Anybody heard of a trojan called ByteVerifier, or something like that? I was surfing eraly this AM when I picked up a bug. My wallpaper turned into a black screen that said "Your computer has spyware, click here to see the best anti-spyware products" or something. I ran a scan with AVG, found this ByteVerifier, and looked it up on Symantec's website. Their instructions for removal were to turn off system restore, restart in safe mode, and delete the viruses. When I did this and logged back in, I no longer had any network places, neither LAN nor wireless, and my wallpaper had turned into a white screen. You can still see my Icons, and everything else seems to be working. Right now, I'm to the point where I removed AVG from my laptop because there was a virus that had been moved to the vault, and I wanted to get rid of it. I'll re-download it when I get my networking fixed.

Another symptom is that the correct wallpaper shows up at start-up, but then I get some error codes that I haven't taken the time to write down, and then I get the white background.

Any suggestions? Do I need to figure out the hijack log thing, and post it?

That's typical of SpySherriff (sp?) or SpyAxe infection.

Honestly, the easiest way to get rid of this is simple: Use System Restore to roll back to yesterday. Once you're done with that, post a HijackThis log and I'll review it. That particular bug you got is REALLY nasty and hard to get rid of.

Oops, as usual, gotta re-edit my post a minute after posting it :D

I forgot - if you're not using WinXP, let me know. In WinXP, go to Start menu and choose Help to find System Restore.

When I disabled Sytem restore, per Symantec's recommendation, didn't that delete all my old restore points?

Doesn't re-editing mean that you're trying to change the meaning of what you said? lol

BTW, I'm using XP

new issue: "Help and Support failed to start because WININET.dll was not found."

It would appear that I've "home-handy-man"ed myself into a bit of a situation here. I must have deleted something that Windows wanted me to keep when I thought I was getting the bugs out earlier.

same exact thing happened to me about a week or so ago, i ran virus scan after virus scan and then spyware scan with two different spyware removers, finally went to system restore all the way back to when i bought this computer just a couple months ago, rebooted and its gone, i'm running xp and have nortons and avg and spybot and aol spyware plus nortons has a spyware on it, couldn't believe something like that could make it through all that crap and a firewall to boot. amazing what somepeople come up with to f with you.

normally Norton will ask you to turn it off then back on after you fix something. this flushes your old restore points so you cna't restore back to the time you were infected. you should have re-enabled it.

the inability to open the help control panel could be a symptom of spyaxe.

look in your Control Panel for an instance of Spy Sherrif or Spy Axe and try and remove it, then reboot. after that ...

i hate to refer you to other forums - but use this forum's info - run their tool and in any place you see "post a log here", post it in this thread instead, ok?

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic36868.html

I'll be up for a couple more hours maybe, let's work this out!

i just ran a spyscan with spybot, it come back with several on it, two were ones i have never saw before, something about disable nortons notify? i clicked fix it for me running another right now to see what happens ** actually said disable nortons firewall notify, and disable nortons antivirus notify

ran the second scan and nothing showed up this time, when you right clicked on the topic in scan said something about registry keys changed

did you get to the stuff in my last post?

once you finish running smitRem and rebooting, i'd like to see a HJT logfile.

WAIT
Sorry, here is the correct fix:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic22402.html

You do have Spysherrif, not SpyAxe (although it might be both)

Hey, DBJ your setup is basically clean, I think I might have crossed lines here - You're clean, Tynee is infected with Spysherrif and needs to read my last post up there about how to remove it :)

did you get to the stuff in my last post?

once you finish running smitRem and rebooting, i'd like to see a HJT logfile.
Yeah, I just got it. I'm at work, and actually had to do some work. I'll get back in a minute

Cleanup.exe wouldn't start without WININET.dll either.

I'm running Ewido now.

wininet.dll is one of the files that spysherrif infects and a virus cleaner sometimes will delete. it should be located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Windows XP keeps backup copies in these places:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache
C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

The second of those places will be an outdated file.

Please try to locate the file in one of those places and COPY it to the system32 folder, then re-run the tool. let me know how you fare.

hey - here's a zipped copy of the wininet.dll file.

http://satellitehead.com/uploads/WININET.zip

unzip it to your C:\Windows\system32 folder, then either run system restore and restore to yesterday (if possible) or re-run that tool. this is easier than sending you on a goose hunt for the file.

I'll have to try this later. Work calls. Thanks for all the help. I'll let you know what I find when I get back to this.

PS, I'm not ignoring you, its just taking this long to run ewido. 45minutes and counting, but its been on 99.6% for about the last 10 minutes.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 1:08:18 AM, on 3/22/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

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\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\hkcmd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\BCMSMMSG.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\DSentry.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\Quickset.exe
C:\Program Files\support.com\bin\tgcmd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
C:\Program Files\Kodak\KODAK Picture Transfer Software\pts.exe
C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\OdHost.exe
C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\WPC54Cfg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dcfssvc.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoguard.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wuauclt.exe
C:\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://us.f537.mail.yahoo.com/ym/login
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell.com
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.comcast.net/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Microsoft Internet Explorer presented by Comcast
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyServer = :0
O2 - BHO: DriveLetterAccess - {5CA3D70E-1895-11CF-8E15-001234567890} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswshx.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IgfxTray] C:\WINDOWS\System32\igfxtray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HotKeysCmds] C:\WINDOWS\System32\hkcmd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BCMSMMSG] BCMSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPLpr] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPEnh] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [dla] C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StorageGuard] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic\Update Manager\sgtray.exe" /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DVDSentry] C:\WINDOWS\System32\DSentry.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Dell QuickSet] C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\Quickset.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [tgcmd] "C:\Program Files\support.com\bin\tgcmd.exe" /server
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [intell321.exe] C:\WINDOWS\System32\intell321.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\System32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [updateMgr] C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\AdobeUpdateManager.exe AcRdB7_0_5 -reboot 1
O4 - Global Startup: KODAK Picture Transfer Software.lnk = ?
O4 - Global Startup: Wireless-G Notebook Adapter Utility.lnk = C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\Startup.exe
O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel present
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Translate English Word - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmwordtrans.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate Page into English - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: ComcastHSI - {669B269B-0D4E-41FB-A3D8-FD67CA94F646} - http://www.comcast.net/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Uninstall BitDefender Online Scanner v8 - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Support - {8828075D-D097-4055-AA02-2DBFA9D85E8A} - http://www.comcastsupport.com/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Help - {97809617-3937-4F84-B335-9BB05EF1A8D4} - http://online.comcast.net/help/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O16 - DPF: {2B96D5CC-C5B5-49A5-A69D-CC0A30F9028C} (MiniBugTransporterX Class) - http://download.weatherbug.com/minibug/tricklers/AWS/MiniBugTransporter.cab?
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/vc/bin/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {4C39376E-FA9D-4349-BACC-D305C1750EF3} (EPUImageControl Class) - http://tools.ebayimg.com/eps/wl/activex/EPUWALControl_v1-0-3-17.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D86DDB5-BDF9-441B-9E9E-D4730F4EE499} (BDSCANONLINE Control) - http://download.bitdefender.com/resources/scan8/oscan8.cab
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1127570578353
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/common/bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {BCC0FF27-31D9-4614-A68E-C18E1ADA4389} (DwnldGroupMgr Class) - http://bin.mcafee.com/molbin/shared/mcgdmgr/en-us/1,0,0,15/mcgdmgr.cab
O16 - DPF: {D54160C3-DB7B-4534-9B65-190EE4A9C7F7} (SproutLauncherCtrl Class) - http://www.shockwave.com/content/feedingfrenzy/SproutLauncher.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: igfxcui - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\igfxsrvc.dll
O23 - Service: Dcfssvc - Eastman Kodak Company - C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dcfssvc.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite control - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite guard - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoguard.exe
O23 - Service: LexBce Server (LexBceS) - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
O23 - Service: NICSer_WPC54G - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\NICServ.exe

OK, I see two bad items in your scan which you should fix, both are related to the "Smitfraud" family of trojan we're dealing with:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [intell321.exe] C:\WINDOWS\System32\intell321.exe

O6 - HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel present


Please close all open programs (even this one), "scan only" with Hijackthis, put a check mark next to each of the items i just listed, then click the FIX button.

Afterwards, reboot and "scan and save logfile" with HJT and post me another log.

Thanks.

By golly, you're the man! It still got the black screen, but I don't care. You're the man anyway.

file of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 4:51:00 PM, on 3/22/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

