DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Aftermath of a virus/worm!

10 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/aftermath-of-a-virus-worm.82396/

H
Hitboxx Original post #1
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:13 PM
My Windows XP/SP2 was infected with a virus/worm recently(can't remember the name though) and it was removed using AVG Free Antivirus with latest definition updates. The system is back to normal and is working fine except for one quirky thing. I get this message everytime I start XP.

*www.imgx.org/pfiles/5873/viruscreen1.jpg
​

I have tried the manual registry editing, X-setup, manual startup and services but still am unable to find the source of this entry, I know its there somewhere in the registry but where. If anyone can help me trace it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.
ITTechPerson
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:18 PM
HAve u tried "msconfig" ? I think it will should be in the startup list of msconfig.
H
Hitboxx #3
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:27 PM
Yes, seen there too, but not there.

I forgot to add one more thing, if it helps to identify the virus, during the virus period, the system would run fine except some lag during internet operations and also had registry editor and msconfig disabled. Other than this, there wasn't any visible damage.
ray|raven
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Dude try this: In Regedit ,goto
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows NT>CurrentVersion>Winlogon

There you should see this:
Shell = Explorer.exe "C:\Windows\eksplorasi.exe"

Change it to
Shell = "Explorer.exe"

Should work.
H
Hitboxx #5
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Thanks man, that should work. If anybody wants to know, I had this in the above mentioned location

Explorer.exe "C:\WINDOWS\eksplorasi.exe"
ray|raven
Mar 11, 2008 at 5:49 PM
^Anytime.
krazzy
krazzy #7
Mar 11, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Actually Googleing the whole error message would've given you the solution much faster. Same thing happened to me once and thats what I did.
uzair
uzair #8
Mar 12, 2008 at 5:58 PM
The virus u r taking about is the brontok virus
anandk
anandk #9
Mar 14, 2008 at 12:03 AM
run ccleaner and see ...
skeletor
skeletor #10
Mar 14, 2008 at 1:34 AM
The virus u r taking about is the brontok virus
+1, Its Brontok....

Brontok/Rontokbro was a very good friend of mine in my school.:D Every computer was infected with it.

Its characterstic is: It creates an .exe which has an icon of a folder with the same name as the folder in every folder. So, the user gets fooled that it is a folder or not. But actually, if you click on the file, you can clearly see that it is an .exe in the Details panel on the left side. of the explorer.

Here are some removal tools. They'll help you in removing the registry entries and other infections if they remain:
*download.bitdefender.com/resources/files/Download/en/AntiBrontokA-en.exe
or
*www.sophos.com/support/cleaners/brontgui.com
or
*dnl-eu5.kaspersky-labs.com/utils/klwk/klwk.zip


Try everyone of them. This is what I did in my school.....
:)

Also, do install a good AV like NOD32 or Kaspersky. If you want a Free AV, then I'll say to have avast instead of AVG. AVG is the worst.....