[jc27712]

Hi, couple questions:

*I attempted to uninstall Combofix but when I hit "ok" I got a message saying that Windows could not find Combofix. I copy-and-pasted the text to make sure I had the appropriate space between x and /. It does appear that the Combofix.exe icon is now missing from my desktop. I have no idea how or when this happened, the only time I recall deleting Combofix was when the first version expired and I was downloading the newer version. I still have the Combofix folder under my C: drive. Do I still proceed with OTL/clean up?

*Also, I still don't have a desktop, Windows security, and a bunch of other stuff under normal mode. What should I do to get my laptop back in functioning shape? System Restore? or will that just put all the infections back on my laptop? Or, am I jumping the gun by asking this before doing the OTL clean up?

Many thanks.

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proceed with the OTL clean up, then do this

Set a New Restore Point to prevent possible reinfection from an old one. Some of the malware you picked up could have been saved in System Restore. Since System Restore is a protected directory, your tools can not access it to delete these bad files which sometimes can reinfect your system. Setting a new restore point AFTER cleaning your system will help prevent this and enable your computer to "roll-back" to a clean working state.

The easiest and safest way to do this is:

1. Create a new Restore Point

• Click on the Start button to open your Start Menu.
• Click on the Control Panel menu option.
• Click on the System and Maintenance menu option.
• Click on the System menu option.
• Click on System Protection in the left-hand task list.
• Create the manual restore point you should click on the Create button. When you press this button a prompt will appear asking you to provide a title for this manual restore point.
• Type in a title for the manual restore point and press the Create button.
• Close the System window after you have been advised that the procedure has been successfully completed.

.
2. Clear your existing system restore points except for the new clean restore point you just created:

• Go to Start > Run and type in cleanmgr
• Select the More options tab
• Next to System Restore click Clean up
• This will remove all restore points except the new one you just created.

for your desktop problem

click start > run > type explorer.exe > Click OK, that fix it ?

[Rorschach112]

proceed with the OTL clean up, then do this

Set a New Restore Point to prevent possible reinfection from an old one. Some of the malware you picked up could have been saved in System Restore. Since System Restore is a protected directory, your tools can not access it to delete these bad files which sometimes can reinfect your system. Setting a new restore point AFTER cleaning your system will help prevent this and enable your computer to "roll-back" to a clean working state.

The easiest and safest way to do this is:

1. Create a new Restore Point

• Click on the Start button to open your Start Menu.
• Click on the Control Panel menu option.
• Click on the System and Maintenance menu option.
• Click on the System menu option.
• Click on System Protection in the left-hand task list.
• Create the manual restore point you should click on the Create button. When you press this button a prompt will appear asking you to provide a title for this manual restore point.
• Type in a title for the manual restore point and press the Create button.
• Close the System window after you have been advised that the procedure has been successfully completed.

.
2. Clear your existing system restore points except for the new clean restore point you just created:

• Go to Start > Run and type in cleanmgr
• Select the More options tab
• Next to System Restore click Clean up
• This will remove all restore points except the new one you just created.

for your desktop problem

click start > run > type explorer.exe > Click OK, that fix it ?

[jc27712]

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten very far:

*Did OTL clean up
*Part of my System Protection seems to be missing. I can get as far as clicking System Protection on the left side, upon which I get a window with tabs at the top for Computer Name, Hardware, Advanced and Remote. According to some images I googled on line, I should have 5 tabs including one for System Protection but I only have the other 4. I looked through System Restore, but didn't see a way to create a manual restore point through there. This is safe mode, can't access system protection through normal mode.
*Since I wasn't able to create a manual restore point, I haven't yet deleted the other restore points
*No change to computer after running explorer.exe -I don't think I have the run option in that location in Vista so I did windows + R to pull up the run command. In Safe Mode, this causes my Documents window to pop up(empty) and nothing else happens. In normal mode, a Windows explorer window with a bunch of files shows up and nothing else happens.

[Rorschach112]

one final scan

Please download SystemLook from one of the links below and save it to your Desktop.
Download Mirror #1
Download Mirror #2

• Double-click SystemLook.exe to run it.
• Copy the content of the following codebox into the main textfield:
  

  :filefind
  explorer.exe

• Click the Look button to start the scan.
• When finished, a notepad window will open with the results of the scan. Please post this log in your next reply.

Note: The log can also be found on your Desktop entitled SystemLook.txt

[jc27712]

I'm not able to get SystemLook to run. As soon as I press the Look button, a Windows box pops up saying "System Querying Tool has stopped working A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available"

[Rorschach112]

try it in safe mode

[jc27712]

Sorry, should have clarified, the above was what happened in safe mode. I can't get any applications on the desktop in normal mode.

[Rorschach112]

Your machine seems really messed up. I think a format may be the best solution

Wouldn't hurt to go to the Windows Vista forum, explain the problem, tell them I sent you over, and see if they can help

[jc27712]

Darn... although I can't say I'm surprised, with the number of programs that have failed to run. Okay, I will head on over to the Vista forum. I did want to thank you for all the help you've provided! I learned a lot from browsing this forum, so hopefully in the future I'll at least be able to prevent something similiar from happening.

[Rorschach112]

Since this issue appears to be resolved ... this Topic has been closed. Glad we could help.

If you're the topic starter, and need this topic reopened, please contact a staff member with the address of the thread.

Everyone else please begin a New Topic.