WOW! full price anti-spyware inserts it's own spyware! omg, how do they get away with that!

The dilema most average PC users like me face, i think stems from the fact we were happily surfing about, went to a site saying "hey click here, this is great", and BLAM!, we get stung with a myriad of trojans / malware / baddies.
Perhaps this leaves average PC users like me very sceptical of all future online promises, and we look for the most guarentees / certificates / mainstream-comfort of a popular and well known brand name, in which to trust our PC security... (imo).

I do agree tho, Big = slow and cumbersome. And I really appreciate the good will from both; a) these crazy dudes making up specific little programs which work. And b) from both you guys - you are amazing! (and amazingly patient, while I stumble around in this new territory!)

The big / small topic, reminds me of getting my car serviced; the large main-dealership will charge £300 for a service (and often mess it up!), yet a small independant garage will do the same / or better job for £130.

Anyway, back to the techy stuff... :-)



I ran the ATF-Cleaner, selected all, and cleared loads of junk out.

The C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DMXAS.EXE is not there anymore because a recent EWIDO scan (AVG spyware 7.5) identified it and quarantined it.

Thank you for informing me Java needed updating. I was not aware of this, (I've got used to software checking for updates automatically). Java.com now verified I have the latest version. Woo! I deleted an old Java 2 in control panel Add / Remove Programs, as you said.

Upon re-checking windows Add / Remove Programs, I noticed a new one I am not familiar with: "Confidence Online(tm) for Web Applications" This might be symantic? but I didn't ask for it to be there... it wouldn't be a problem if I removed it, will it?




Earlier PP mentioned this:

-- You guys may want to flush the DNS cache and definitely flush restore points after cleanup

This is interesting because EWIDO found a file stored as a system restore file.

How would I go about clearing out old system-restore information? or is this something unadvisable to do?





And here (for good measure) is my final (I HOPE!!! LOL!) HJT log:






Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 23:00:32, on 06/10/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Application Accelerator\iaantmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\Program Files\Prevx1\PXAgent.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Application Accelerator\iaanotif.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\Media Experience\PCMService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\DVDLauncher.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Modem Event Monitor\IntelMEM.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\DVDAudio\CTDVDDet.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic\Update Manager\sgtray.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\Program Files\Logitech\MouseWare\system\em_exec.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe
C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\MsPMSPSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Prevx1\PXConsole.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell.co.uk/myway
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.google.co.uk/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell.co.uk/myway
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.dell.co.uk/myway
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Connection Wizard,ShellNext = http://www.dell.co.uk/myway
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Tiscali 10.0
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = localhost
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: IexploreOmea - {09628AAA-66AD-4FA2-82E2-698185B66463} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Malicious Scripts Scanner - {55EA1964-F5E4-4D6A-B9B2-125B37655FCB} - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Prevx\pxbho.dll
O2 - BHO: DriveLetterAccess - {5CA3D70E-1895-11CF-8E15-001234567890} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswshx.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {BA52B914-B692-46c4-B683-905236F6F655} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: Omea - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D90A} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IAAnotif] C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Application Accelerator\iaanotif.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PCMService] "C:\Program Files\Dell\Media Experience\PCMService.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DVDLauncher] "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\DVDLauncher.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelMeM] C:\Program Files\Intel\Modem Event Monitor\IntelMEM.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTDVDDet] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2\DVDAudio\CTDVDDet.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTHelper] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AsioReg] REGSVR32.EXE /S CTASIO.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [UpdReg] C:\WINDOWS\UpdReg.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [dla] C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [UpdateManager] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic\Update Manager\sgtray.exe" /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Utility] Logi_MwX.Exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] "C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Defender] "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [!AVG Anti-Spyware] "C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\avgas.exe" /minimized
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PrevxOne] "C:\Program Files\Prevx1\PXConsole.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SB Audigy 2 Startup Menu] /L:ENG
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpybotSD TeaTimer] C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [msnmsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe" /background
O8 - Extra context menu item: Clip and Edit - res://C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll/1000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Clip and Save - res://C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll/1001
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Subscribe to Feed - res://C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll/1002
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\npjpi150_06.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\npjpi150_06.dll
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Uninstall BitDefender Online Scanner v8 - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D901} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Omea Add-on Options… - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D901} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O9 - Extra button: Subscribe to Feed - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D903} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O9 - Extra button: Clip and Edit - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D905} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O9 - Extra button: Clip and Save - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D907} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O9 - Extra button: Annotate - {35402C01-1777-4159-9ABA-3480BA70D909} - C:\Program Files\JetBrains\Omea Reader\IexploreOmeaW.dll (HKCU)
O16 - DPF: {193C772A-87BE-4B19-A7BB-445B226FE9A1} (ewidoOnlineScan Control) - http://download.ewido.net/ewidoOnlineScan.cab
O16 - DPF: {215B8138-A3CF-44C5-803F-8226143CFC0A} (Trend Micro ActiveX Scan Agent 6.5) - http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/ho...vex/hcImpl.cab
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S...in/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {39B0684F-D7BF-4743-B050-FDC3F48F7E3B} (FilePlanet Download Control Class) - http://www.fileplanet.com/fpdlmgr/ca...C_1_0_0_44.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D86DDB5-BDF9-441B-9E9E-D4730F4EE499} (BDSCANONLINE Control) - http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/oscan8.cab
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S.../bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {9A9307A0-7DA4-4DAF-B042-5009F29E09E1} (ActiveScan Installer Class) - http://acs.pandasoftware.com/actives...ree/asinst.cab
O16 - DPF: {9B03C5F1-F5AB-47EE-937D-A8EDA626F876} (Anonymizer Anti-Spyware Scanner) - http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/pro...tor/WebAAS.cab
O16 - DPF: {B38870E4-7ECB-40DA-8C6A-595F0A5519FF} (MsnMessengerSetupDownloadControl Class) - http://messenger.msn.com/download/ms...downloader.cab
O16 - DPF: {CAFEEFAC-0014-0002-0003-ABCDEFFEDCBA} -
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: AVG Anti-Spyware Guard - Anti-Malware Development a.s. - C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5\guard.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.exe
O23 - Service: IAA Event Monitor (IAANTMon) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Application Accelerator\iaantmon.exe
O23 - Service: LexBce Server (LexBceS) - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: Prevx Agent (PREVXAgent) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Prevx1\PXAgent.exe" -f (file missing)
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe