Hello everyone
Im a new person here so I'm sorry about posting this in the wrong area. I heard that this was a good place to get help on the various problems some may have with their computer.

I was surfing the web one day and encountered a movie clip that I wanted to view. When I brought it up, it said that I needed to install a codec to view the video. When I clicked the link to install the codec, I immediately was given a system Alert error of a question mark in the System Tray. Also, a AntiVermins program tried to open. I told my Virus Program (System Suire Professional 6) to not allow it to access my network. I used the add or Remove Programs tool in the Control Panel and Uninstalled Antivermins.

This did not get rid of the icon in my tray, which tells me periodically that there is something infecting my computer, but my Virus and Spyware scans have come up with nothing. Also, when i brought up my Internet explorer, it hijacked it and took it to a security site.

But, my problems have gotten worse. The icon in the system tray is now a Yellow triangle with a exclamation mark and tells me every two minutes I have malicious software and "click this balloon" to install antivirus software. And when I try to bring up IE, it opens for a couple seconds and closes out on itself. I desperately need help. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Austin

Moderator Edit: Moved topic to more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

Thank you very much for the help. The remover you gave me only installed SpyHunter on my computer, which scanned my PC fully. It found numerous malware and spyware devices such as the Trojan ZLOB. I wasn't able to remove the malware from my computer using it, so I installed Spybot- Search and Destroy. That took care of it and my computer is functioning normally again.

Austin

There still may be related malware files that have not been detected by the scans you have performed. I suggest you follow the generic instructions for using SmitfraudFix in BC's "How to remove the Smitfraud / Generic Zlob" to look for and remove them.

Then if everything is still ok, you should SET A NEW RESTORE POINT to prevent reinfection from an old restore point. Any 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 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 set a new RESTORE POINT:
1. Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and click "System Restore".
2. Choose the radio button marked "Create a Restore Point" on the first screen then click "Next". Give the R.P. a name then click "Create". The new point will be stamped with the current date and time. Keep a log of this so you can find it easily should you need to use System Restore.
3. Then go to Start > Run and type: Cleanmgr
4. Click "OK".
5. Click the "More Options" Tab.
6. Click "Clean Up" in the System Restore section to remove all previous restore points except the newly created one.

hello Austin

i was affected by this exact same problem yesterday due to the exact same reason.
by late today, i removed most of the malware thanks to spybot s&d. however, i still have the flashing icon in my taskbar, which gives a popup every so often that, if clicked, takes you to their website which has more malware.

please let me know how this icon can be removed as well.
any help would be appreciated,

thanks in advance.