Strange Applications on my Desktop

[MercyMia]

Help! I did some computer housecleaning today. Cleaned out the hard disk drives, defragmented and then restarted the machine. I got some strange website first thing when I clicked on Internet Explorer asking me if I had unfamiliar icons on my desktop and if I did, that I probably had spyware on my computer.

I looked at the desktop and sure enough, there are 6 new icons, namely

o
o
silent
bs5-ntl5v
CS4P)28
0021-bdl94126

I searched for files with those names (at least the last 3 since they were unusual names) and found new applications that had been modified at the time and date of my maintenance activity above.

Are these dangerous files? Can I delete them without messing up the rest of my computer? Will spyware (such as Lavasoft) prevent filkes like this from appearing on my computer again?

 

[Hexxed]

A good spyware killer:Spybot

also check out adaware by lavasoft. Those two programs are great for getting rid of spyware. I'd also run a virus scan if you haven't already. It sounds like something like malware has infected your IE browser (one of the many reasons I rarely use IE for web surfing these days).

 

[MercyMia]

A good spyware killer:Spybot

also check out adaware by lavasoft. Those two programs are great for getting rid of spyware. I'd also run a virus scan if you haven't already. It sounds like something like malware has infected your IE browser (one of the many reasons I rarely use IE for web surfing these days).

Okay, thanks, Hexxed. What do you surf with if not IE?

 

[Hexxed]

I use mozilla firefox. It has built in ad blocking and its generally not as likely to have it hijacked by spyware etc. as IE. Opera is pretty good too.

 

[manofsteel52]

Hiya Mercy darlin'!
Nice to see you
I never use IE because of the security risks and popups. As mentioned, spybot and other spyware blockers are very good.
Also, I use Netscape 7.1, which is built on Mozilla and includes a popup blocker. You can download it free...

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/default.jsp

You can also download free antivirus software. I really like this one.

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php
Hope this helps.

 

[MercyMia]

Thanks again Hexxed. And thank you manofsteel. I'll try downloading mozilla and also try the grisoft software.

to each of you.

Mia

 

[zhukov1943]

Spybot rocks. Can't recommend it enough.

Oh, and use the "startup" function under "tools" to see if the damned spyware is re-installing itself. Highlight the different startup programs, and see what Spybot tells you about them. Any of them that it says are spyware, disable 'em.

Oh, and if you can figure out where you're picking it up from, let the site know. A lot of times, they have no idea....

 

[Vixandra]

I use nothing but Mozilla on my home computers and have it loaded on the puters at work to.
www.mozilla.org
Simply adore it- no pop ups, less problems, just have to download the Netscape style patches for things like flash player. Not to bad really.

 

[Ljbonobo]

anyone who uses netscape is basically using mozilla. netscape is built off of the same code

 

[MercyMia]

Spybot rocks. Can't recommend it enough.

Oh, and use the "startup" function under "tools" to see if the damned spyware is re-installing itself. Highlight the different startup programs, and see what Spybot tells you about them. Any of them that it says are spyware, disable 'em.

Oh, and if you can figure out where you're picking it up from, let the site know. A lot of times, they have no idea....

Yes, exactly, I couldn't trace where I picked up the virus. It seems to have taken residence on my drive on 17 March and then exploded on the 10th of April. Sort of like a time bomb.

Thanks for the heads up on the spyware reinstalling. Spybot found n-Case and disabled it. I deleted the file folder from my hard drive and then emptied the recycle bin. I hope that's the last of that little sucker.

 

[MercyMia]

I use nothing but Mozilla on my home computers and have it loaded on the puters at work to.
www.mozilla.org
Simply adore it- no pop ups, less problems, just have to download the Netscape style patches for things like flash player. Not to bad really.

Thanks for one more vote of confidence in mozilla, vixandra. I downloaded Netscape and deleted the IE icon from my desktop. I've designated Netscape as my default browser. Yup, very quickly, I had to download flash. My hard drive is purring. I sure hope this is not a temporary peace!

