Weird stuff going on (virus/spyware)

[bork[e]]

I already have everything backed up and ready for a format, but I really wanna know what's going on.

I thought all was well, and nothing malicious was left on my computer until this last reboot. A downloader is still activating my wireless card and trying to send/receive stuff. (btw, I can't remember how long ago it was I disabled this and uninstalled the card)

iexplore.exe should not be activated on this pc at startup, just noticed this last night when the problems arose. Even after terminating the process it comes back.

Also, during the startup process once I arrive at my desktop, it seems as though explorer is being terminated. Even though taskmanager still shows the process still alive, you would think it wasn't if you were looking at it.

As for as my AV goes all is well. Spybot and Adaware pick up the ordinary cookies during scans of course, but nothing that would cause all this. As I have no sure name/variant for what's going on, I'm not sure what to do next.


I'm not sure what I'm asking for here, as all the above symptoms cover just about every virus out atm. But maybe someone can see something and point me in the right direction.

WinXp pro Patched up, as well as Symantec's AV... and the above anti-spyware tools. Also, I haven't really noticed any slow downs with the pc either. Had a few extra processes for a while, but have taken care of that atm (other than the one mentioned above).

[corncobman]

Try using HijackThis to see what's going on a bit deeper.

[bork[e]]

Found a few more problems trying the above, seems things are going a bit better now.

Only time I'm seeing any problems is right during startup. I'm still seeing my wireless card being installed, and the connection being named a number higher each time I remove it. But now it doesn't continue trying to reinstall it, only at startup.

Also iexplore is still opening and closing 3-4 times right at startup, along with explorer seeming to shutdown about the same amount of times.


Nothing dramatic showing up in event viewer either, and scans have been coming up dry lately as well... gotta love it.

[corncobman]

A borked registry is a possibility

[SoM]

just format, ur gonna get more headaches if u dont

[bork[e]]

I feel like a virgin again, so clean... that was really bothering me though, would have loved to know what it was.

ahh well,

[SoM]

and make sure you stay up to date with the updates