Yesterday I learned I was infected with UnSpyPC. This manifested in two ways: a "scan" window and a "gambling - xxx - insurance" bar down the side of the screen.
I downloaded and ran Sysinternal's Autoruns in safe mode and was able to locate and remove the UnSpyPC.exe file. Then I rebooted regularly and the "scan" window was gone but the links bar remained.
I followed your directions:
- ran CleanUp
- installed and ran Ad-aware SE
- ran CWShredder
- ran Spybot S&D (and set it to Immunize)
- ran the free Trend Housecall online virus scan
- updated the Symantic Anti-Virus Corporate Edition on the computer and ran a scan
- (ZoneAlarm is also installed on this computer and seems to be running regularly)
Throughout this process, I had to restart several times and it restarted just fine every time. The links bar hasn't returned.
HOWEVER - this is where it gets really bad.
The last step I took was to download all the Windows updates that the Windows site diagnosed the computer needed. There were a lot of these (25 or 30) so I don't remember the names of all the updates. I then let the computer restart. The Windows ME screen appeared, and then the "user log-in" box (where I clicked and it disappeared as usual.) But when it tried to continue to log into Windows, the following message appeared:
"an error occurred loading c:\\windows\system\shdocvw.dll
file may not have been installed or has been corrupted"
I clicked on it and it reappeared two or three times, then disappeared. At that point the only thing on the screen was the desktop image (i.e. the photo I had set as the background, but no icons or start menu etc.) and the mouse (i.e. the arrow). The mouse seems to respond normally to moving it around the screen, but nothing happens on a left-click or a right-click.
The Ctrl-Alt-Del menu shows that NO programs are running - the box is completely blank.
I shut down the computer throught the C-A-D menu and then turned it back on. The ME screen appeared again, then the log-in window, but this time the error message didn't show up at all. I was taken straight to the background photo and the mouse, and nothing else. I shut it down and let it sit for several hours (it was time for dinner anyway).
The next time I turned it back on, I rebooted it in safe mode. The ME screen appeared, then the desktop photo and mouse appeared (both in safe mode style) but nothing else happened!!! It STILL refuses to load any further past the photo and mouse arrow - despite being in safe mode. At this point I've run out of ideas. I Googled and found only one mention of a similar problem at:
http://www.annoyance...000/t1011987101
People on that forum suggested to the poster to do use a "previously created ME startup disk" (which I do not have) or the original installation CDs (which are 300 miles away) or "extract the shdocvw.dll files" (I don't know how to do this or where to start, seeing as how I can't even log in).
Any advice would be very much appreciated! I am completely stumped at this point. Thanks so much.
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