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[SmithSM71]

My desktop has been taken over by a link that covers my whole screen. It is red with a large biohazard symbol and advertises a privacy protection software. my browser was going to these sites regardless of what i typed in. After running adaware and spybot it stopped and removed shortcut links from my desktop to programs i never installed. the only thing left is the desktop takeover and the security alerts popping up asking me to download their programs. The popups happen every few minutes.Under C/WINDOWS is a file called privacy protection. I tried to download hijackthis from you and the install is here but when i try to install it i can only get part of the way through before it closes on its own. Please help, i have tried everything i can think of.

[LDTate]

Hello and welcome to the forums

Some infections recognize the file HijackThis.exe

I suggest you do this:

Double-click My Computer.
Click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Clear "Hide file extensions for known file types."
Under the "Hidden files" folder, select "Show hidden files and folders."
Clear "Hide protected operating system files."
Click Apply, and then click OK.

Open the HijackThis Folder. Find the file HijackThis.exe, Right Click on the file and Select Rename. Rename Hijackthis.exe to Spyware.exe.


Next:

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
Download - ATF Cleaner»

Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
Under Main choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.

Note:
(If you use FireFox or the Opera browser
To keep saved passwords, click No at the prompt.)


It's normal after running ATF cleaner that the PC will be slower to boot the first time.

Next:

Download the trial version of AVG Anti-Spyware from here and install it. When the program has been installed, and you click the Finish button, AVG Anti-Spyware will open.

If the program does not automatically update itself during installation, or you are unsure whether it has done so, please do the following:

• Click the Update icon at the top and under Manual Update click the Start update button.
• The program will either update or inform you that no update was available.
• It is essential that you get the update - keep trying until successful. (Note: If you have problems getting the update, you can download an installer for the full database from here (save it on your desktop). Once you have downloaded the installer, make sure that AVG Anti-Spyware is closed and then double-click on avgas-signatures-full-current.exe to install the database).

Please set up the program as follows:

• Click the Shield icon at the top and under Resident shield is... click active. This should now
  change to inactive.
• Click the Update icon and untick the automatic update option.
• Click on Scanner on the toolbar.
• Click on the Settings tab.
• Under How to act? - make sure that Quarantine is selected.
• Under How to scan? - All checkboxes should be ticked.
• Under Possibly unwanted software - All checkboxes should be ticked.
• Under Reports - Select Do not automatically generate reports.
• Under What to scan? - Select Scan every file.

Close all open windows.
Do not run a scan yet.

Reboot your computer into SafeMode
You can do this by restarting your computer and continually tapping the F8 key until a menu appears.
Use your up arrow key to highlight SafeMode then hit enter.


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".
• ewido will now begin the scanning process, be patient this may take a little
  time.
• Let the program scan your computer.
• When the scan has finished, follow the instructions below:[list]
• Make sure that Set all elements to: shows Quarantine
• Important: Click on the Apply all Actions button (*** This must done before saving the report ***)
• When the program has finished, it will display the message All actions have been applied.
• Then click the Save Scan Report button.
• Click the Save Report as button.
• Save the report to your Desktop.
• Right-click the AVG Tray Icon and select Exit. Confirm by clicking Yes.
• Reboot in normal mode and copy the report back to this topic along with a new HijackThis log.