Unwanted Explorer search..virus?

For the last few days, every time I log onto the internet, I get the
following pop up message from Microsoft Internet Explorer "Cannot find
"(x-rated name).com" Make sure the path or internet address is correct."
Obviously I have some sort of virus, but neither Symantic nor the Microsoft
security center can find it. Spyware sweeps also come up clean. Somehow
Explorer is set to look for this address every time it starts. How do I get
rid of this and clean my computer?

Malke
Wed Mar 22 21:00:26 CST 2006

JohnM wrote:

> For the last few days, every time I log onto the internet, I get the
> following pop up message from Microsoft Internet Explorer "Cannot find
> "(x-rated name).com" Make sure the path or internet address is
> correct." Obviously I have some sort of virus, but neither Symantic
> nor the Microsoft
> security center can find it. Spyware sweeps also come up clean.
> Somehow
> Explorer is set to look for this address every time it starts. How do
> I get rid of this and clean my computer?

I don't know what you've used for "spyware sweeps", but go through these
malware removal steps systematically:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

JohnM
Wed Mar 22 21:26:28 CST 2006

I have run Ad-aware, Spybot, Microsoft Antispyware. This evening, I also ran
hijackthis, but don't have enough background to know what isn't supposed to
be there.

"Malke" wrote:

> JohnM wrote:
>
> > For the last few days, every time I log onto the internet, I get the
> > following pop up message from Microsoft Internet Explorer "Cannot find
> > "(x-rated name).com" Make sure the path or internet address is
> > correct." Obviously I have some sort of virus, but neither Symantic
> > nor the Microsoft
> > security center can find it. Spyware sweeps also come up clean.
> > Somehow
> > Explorer is set to look for this address every time it starts. How do
> > I get rid of this and clean my computer?
>
> I don't know what you've used for "spyware sweeps", but go through these
> malware removal steps systematically:
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

Malke
Thu Mar 23 07:02:15 CST 2006

JohnM wrote:

> I have run Ad-aware, Spybot, Microsoft Antispyware. This evening, I
> also ran
> hijackthis, but don't have enough background to know what isn't
> supposed to
> be there.

If you went to my site, you would have seen that running HijackThis and
dealing with it yourself is not recommended. Instead, post your HJT log
at one of the linked specialty forums (not here, please). For your
convenience, here are the links:

http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Merijn
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showtutorial=42 -
another tutorial
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/

Once you've chosen a forum and registered, if you'd like any comments
about it aside from what you get in the forum, post the link to your
HJT log url here.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User