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\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\hkcmd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\BCMSMMSG.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic\Update Manager\sgtray.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\DSentry.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\Quickset.exe
C:\Program Files\support.com\bin\tgcmd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
C:\Program Files\Kodak\KODAK Picture Transfer Software\pts.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dcfssvc.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoguard.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\OdHost.exe
C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\WPC54Cfg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wuauclt.exe
C:\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://us.f537.mail.yahoo.com/ym/login
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www.dell.com
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.comcast.net/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Microsoft Internet Explorer presented by Comcast
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyServer = :0
O2 - BHO: DriveLetterAccess - {5CA3D70E-1895-11CF-8E15-001234567890} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswshx.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msdxm.ocx
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IgfxTray] C:\WINDOWS\System32\igfxtray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HotKeysCmds] C:\WINDOWS\System32\hkcmd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BCMSMMSG] BCMSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPLpr] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPLpr.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPEnh] C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [dla] C:\WINDOWS\system32\dla\tfswctrl.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [StorageGuard] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic\Update Manager\sgtray.exe" /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DVDSentry] C:\WINDOWS\System32\DSentry.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Dell QuickSet] C:\Program Files\Dell\QuickSet\Quickset.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [tgcmd] "C:\Program Files\support.com\bin\tgcmd.exe" /server
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\System32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [updateMgr] C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\AdobeUpdateManager.exe AcRdB7_0_5 -reboot 1
O4 - Global Startup: KODAK Picture Transfer Software.lnk = ?
O4 - Global Startup: Wireless-G Notebook Adapter Utility.lnk = C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\Startup.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Translate English Word - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmwordtrans.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate Page into English - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar2.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\msjava.dll (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: ComcastHSI - {669B269B-0D4E-41FB-A3D8-FD67CA94F646} - http://www.comcast.net/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Uninstall BitDefender Online Scanner v8 - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Support - {8828075D-D097-4055-AA02-2DBFA9D85E8A} - http://www.comcastsupport.com/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Help - {97809617-3937-4F84-B335-9BB05EF1A8D4} - http://online.comcast.net/help/ (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINDOWS\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
O16 - DPF: {2B96D5CC-C5B5-49A5-A69D-CC0A30F9028C} (MiniBugTransporterX Class) - http://download.weatherbug.com/minibug/tricklers/AWS/MiniBugTransporter.cab?
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/vc/bin/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {4C39376E-FA9D-4349-BACC-D305C1750EF3} (EPUImageControl Class) - http://tools.ebayimg.com/eps/wl/activex/EPUWALControl_v1-0-3-17.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D86DDB5-BDF9-441B-9E9E-D4730F4EE499} (BDSCANONLINE Control) - http://download.bitdefender.com/resources/scan8/oscan8.cab
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/V5Controls/en/x86/client/wuweb_site.cab?1127570578353
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/SharedContent/common/bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {BCC0FF27-31D9-4614-A68E-C18E1ADA4389} (DwnldGroupMgr Class) - http://bin.mcafee.com/molbin/shared/mcgdmgr/en-us/1,0,0,15/mcgdmgr.cab
O16 - DPF: {D54160C3-DB7B-4534-9B65-190EE4A9C7F7} (SproutLauncherCtrl Class) - http://www.shockwave.com/content/feedingfrenzy/SproutLauncher.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: igfxcui - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\igfxsrvc.dll
O23 - Service: Dcfssvc - Eastman Kodak Company - C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\dcfssvc.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite control - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite guard - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoguard.exe
O23 - Service: LexBce Server (LexBceS) - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
O23 - Service: NICSer_WPC54G - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Linksys\Wireless-G Notebook Adapter\NICServ.exe

explain "it still got the black screen". i don't understand, but i can probably help you fix it if i did.

I've still got the original symptom of the black background with the spyware warning. I've been intending to run through the removal process again from bleeping, but haven't gotten time. I'll let you know the results.

Have you tried going into the Control Panel, into Display Settings and changing the background in there? Just curious. If it's greyed out, I know several ways to fix it.

yeah, I've tried, no effect.

so, you're saying the options are there, available, but when you select the new background, nothing happens?

I would try adding this information to your registry, then reboot:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/regs_edits/wallpaperenable.reg

Click the link, open the file, when prompted, just do yes/ok/whatever through it all, then reboot. See if you can change afterwards.

ok, last thing i'll chime in:

You can use the registry editor "regedit" to look for this key and remove it: (Start -> Run and type 'Regedit')
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\"Wallpaper"=SZ:C:\WINDOWS\desktop.html

You only want to right-click that "Wallpaper" value and remove it if it exists. Don't delete the entire "System" subkey.

I found this post informative too, especially where the guy talks about types of spyware protection and the IE Spyad program that will add bad sites to your "restricted sites" area so they can never be loaded.

http://www.bullguard.com/forum/5/Cannot-change-desktop-settings_25247.html

Fixed. I finally figured out that it was a seperate window that had to be closed. There were none of the usual buttons like the "red X." I finally found a little arrow at the top left corner that didn't show up until you scrolled across it. It was a drop-down that let you choose "Close."

I think its taken care of.. Thanks for all your help!!