How do I get rid of a worm/trojan horse?
 

I think my computer has a worm/trojan horse or something. I am forced to use Netscape because the Explorer always loads as it's homepage "best of the net" pay search engine and then just goes nuts with popups. If I go into sites like MSN or Norton or even Yahoo it will send me back to that ad search engine.

I've had it for about a year and since then the comp. has crashed several times and keeps getting slower in loading. I've lost like all video and can no longer get simulcast radio.

Also Explorer is always running when I hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to end task Explorer is always running, if I end task it, it shuts down the whole computer.

Anyway there are the symptoms and all I can think of. Anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

I am totally computer illiterate, I know how to get online and load things already programmed in, that's it.

Hmm...

I'm no expert on this (rarely affected by such things) but off the top of my head -

explorer is not internet explorer.

One is your hm...gui perhaps..your windows and such.
The other is your browser. (which I do NOT recommend using as your standard browser in the future. nor Netscape. Look into Firefox or Opera once you get this sorted).

Sounds like you have a hijacker, check the sticky at the top of this forum for all the progs you can run to clean up your system.

Depending on the results/performance after, you may simply be better off doing a format c: (perhaps have a more puter literate friend help you with that?).

Good luck! :)

//edit: what version of windows you running?

Check the sticky at the top of the forum: Tilted Forum Project - Tons of popups? Homepage changed?

you're right sin, the explorer.exe running isnt IE, thats going to show up as iexplore.exe. When you stop explorer.exe from running it will shut your pc down

off the top of my head I know if you have something called slmss.exe showing in the process list, thats something you dont want

Not necessarily, it never does that to me. (which is the 2nd reason I asked him about what Win version. 1st is it's just good info to post).

(XP Pro here, btw)

//edit - ShaniFaye gots a good point about check for suspect processes

There are 3 things I would do in this situation.

#1 - Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/house...tart_frame.asp and run a virus scan on your computer.

#2 - Go to http://www.download.com/redir?pid=10...-10214379.html to get Ad-Aware. Be sure and download the updates before scanning your system for adware via the "Open WebUpdate" button inside Ad-Aware.

#3 - Go to http://www.download.com/redir?pid=10...-10289035.html to get Spybot. Run this program to remove any spyware still left on your computer.

If these three steps don't solve your problem, I doubt you'll find any program that will. In that case, it may just be time for a reformat.

Scott

my bad....I have seen it shut the system down...but you're right about the win version...I have XP and it doesnt do it to me

I have windows '98.

Thanks for all the help I truly appreciate it.

Re: How do I get rid of a worm/trojan horse?
 

Number 1.> Yeah, that could be a trojan. you should download stinger from http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ and let it run, see if it picks anything up. You should also download Ad-aware 6 (which is free) and Spybot (also free) and use them. If you choose "Immunize" in spybot, it will block a lot of spyware products from running. Ultimately, I would recommmend reinstalling your computer. SOunds like a pain in the ass, but trust me.... if you do so once a year or so it fixes a lot of problems you didn't even know you had. Make sure you have installation CDs for as many devices as possible before doing so, and definately have drivers for your modem/dsl connection. That way you can get any drivers you don't have off the internet. Lemme know if you actually get frustrated enough to reinstall and I'll provide more specific instructions.
2.> Yeah...the Explorer you see running is Windows explorer, not internet explorer. t's pretty much what you interact with when you use windows, so don't be surprised if windows stops when explorer does.

Good luck.