[MikeS.]

Hi, I recently was infected with that "only the best" virus which infects internet explorer, and attempted to get rid of it myself and so far it seems to have worked since it hasn't come back. Right now, I am suspicious of the system32 processes such as svchost.exe (there's multiple instances of this one running simultaneously) and nvsvc32.exe, spoolsv.exe, etc.

Also, internet explorer seems to open by itself at system startup, which didn't happen before "only the best" infected it. Is there anyway I can stop it from loading, without going to selective startup in msconfig? I also noticed that, strangely, after the virus took over and I got rid of it, Hijackthis as well as some other applications, like my ISP program, can't detect internet explorer's version.

The main thing is that I'm afraid there might still be some viruses or something still affecting the computer which are undetected. Besides the things I've mentioned already, the number of "weird" folders inside the WINDOWS folder makes me very suspicious. Folders such as "pss", "srchasst", "MVUNINST", "ime", "Prefetch", and 16 normally hidden folders with names similar to "$NtUninstallKB810217$".

Here's my Hijackthis log file:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 2:47:14 PM, on 5/3/2005
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Unable to get Internet Explorer version!

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:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\FrameworkService.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\Mcshield.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\VsTskMgr.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7Debug\mdm.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxssvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Creative\ShareDLL\CtNotify.exe
C:\Program Files\Adaptec\Easy CD Creator 5\DirectCD\DirectCD.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MI948F~1\GAMECO~1\Common\SWTrayV4.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\SHSTAT.EXE
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\UpdaterUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\ShareDLL\MediaDet.Exe
C:\Program Files\AIM95\aim.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy\Taskbar\CTLTray.exe
C:\Paltalk\pnetaware.exe
C:\AboutBuster\HijackThis.exe

O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {ACB1E670-3217-45C4-A021-6B829A8A27CB} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Disc Detector] C:\Program Files\Creative\ShareDLL\CtNotify.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTStartup] C:\Program Files\Creative\Splash Screen\CTEaxSpl.EXE /run
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AdaptecDirectCD] "C:\Program Files\Adaptec\Easy CD Creator 5\DirectCD\DirectCD.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinFast2KLoadDefault] rundll32.exe wf2kcpl.dll,DllLoadDefaultSettings
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SideWinderTrayV4] C:\PROGRA~1\MI948F~1\GAMECO~1\Common\SWTrayV4.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WINDVDPatch] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ShStatEXE] "C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\SHSTAT.EXE" /STANDALONE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [McAfeeUpdaterUI] "C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\UpdaterUI.exe" /StartedFromRunKey
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StopMessengerSpam] C:\Program Files\StopMessengerSpam\StopMessengerSpam.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Jet Detection] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy\PROGRAM\ADGJDet.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iexplore.exe] C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AIM] C:\Program Files\AIM95\aim.exe -cnetwait.odl
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [TaskTray] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy\Taskbar\CTLTray.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Taskbar] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy\Taskbar\CTLTask.exe
O4 - Startup: PalNetaware.lnk = C:\Paltalk\pnetaware.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll
O9 - Extra button: Run DAP - {669695BC-A811-4A9D-8CDF-BA8C795F261C} - C:\PROGRA~1\DAP\DAP.EXE
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM95\aim.exe
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Royal Vegas Poker - {FA4904B4-1FAF-4afd-886C-C19D2297BA62} - C:\Program Files\royalvegasMPP\MPPoker.exe
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
O12 - Plugin for .mov: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin.dll
O12 - Plugin for .mp3: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin4.dll
O12 - Plugin for .mpeg: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin3.dll
O12 - Plugin for .pdf: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\nppdf32.dll
O12 - Plugin for ¸æÜ: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\npqtplugin4.dll
O16 - DPF: {56336BCB-3D8A-11D6-A00B-0050DA18DE71} - http://207.188.7.150...tzip/RdxIE2.cab
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{702A1F98-0B0C-4B0D-BEB0-2FAB72CD5200}: NameServer = 64.136.28.120 64.136.20.120
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O23 - Service: McAfee Framework Service (McAfeeFramework) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\FrameworkService.exe
O23 - Service: Network Associates McShield (McShield) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\Mcshield.exe
O23 - Service: Network Associates Task Manager (McTaskManager) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\VsTskMgr.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\System32\nvsvc32.exe