I just know something is wrong. All of a sudden , my PC is acting weird. Scanned with AdAware & Spybot, used Ccleaner, and defragged. Would you mind taking a look at my HiJackThis log that I just ran: It looks like there are some "foreign" entries, such as the one about a "Search Toolbar" or anything related to AOL. I just added AIM - did I subject myself to some foolishness? (I "bolded" some entries that seem odd)

(I apologize too - it doesn't seem as though I set WordPad to properly space the log the way ya'll like it.) But thank you so much in advance for your time.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 1:10:13 AM, on 7/27/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5450.0004)

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\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\HP Boot Optimizer\HPBootOp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehtray.exe
C:\Program Files\BillP Studios\WinPatrol\winpatrol.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\Schedule2\schedul2.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\cisvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Executive Software\DiskeeperLite\DKService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehRecvr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehSched.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\WRSSSDK.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllhost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehmsas.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\My Documents\Unzipped\hijackthis\HijackThis.exe
C:\HP\KBD\KBD.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\WINDOWS\ALCXMNTR.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
c:\windows\system\hpsysdrv.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://ie.redirect.hp.com/svs/rdr?TY...rm1=seconduser
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54729
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=55245&clcid={SUB_CLCID}
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Connection Wizard,ShellNext = http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/ser...ty&version=8.3
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Microsoft Internet Explorer presented by Comcast
R3 - URLSearchHook: Yahoo! Toolbar - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Yahoo! Toolbar - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HPBootOp] "C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\HP Boot Optimizer\HPBootOp.exe" /run
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ehTray] C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehtray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinPatrol] C:\Program Files\BillP Studios\WinPatrol\winpatrol.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BtcMaestro] C:\Program Files\HP Wireless Keyboard\Kmaestro.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SpySweeper] "C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe" /startintray
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - Startup: SpywareGuard.lnk = C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\sgmain.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &AOL Toolbar search - res://C:\Program Files\AOL Toolbar\toolbar.dll/SEARCH.HTML
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\npjpi150_06.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\npjpi150_06.dll
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: Help - {97809617-3937-4F84-B335-9BB05EF1A8D4} - http://online.comcast.net/help/ (file missing)
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {49232000-16E4-426C-A231-62846947304B} - http://ipgweb.cce.hp.com/rdqcpc/downloads/sysinfo.cab
O16 - DPF: {4ED9DDF0-7479-4BBE-9335-5A1EDB1D8A21} - http://download.mcafee.com/molbin/sh...1/mcinsctl.cab
O16 - DPF: {5D86DDB5-BDF9-441B-9E9E-D4730F4EE499} (BDSCANONLINE Control) - http://download.bitdefender.com/reso...an8/oscan8.cab
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsof...?1136904502010
O16 - DPF: {9A9307A0-7DA4-4DAF-B042-5009F29E09E1} (ActiveScan Installer Class) - http://acs.pandasoftware.com/actives...ree/asinst.cab
O16 - DPF: {B8BE5E93-A60C-4D26-A2DC-220313175592} (ZoneIntro Class) - http://cdn2.zone.msn.com/binFramewor...o.cab34246.cab
O16 - DPF: {BCC0FF27-31D9-4614-A68E-C18E1ADA4389} - http://download.mcafee.com/molbin/sh...26/mcgdmgr.cab
O16 - DPF: {BE71A78B-77DB-451C-A761-59B37022D544} - http://pictures.aolcdn.com/ap/Resour...s.10.1.0.0.cab
O16 - DPF: {E5D419D6-A846-4514-9FAD-97E826C84822} (HeartbeatCtl Class) - http://fdl.msn.com/zone/datafiles/heartbeat.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WRNotifier - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WRLogonNTF.dll
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: Acronis Scheduler2 Service (AcrSch2Svc) - Acronis - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\Schedule2\schedul2.exe
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Diskeeper - Executive Software International, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Executive Software\DiskeeperLite\DKService.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: LightScribeService Direct Disc Labeling Service (LightScribeService) - Hewlett-Packard Company - C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exe
O23 - Service: Webroot Spy Sweeper Engine (svcWRSSSDK) - Webroot Software, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\WRSSSDK.exe

Have your always run WINPATROL and SPYSWEEPER at the same time. They do similar things and could interfere with each other causing serious performance and stability issues. Try running only one tool at a time and disable the other to see if that makes a difference:

Disable SpySweeper

1. Open it, Click Options over on the left, then Program options
2. Uncheck load at windows startup.
3. Over to the left, Click shields and Uncheck all there.
4. Uncheck home page shield.
5. Uncheck automatically restore default without notification.
6. Exit Spysweeper.

Disable WinPatrol:

1. Right Click the 'Scotty Dog ' icon in the system tray
2. Click Always Run Winpatrol
3. When WinPatrol dialog comes up asking about Startup change, click Yes.
4. Reboot your machine for the changes to take effect before running HJT.

Okay, I will try that and disable WinPatrol - I've had them both running since the first of July when I purchased Spysweeper for a year. We'll see what happens, but I honestly don't think this will completely resolve things, do you?

Let us first try and resolve what the first set of issue might create.

WinPatrol (WP) and SpySweeper (SS) are real-time monitors that are designed to intervene when a suspect process or file is detected. What could happen when those two (2) applications kick in often is unpredictable if they should both choose to treat any given removal(s) or shield activity, both warranted and unwarranted, as hostile. Running one at a time is the only reliable way to go here.

A SpyBot (SB) scan use to behave very strangely in the presence of SpySweeper - I just tried again tonight to run a SB scan while SS V5.0 was running. The scan ran fine (and was a clean scan). However, any needed fixes could become another issue - it is often necessary to disable any such monitoring tools when fixes are involved.

Tonight, I also tried running Ad-aware (AA) in the presence of SS. It never got past the initial local memory scan (around 3400 total files scanned - no more progress after that). I was able to close AA after each of several attempts. Strangely, the 'task manager' indicated that AA was running with no apparent issues.


I have also be getting familar with Spyware Doctor (SD) - similar to SS. I do not run that tool with any other anti-malware tool to avoid the type of potential issues mentioned above.