Re: Messenger service..critical Errors

From: Malke (malke_at_nospoonnotreally.com)
Date: 01/04/05 

Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 06:18:42 -0800

Gibraltar wrote:

> hello
> my friend recently been recieving this odd message
> :message from system to user ..
> Warning! your computer may have critical errors in registry and file
> system. these errors can lead to computercrashes, instability and full
> system failure..
> it goes on and to finally asks to log on to a site at
> ..'www.errorfixer.com' we wre wondering if this is a virus of some
> sort ..he cannot log onto the internet anymoreand hes running windows
> 2000. hes at his wits end and any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hi Alan. Your friend is getting messages from spyware, which means he
needs to clean up his computer. An additional step is that he should
disable the Messenger service (no, this is not related to Instant
Messenger) by going to Start>Run and typing (without quotes)
"services.msc" [enter]. Scroll down to the Messenger service and
double-click it to get its Properties. Stop the service and set to
Disabled. However, doing this without running a firewall is just
masking the problem so make sure your friend has a firewall.

Now, on to the cleanup steps. Do everything with updated tools in Safe
Mode.

1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions.

2) Remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-aware. These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from Intermute. I would not
install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there are
CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at SilentRunners.

Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea
to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see
all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options).

HijackThis is an excellent tool to discover and disable hijackers, but
it requires expert skill. See below for HijackThis links. A combination
of HijackThis and About:Buster works well in removing the About:Blank
homepage hijacker. Again, this is an expert tool and novices should get
help with it.

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).

4) Make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update.

5) Run a firewall.

Links to help with malware:

Software/Methods:
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Ad-aware
http://www.majorgeeks.com - good download site
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. - SilentRunners

HijackThis:
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Jim
Eshelman
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/

General:
http://forum.aumha.org/ - look under "Security" for various forums
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Malke 

-- 
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

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