Hello sparky1859-ga
It appears that your machines have become infected with a virus that
installs various spyware products. This has installed various files
on your hard drive that need to be removed before it will go away.
There are some fairly detailed instructions on its removal here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,11412856~mode=flat
In brief this is what you should do to remove the files:
(NB - this should be done on each infected PC *individually*. If they
are connected to any sort of network disconnect them from this BEFORE
you start anything. Only reconnect them to the network when you are
certain the files have been removed.)
1. Boot the PC into safe mode (extremely important!)
2. Delete sys32.exe, bling.exe, index.exe, and msnmgr5.exe if it exists.
3. Search the registry and delete all entries with those exe's as values.
4. Apply the following Microsoft patches -
For Win2K: KB828035, KB828741, KB828749, KB835732
For WinXP: Q315000, Q815021, KB828035, KB828741, KB835732
You can download or install these patches from the microsoft.com website.
I would also recommend that you download and run the following pieces
of software and heed their advice prior to doing anything else with
your PC. These should help protect your PC and help prevent this
happening in the future (although it is not a fail-safe protection
method as viruses and spyware are being developed constantly).
1) Run a virus scan (for instance from http://housecall.trendmicro.com
or from your desktop updated virus scanner such as Norton Anti-Virus)
2) Install and run Adaware
http://lavasoft.element5.com/default.shtml.en
3) Install and run SpyBot
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
I would also recommend that you get hold of a firewall and enable it
(or at the very least download the latest service packs from Microsoft
which include a firewall and make sure this is enabled).
There is also a useful tutorial here for combatting spyware:
http://www.greyknight17.com/spyware.htm
If you require any further information on this subject (or more
detailed instructions, as I am unaware as to how computer literate you
are) please ask for clarification and I will do my best to respond
swiftly. |