I think I have some type of spyware that I can't identify.  Every once
in a while, my system will slow down significantly, and a window pops
up that is titled "[[ Paladin's Matrix".  I regularly use highly rated
anti-spyware software(Spybot) but can't seem to get rid of it.  I
think ir "spoofs" my email address, because I've been getting emails
from people saying that I sent them a virus or something. What is it,
and how can I get rid of it?

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Clarification of Question by rliedtke-ga on 10 Aug 2004 23:09 PDT

Inside the popup box it looks like this:

Remote Matrix Address
   127.0.0.1

Remote Matrix Port
   47665

Status : Idle
        
              Connect

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Request for Question Clarification by rhansenne-ga on 11 Aug 2004 00:58 PDT

Hi,

This sounds a lot like a worm/trojan, in which case your anti-spyware
software will indeed not be able to detect it. Possibly it's the
W95.MTX virus, which carries the alias 'Matrix virus'. You can find
info on its removal here:

http://www.fireav.com/virusinfo/library/mtx.htm
http://service1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/html/W95.MTX.html

If you don't have an anti-virus installed, you might want to try out
one of the free on-line anti-virus scanners:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

Sincerely,

rhansenne-ga

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Clarification of Question by rliedtke-ga on 11 Aug 2004 07:11 PDT

Thanks for the fast response.  I have been using EZ antivirus (came
free with my cable internet service), and it hasn't found anything. 
Maybe I should try one of the others.

Finally, I think I'm getting somewhere with this.

Thanks again.

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Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 27 Aug 2004 09:25 PDT

Can you tell me if you still need help on this?

Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by rliedtke-ga on 27 Aug 2004 11:16 PDT

Hi
I actually did figure it out.  Thanks to all who responded.

As a Computer Science student, I am asked to deal with these sorts of
problems almost daily from my friends.  One thing that frequently
works with these worms / viruses is to simply remove them from the
windows startup sequence.  Although this does not actually remove the
program from your computer, it will at least eliminate the effects of
it.  Note: not all viruses / worms work this way, but a huge
percentage do.

Click on "Start" > "Run" and then type "msconfig" in the dialog box. 
Once you are in the System Configuration Utility click on the
"Startup" tab.  The programs you see here listed are the programs that
run automatically when you start your computer.  Try to figure out
what each program is and then remove any excess programs that don't
belong.  It is important to point out that none of these programs are
vital for your computer to run so don't be scared about deselecting
the wrong thing.  You probably don't want to deselect everything
though since some of these programs are truly beneficial.

I hope that helps, but let me know if you need any further clarification.  

Josh Fraser

Dear sir, 

Try Using AOL spyware remover.
It's good in that

Best regards ,
Mihai