" the entire HD... I chose the latter. After recovery, I set up all user accounts and settings. Installed MS OfficeXP and its componets. Transfered all my saved files to where they were before restore. Downloaded Firefox (note that at this point my PC has not yet been connected to the net), and then poped in my ISP disc. Verison with MSN. At this point I connected to the net and set up everything with MSN.

Now I'm left with a fairly clean machine (I hope)... What do you recommend I do now? What is a good AV/spyware software that I can run regularly? And can someone tell my why SP2 is so bad? I hear stories but no details. Thanks for the help. Yes I am a noob.

Edit: My internet just died again, but after restart everything has been running very fast (the way I'm used to) so I'm hoping that whatever is wrong has been eliminated by Norton. It did remove something after start up.

[pam123]

Do not go on the net without a firewall.
Your uninfected pc will last, as such, for an average of 20 minutes according to the lastest stats.
If you have SP1 it has a firewall, turned off by default, that you can use while downloading the programs you'll need.
SP2 has a more powerful firewall turned on by default and a general security center which, depending on your views, is or isn't just so much window dressing.
SP2 broke several older programs when first released since then the publishers have updated.
If you run into trouble with it the first thing to do is go find any updates for the programs that are having problems.
I use the free ZoneAlarm firewall and Grisoft's AVG, a free anti-virus program.
I have these programs to stop spyware : Adaware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Micorsoft Anti-Spyware, and Spyware Blaster.
I've used Firebird and Thunderbird for the last year.
You need SP2 and you need the security updates that Microsoft has been releasing since 9/04.
I use automatic update and I have it set to ask me before it downloads or installs anything since I'm the picky type and not all updates are security updates.
Nothing wrong with being a noob, we've all been there.

[PhoenixFirewall]

Your setup is almost exactly what I use. ZA, Adaware, Spybot. I used to use AVG, but it had conflicts with a program that I ran (cant remember which one as it was almost a year ago), and have since reverted to Norton. Of course I dont go online w/o a firewall. Thanks for explaining what SP2 does, although most of my teachers hate it. Hope all this is clearing up my system. If I have any more questions I shall post them. Thanks for the help everyone.

[pam123]

Glad it's going well.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFirewall Thanks for explaining what SP2 does, although most of my teachers hate it.

Perhaps I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, but I would ask your teacher(s) WHY they hate SP2 so much. I'm guessing the read something on the internet months ago about conflicts and have now made up their minds without gathering more facts about the current situation. I've installed SP2 on dozens of machines and all it has ever done is increase security and improve performance. I haven't seen adverse effects since about a month after it was released and subsequently patched up.

They may have valid reasons for disliking SP2, I just dislike it when people base a conclusion on old information and infer that conclusion on others.

Just my 1.25 cents.
Stryker

[PhoenixFirewall]

No prob, Stryker. My one teacher hates it because he is my Unix instructor, my other hates it because he uses (I assume) Mac applications almost exclusively for his animations (my eventual profession), and my other teacher, if I remember correctly, said something about it having more security flaws than it fixes. This is the reason they tell me not to use IE because of the massive security flaws that lie within. And just to verify thier knowledge, my unix teacher does IP security and my other teacher does the same and was also employed by the FBI to find security leaks in their network. This is only what he told the class so take it as you will. If I ever see them, I'll ask about their reasoning and post it, but I'm fairly sure that it is because of the unstable nature of any Windows OS in general.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by PhoenixFirewall This is the reason they tell me not to use IE because of the massive security flaws that lie within.

This I would agree with... but IE is not SP2. Besides, there is pretty much ALWAYS a risk when you connect to the internet regardless of the browser or OS. I use Firefox, but it ain't perfect either. It takes a certain amount of intelligence to have an internet connection and not be taken advantage of.

Originally Posted by PhoenixFirewall but I'm fairly sure that it is because of the unstable nature of any Windows OS in general.

Yet another tidbit of misinformation. Windows is not unstable by nature. I'm not saying that it's perfect, or even better than other OS options. Just that it isn't flat out unstable.

I have not doubt that your teachers are educated and skilled at their trade, but it just seems to me that they are using their position (i.e. having a class of students who trust them) to pawn off their opinions as fact. I would have a greater respect for it if they were to elaborate with "SP2 is horrible, and here's why........".

I'll take it easy now, as this is beginning to sound like a rant.
Stryker