[pomme]

I live in the Philippines and use a Toshiba Satellite laptop using Windows XP Pro.I had Panda Antivirus installed until last May. In April 2006 Iopened what turned out to be a spoof Ebay e-mail and as a consequence my computer was hacked into and many trojans downloaded.Unfortuately there are no true Computer experts here in the Philippines and I cannot get rid of these infections.I was advised to buy a new hard drive and a new operating system, which I did.....but still infected. Now I am being asked to buy new 512 MB DDR RAM memory !!One so called expert advised me to forget Windows and instead to run a Linux system. I have had Fedora Core 3, Fedora Core 5 and Fedora Core 6 installed at various times but still the infection remains.CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE?

[spike]

It is possible, that the infection is in the bios chip on the motherboard, however I don't know how to re-set the bios on that model, but if you remove all the batteries , including the one on the motherboard, and leave them out for a while, it's POSSIBLE, though not guaranteed that this will fix your problem, you will have to reset all the bios settings afterward, so document them BEFORE you do this.

[SpiritWind]

{size:18px}[/size]:D Hi Pomme : You made no mention of using any antiSPYWARE/antiTROJAN program(s); do you have any such programs on your machine ? I recommend you start by installing the Good & FREE "AVG Antispyware" from www.ewido.net; after installation, update its "Definition Files", then run its "Complete System Scan". Which "Service Pack" ( 1 or 2 ) is with the XP Pro ? More than likely, you should have a software FIREWALL !? There are Good and sometimes FREE ones available . If these suggestions do NOT resolve your problem, there are many experienced, trained, volunteer Malware Experts, called Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, on the forums at http://aumha.net/ . They most likely will want to see a "log" from the "HijackThis" program, so download HijackThis from: www.thespykiller.co.uk/files/HJTsetup.exe . At the download prompt, choose "Save". Navigate to the saved file and double-click the installer, HJTsetup.exe.HijackThis will be installed on your computer at C:Program FilesHijackThis, making an entry in the start menu and also providing a desktop shortcut. When the installation is complete, exit HijackThis. However, if you go to the Aumha forums, do not post the log in their "HijackThis Logs" forum, where you might need to wait 10 days for a reply; instead post a Request for help in their "Parasites" forum, mentioning you have a HJT log available if needed .

[pomme]

Hi Spiritwind,Thanks for your reply. I have had every imaginable anti-spyware, anti-trojan, anti-everything you can imagine.The big trouble is that before the installed software loads up something or someone is writing to that software and altering its structure and performance.Even now I am having to use a Linux Knoppix DVD to write e-mail.I am not in anyway computer savvy or knowledgeable but I know enough to know that the computer experts here in the philippines know nothing.From using various anti-virus programmes these are the infections that I have supposedly so far removed:-Not-A-Virus. Remote Admin. Win32 RAdmin21. Trojan horse Downloader Agent GPZ. GXHO.006 loaded into process explorer.exe (1288). Monitor. Ardamax. 116.But I am still infected!I cannot remove cookies, when I do they are replicated fivefold. Copy of a copy of a copy etc.Thanks.

[SpiritWind]

{size:18px}[/size]:D Hi Pomme : First off, you do NOT have "virus(es)", but other "types" of malware, such as "trojans" , etc . Based on what you are saying, I recommend you use the "Online Scanner" at www.ewido.net ; It is located on that site in the upper left portion, where it says, "Scan now". If this does NOT solve your problem, I recommend you ask those Experts on the Aumha.net Forums I mentioned in my previous Post .

[dalemay]

I would go to your E-Bay account and change your password right now.yes, get the above mentioned anti-spy software. They have a free version .never click on an e-mail from E-Bay Never!

[Wayfinder]

And of course, there is the easy fix. After copying your data to an external USB drive, (not your Windows files... just your personal data) reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows. Unless (as one user pointed out above) they hacked your Bios (in which case, you'll have to send the unit back in to Toshiba)... then reformatting and reinstalling will totally obliterate any viruses/trojans on the system.