Virus problem

[Vidare]

I was going through my e-mail this evening, and my computer ended up getting a virus. McAfee told me that it had quarantined the virus and deleted it, so I didn't think anything about it. I closed down my browser(IE 5.whatever), and left the room. I come back a couple hours later, and load up IE. No such luck, I've got a virus. Again. Like last time, McAfee quarantines and deletes the virus. Not knowing what's going on, I do a manual update of my virus scan, firewall, and privacy programs. Close down the browser, and the reload it. Once again, I have a virus. And it's the same one: Exploit-URLSpoof

I've gone to the McAfee website, and followed their instructions for removing the virus(turn off system restore, delete files found, reboot). It was still there.

I followed the instructions on MicroTrend(same as McAfee), and it was still there. I used the on-line virus scan that they have, and it couldn't find anything on my computer.

I ran Ad-aware three times, removing approximately 100 items each time, from simply opening up my browser and then running the scan.

I've ran my McAfee scans 6 times now, and still can't find anything. I've gone and run file searches for urlspoof.exploit, exploit-urlspoof, exploit, urlspoof, and any other filenames that I could find using the websites.

Basically, this is what's happening:
-I load up IE, and my address bar is showing me as going to "about:blank", but takes me to some website that lists a bunch of crap links for stuff like mortgages, auto insurance, sexual health, health, etc.....
-I run scans(virus, ad-aware, system) and quarantine/delete anything that shows up. (note: -all- virus scans I've run have come up negative, yet ad-aware and system scans turn up files).
-I right-click on the IE icon, change my homepage back to the Forums frontpage, apply it, and then open up my browser.

Only to find that the virus is STILL THERE. I've been trying to figure out what to do next(for about the past 5-6hrs), and the only thing I can come up with is completely reformating my computer.

Oh. Whenever I go to restart or shut down my computer now, I get a pop-up saying:

-DLL initialization falied
failed because windows is shutting down
regsvr32.exe

--I've got no idea what's happening there, becuase I'm not running any programs when I shut down or reboot.

Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this, short of reformating?

[Deryk]

My experience with "about:blank" is that it's related to a wonderful pain in the ass called CoolWebSearch. There is a tool called CWShredder.
I've used it plenty of times for situations like the one you're going through. Just download it and run it.

Make sure that you've deleted all your temp files (cookies, history, etc.) first though!!! That's important.

I would also shut down system restore if running an XP or ME system. In XP just right click on the "My Computer" icon and go into properties. There will be a tab that says "System Restore". Once there look for a check box that says "Turn off system restore on all drives". Check it.

If CWShredder works just reactivate system restore (uncheck the box) and you're good to go.

Hope this helps!!!!!!

[Vidare]

Well, I've run CWShredder 4 times now, deleting the Temp files each time. And I'm still getting hit with this damn thing.

I ran two scans with CWShredder right after a previous scan, without opening IE. Each time, I get the same result. Nothing's found except Restoring Internet Explorer Pages RESTORED(14 items)

This is really getting frustrating, and I am seriously considering a complete reformatting of my computer.

[Deryk]

Well, I've got one more for ya. Try Hijack This. It's pretty good at showing hijackers. There should be an option to log the scan. If you want you can pm me the log and I'll take a look at it or if you know what you're looking at and have an idea of what should be there you can delete them yourself. Just be careful, deleting something wrong in Hijack This can hose your system.

[Leveth]

Or just do what I do on a regular basis. Format the hard drive. I usually do it once every three months, simply because I get fed up with the inane crap that keeps getting onto my computer, despite my best efforts. I have a backup of all my important files and program updates on a portable HD, which gets plugged in before and after the reformats for data transfer. Yea, it takes about five hours, total, to do this, but.... hey, it works well for me.

[Gesslar]

fixed

and

fixed