Possible Virus/Trojan?

[bittersweet84]

I started up my computer before with immediate "pop up alert noises" but no pop up screens; strange I know - The system sounded in overdrive. Anyway I opened internet explorer and had "0000000000000000000000000" repeatedly in the address bar doing itself. I opened a document and the same thing happened. This seems very strange to the homepage hijacking etc I have experienced in the past. Any suggestions what this could be?

[FreewheelinFrank]

Hi bittersweet84,

Here is some cleaning advice you can follow.

Look for and remove rootkits (hidden malware):



Panda Antirootkit

Blacklight

AVG Anti-Rootkit



Try a boot time scan with avast! Right click the scanner screen, select 'schedule a boot time scan' and reboot when requested.



Try a scan with DrWeb CureIT!



Try the usual free adware/spyware scanners.



AVG Anti-Spyware Free (Requires Win2k/XP)

Ad-Aware Free

Spybot Search & Destroy

SUPERAntiSpyware Free

a-Squared Free



Download, install and update the programs. Disconnect from the internet (pull the plug) before running scans in Safe Mode if possible.



Always select the option to quarantine any malware found rather than delete it, then you will be able to restore files or registry entries wrongly identified as malware- a rare but not unknown event for any malware scanner.



Try some online scans. (Disable avast! while scanning.)



F-Secure

BitDefender

Panda

Trend Micro Housecall



If still having problems, post a HijackThis! log.



When you have finished, scan for out-of-date and insecure software using Secunia Software Inspector and update any vulnerable software: this will help to prevent future infections.



Install SpywareBlaster also to prevent future infections: don't forget to update every month or so.