24 replies to this topic

[computerhelpplease]

Hi Shelf Life - sorry i haven't been able to do as you suggest. I"m at work now and will try to do it tonight or tomorrow the latest. thanks Emin

[shelf life]

hi, ok, no problem.

[computerhelpplease]

Hi Shelf Life - I hope you had a great day! I sucessfully uninstalled combofix. But I was not sucessful in completing the other steps because I was unsure whether to proceed when I got a pop up warning when I UNchecked "hide protected operating systems files. The warning box came up and it said: "You have chosen to display protected operating system files (files labeled System and Hidden) in Windows Explorer. These files are required to start and run Windows. Deleting or editing them can make your computer inoperable. Are you sure you want to display these files" Yes or No. When I read that it could make my computer inoperable I got nervous. I didn't want to open up another can of worms. So I will hold off hitting Yes or No until I hear from you Thanks Emin

[shelf life]

hi Emin,

The warning box came up and it said:

its safe to do. actually we are only doing it because i think this folder we are looking for:

C:\Program files\common files\
is normally hidden, i could be wrong, maybe iam thinking of the folder: application data. changing those settings would make it appear.
have a look without changing the settings.
if you see a Wintools folder in: C:\Program files\common Files delete it.


shelf life

[computerhelpplease]

Hi Shelf life I uncheck the items as you recommended but Wintools did not show in the common files? do you think it dissapeared when I uninstalled Combofix? what is this folder anyhow? Thanks Emin

[shelf life]

hi,

wintools is a older advertising toolbar that provided popups and monitored your browsing habits. i have not seen it in several years. actually you dont have it. the combofix reference is just a harmless registry entry left over. just to make sure i thought we would actually look anyway and you didnt see it so thats good.

i see two others, they are most likely also left over registry entries pointing to msconfig. i think that these startup entries remain in the msconfig list for ever. they are not on your computer though, like the wintools entry. if you really had a winfixer problem you would know it. they are harmless. software, good and bad can leave harmless registry leftovers. to be sure see if you can find them.

to remove them do this:

start Notepad (not wordpad), and copy and paste the contents of the code box below into a new text file.
Save it as file name: "fixme.reg" (not including the quotes). Save as file type: All files (*.*) and save it on your Desktop.

REGEDIT4

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\shared tools\msconfig\startupreg\Hotbar]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\shared tools\msconfig\startupreg\svt34i4e]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\shared tools\msconfig\startupreg\WinFixer 2006]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\shared tools\msconfig\startupreg\WinTools]

Now double-click on the fixme.reg file you just saved and click on the Yes button to merge it into the registry. Once you get a successful message delete the fixme.reg.

shelf life

[computerhelpplease]

Hi Shelf life, I hope you are having a good weekend. Looks like the fixme was sucessful. Am I all fixed now (I can just right click on it and hit delete? right) One question though, my cousin was using my computer last night and she went to a gossip website and when she clicked on something, a Malware popup appeared saying something to the fact that "if your computer has been running slowly etc it may be affected by Malware ...dowload malware detetector .. yes /no" of course she clicked no. Nothing else happen. I ran AVG, CCleaner, Ad-Aware and my spybot and everything seems OK. Should I panic is something like that pops up? I can't thank you enough for all the time you have spent on helping me with my computer problems. Emin

[shelf life]

hi Emin,

the weekend is always good. glad to help. yes you can right click on the fixme.reg and delete it from your desktop.

Should I panic is something like that pops up

just a pop up add. no need to panic. as a rule never download/install anything from a pop up ad. you might see these pop ups for registry cleaners or screen savers also.
i say you are good to go. see my link below for some prevention tips.

shelf life

[computerhelpplease]

Yay! I'm glad my problems have been resolved. I am so very thankful for your kindness, time and expertise. I"m going to miss coming on here and leaving you a message. Again, thank you for everything and I wish you a happy holiday and happy new year Emin

[shelf life]

hi Emin, thank you. Glad to help. You have a good holiday also, and happy safe surfing out there...... shelf life