Help! My computer is a spam zombie

[sonic_emperor]

yesterday when i connected to the net,suddenly my norton antivirus gone wild and started massivelly throw out messages about scaning of my outgoing mail...and im not sending anything,i scaned system with norton scan,and using ewido anti-malaware and they found nothing!!!and my computer just keeps sending mails - at least trys,i think my mail server is blocking some!

[Chewy]

try to update norton's virus definitions and boot into safe mode and run a full scan

[crazylikeafox]

yeah and get a firewall, i recommend the free version of zone alarm (google it) also if your not yet, use firefox and lastly get spyware blaster to prevent that crap: http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareBlaster_d2859.html

[Derree]

You have a worm..I had it as well..do like Chewy said and you will get rid of it..

[Chewy]

trojan hunter is another good scanner, think safe mode!

[sonic_emperor]

whats wrong wit antispyware software?
i have round 4 installed,and each finds something that other 3 couldnt detect?
and upon all norton antivirus seems to be useless...
now i have a blue screen instead of my desktop picture with a black square in the middle saying "SPYWARE INFECTION" + some other bla bla
and i cant change it back!

[Chewy]

spyaxe?

there are three levels of protection or infection

I. Virus
II. Trojans(grey area between 1 & 3)
III spyware

each of these areas are not distinct but just general categories, a virus will replicate itself
trojans are a more recent developement used by some of the lowlife internet marketing(spammers)
types to infect your computer.
spyware ranges from a tracking cookie to heavyduty malware

Norton's handles the virus's fairly well
other programs specialize in trojans and do quite a bit with the others
spybot is good for oldfashioned spyware

safe hex and vigilance are the only safe foolproof protections, that's up to you!

If you want to surf and download dangerously then get used to reloading your computer.
Been there and done that!

[sonic_emperor]

thnx...my antispyware and antivirus armada shall take care of all malicious threats

[NightbladeXX]

IMO - Norton is all flash and no guts. I see way too many probs with norton missing something and a virus/worm/trojan destroying Nortons Files there by disabling it.

Personally, I ve had my Norton vaporized spent 3 days with Nortons techs then found that had happen, and they left me out to dry. Refromatted. then installed AVG anti-virus.

Norton and McAfee are the big targets. AVG is free, and IMO works better.

Also get a good firewall i like ZoneAlarm Pro, that'll stop the spam if you get hit in the future too.

Note: never ever use the default directory for any Protection Program - Rename it manually

[tigerman8u]

AVG free has worked good for me. A couple years ago I used Norton and IMO it is a bloated hog

[NightbladeXX]

Here is a list of everything I run minus a few other programs that I havent had long enough to trust completely
<o></o>
Mozilla’s FireFox: An alternate web browser to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer: FireFox is the Free 2006 award winning browser designed to surf the web easier, faster, & more secure. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

ZoneLab’s ZoneAlarm: A firewall program that stops hackers from getting into your PC. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<< I highly recommend that you purchase ZoneAlarm Pro!<o></o>

Grisoft’s AVG: Anti-virus program. Please NOTE: that you should only have ONE anti-virus program on your computer as they will have problems working properly, if you are running more than one. If you already have Norton or McAfee on your computer please remove it first before installing AVG. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Lavasoft’s Adaware SE:Anti-Spyware / Malware removal tool. Please note you can run multiple anti-spyware programs on your system. <ACTIVE> run time protection with purchased version.>>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

PepiMK Software’s Spybot S&D:Anti-Spyware / Malware removal tool. Please note you can run multiple anti-spyware programs on your system. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Javacool’s SpywareBlaster:Anti-Spyware / Malware prevention tool. This program doesn’t remove or detect spyware; it works by preventing IE or FireFox from going to known BAD websites. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware (Beta):Anti-Spyware / Malware removal tool. Please note you can run multiple anti-spyware programs on your system. <ACTIVE> run time protection.>>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Premium Programs that I run and have paid for:<o></o>

Web Root’s Spy Sweeper 4.5:Anti-Spyware / Malware removal tool. Please note you can run multiple anti-spyware programs on your system. <ACTIVE> run time protection. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Ewido’s Anti-Malware 3.5: Anti-Spyware / Malware removal tool. Please note you can run multiple anti-spyware programs on your system. <ACTIVE> run time protection. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

<o> </o>

Other must have tools or programs:<o></o>

O&O Defrag V6.5 Professional Edition:Hard disk defragmenter program. You must register name and email. O&O’s older programs you can download for home use for FREE! >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Google Toolbar: By far the best toolbar addition for IE or FireFox. Now with a spell checker for web forms!! >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

Google Desktop Search:A better system search tool. >>>>Click here to Download the Program<<<<<o></o>

WinRAR:WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format. Trial Version Available. http://www.rarlab.com/<o></o>

[sonic_emperor]

wow...thnx

[eamclaug523]

"now i have a blue screen instead of my desktop picture with a black square in the middle saying "SPYWARE INFECTION" + some other bla bla
and i cant change it back!"

My day job involves this kinda of crap. it's that windows wmf/emf exploit. see attached link for directions on unrestiering the problem dll file.

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/12/exploit_release.html

after you unregister the dll boot to safemode and run your spyware cleaners (this should remove it) after you finish and reboot normally, reregister the dll by removing typing the same line as you did to unregister this time without the '/u'. update windows criticals from thier site.... and you should be clean.

[Chewy]

bla bla

spyaxe?

[eamclaug523]

sorry chewy, quoted sonic emporers first post. in spybot s&d the spyware found is spysheriff. other removal tools call it spyaxe.