 

[MercyMia]

anyone who uses netscape is basically using mozilla. netscape is built off of the same code

Yes, thank you

to everyone who helped me get through a scary time.

 

[MercyMia]

bump...

for reference

 

[Hexxed]

Glad things are werkin good now.

 

[sumaz]

Try to use "Ad-Aware Pro v6.0 Build 181"

It's a good app to remove the junk files, trojan horse, spyware, plugin, ads......

 

[Vixandra]

Ad-aware's a great program to. I run that about every two weeks on my home puter and weekly on the puters at work (I'm my units assistant SysOp).


The reason Netscape and Mozilla are so alike is simple. The guys who made Netscape didn't want it to be a charged for browser- they got pissed off at the company and later released Mozilla. It uses similar source codes and such and is more secure then using Explorer.
Why- explorer is tied to your windows OS- every program uses some form of it to open up, whether you like it or not, and its a direct link to the OS. That's how "bad people" put viruses and data-miners on your computer- Explorer links to the OS and from there to EVERYTHING else.
Mozilla doesn't do that- its just an application that Windows OS's couldn't give a damn less about. So you can't go from it to the OS (far as I know)
And this concludes my lecture on Mozilla vs the Evil IE.
*bows*

 

[sumaz]

If you guys use Ad-Aware you need to update its Reference file every week b/c it update a lot; which is good for us.

Opera is one of the good browser too.

 

[MercyMia]

Glad things are werkin good now.

Thanks in part to you, Hexxed

 

[MercyMia]

sumaz, I didn't realize I needed to update AdAware that often. Doesn't it do the same thing that Spybot does?

Vixandra, thanks for the inside story on Mozilla.

 

[Ms_Lilith]

That is a trojan horse. We found that on my computer at work only two days ago.

Get your virus def's updated, do a scan, and DON"T OPEN those applications.

 

[ReadyOne]

sumaz, I didn't realize I needed to update AdAware that often. Doesn't it do the same thing that Spybot does?

Vixandra, thanks for the inside story on Mozilla.

Adaware finds spyware, hijacks, etc. Updates are coming at least once a week.

Spybot does the same and more. There haven't been updates for at least a month. I wonder if it's become an orphan? The ad generating people were hammering his site quite hard a while back, which gets expensive.

Spybot also has two immunization functions which install blockers against know ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects (BHOs).

The ActiveX protection overlaps with SpywareBlaster, and there is a reference to SpywareBlaster on the Spybot imminization page.

SpywareGuard is by the SpywareBlaster people and provides an active defense against hijackings, BHOs, etc.

These are the only free products I know of; there are many more that use pay for subscriptions.

 

[MercyMia]

That is a trojan horse. We found that on my computer at work only two days ago.

Get your virus def's updated, do a scan, and DON"T OPEN those applications.

Thanks, vixenshe. From now on, I'll be more vigilant about the contents of my desktop. I've trimmed away the icons I don't need often so that the screen isn't as cluttered. Should be easier to spot suspicious "applications."

 

[MercyMia]

Adaware finds spyware, hijacks, etc. Updates are coming at least once a week.

Spybot does the same and more. There haven't been updates for at least a month. I wonder if it's become an orphan? The ad generating people were hammering his site quite hard a while back, which gets expensive.

Orphan, meaning the programmers no longer update its capabilities to include new malware? I'll have to check SpyBot's website.

I recently read Dan Brown's novel, Digital Fortress, and while I'm sure some of it is heightened drama, the book gave me a feel for the intensity with which hackers attack computer systems and databases. Electronic data has become such an important resource that it attracts its own form of robbers.

 

[browncow]

Download hijackthis a spyware program. Run it and save the log. Go to Cexx.org and look on the forums. Post your log and in a day an expert on this stuff named ungy will tell you how to get rid of the spyware.

This is just incase spybot doesnt work, which for what you have it most likely wont.

 

[MercyMia]

Thank you, browncow. It sounds like you've had a bit of practice cleaning up your computer, too.