I've used various spyware and trojan scanners/removers.

Someone was trying to help me in another forum and one of the things I was supposed to do was get in Safe Mode. I can't do that, either.......

I'm not sure what other System Utilities I have that should be removed. Heck, I'll remove anything that isn't required for my computer to run and for me to surf the web.

You can go to www.panicware.com they have a free version of a pop-up blocker that works wonderfully.

But it's not a pop-up like those you get while surfing. It comes up when trying to open a browser window....an IM.....even Zone Alarm doesn't load up w/out me unchecking the one box from the pop-up that says "Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity".

I can't be the only one who's had this problem.....argh

That's spyware by the sound of it. An instance which has loaded a trojan onto your system which causes advertising pop-ups to display under certain circumstances.

It'd help if you described the pop-up a bit more fully. You've mentioned nothing about the form and content of the pop-up.

Please describe it for us.

Agreed. Posting an image of the window (if possible) would be best.

It is not an advertisement. It's a WINDOWS type pop-up. It comes up when Zone Alarm first starts to load up. It comes up when loading up Yahoo's instant messenger. It comes up when clicking on the blue "E" to get a IE window to load up so I can go online.(Once such a window is open..I can right click and open a new window no problem..any new windows I want open by clicking on the "E" again brings up the pop-up I'm trying to get rid of.

I'm at a friends using a computer so tonight I'll come back and post a picture of the window. I'm assuming I just right click on it and "save as" or "select all" and copy- then paste here?

Thanks

Ok....I'm not able to copy/paste it or provide a picture so will describe it best I can- with the text that's in it.

It's a square box...with a blue line on the outside- the top being about half an inch thick. A typical Windows XP box is how I'd descibe it. In that top blue bar it says "Run As". There's a red box with a white "X" in it in the upper right hand corner.

Then there's a "picture"- an icon or whatever- in the upper left of the box- of 3 keys. 2 grey and one yellow. To the right of that it says "Which user account do you want to use to run this program?"

Below the above is a little circle that has been "checked" with a green dot in the middle. To the right of it it says "Current user(MRRULZ/Dutchunter)

Below that is a box that has been checked with a green checkmark. Next to it it says "Protect my computer and data from unauthorized program activity"

Right below that it says "This option can prevent computer viruses from harming your computer or personal data, but selecting it might cause the program to function improperly.

(If I do leave it checked- and click "ok"...most of the time whatever I'm trying to load up will indeed not work. Uncheck the box and there's no problem)

Below that is another little circle that isn't checked. It says "The following user". If the circle is checked then you can put in your user name and password. Also, when it's checked, the ones I mentioned above automatically get unchecked.

There is an "Ok" and a "Cancel" tab at the bottom.

I put my user name and password in but always get another box popping up that says "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplorer.exe" - on the top(in the blue bar). It says the same thing below it in the grey area. Below that it says "The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it."
There's a big red circle on the left with a white "X" in it.
An "Ok" tab to click.

I click "Ok".....another box pops up. This one says "Internet Explorer" at the top. In the box it says "The item you selected is unavailable. It might have been moved, renamed, or removed. Do you want to remove it from the list?"

I can choose "Yes" or "No" I always choose No and that closes the box and that's it.

Sorry I didn't post all of this before. I hope it helps.

Thanks

That description certainly sounds like a rather nasty trojan or spyware intrusion. I'd suggest you download the latest versions of the tools recommended earlier in this topic and in the "Helping Yourself....." topic you'll find near the top of page in this Forum section.

Install, update and use them. Then rebbot into 'Safe Mode' and use them again. You access 'Safe Mode' by pressing the <F8> key during boot-up, just before the Windows Logo screen displays, and then selecting 'Safe Mode' from the menu presented.

Reboot again, and if the problem hasn't disappeared, run HijackThis and post your full log in here as suggested earlier.

Sorry for the short reply, but I only have a moment to post right now.

- The first box you've described is the standard Windows "Run As" dialog box; more info on it can be found here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...EN-US;Q294676&

I'm not sure why you're getting it just by clicking on icons normally, but you might try disabling the Run As/Secondary Logon service and see if it goes away.

- Not sure about the second dialog window- see if that also goes away when you disable the Run As service.

I'm not sure how to go about disabling it.....

Sorry for the late reply btw.

Catweazle.... in the meantime I'll do as you suggest. I've tried many trojan, virus, & spyware scanners over the past few weeks though.