Its XP... again!!

You've been infected man, sorry i mean your system , the first problem is caused by a USB drives based virus, dunno about the second. Download latest trial of kaspersky and update it. Then do a full scan. There is a manual way for it too but that varies from virus to virus as these viruses make files with different names although they all do almost similar things.

any other suggestions... btw i am using avast pro

can you see your hidden files?

this may be amvo.exe virus.........

goto Run and type msconfig, in the startup tab check if any startup item named amvo exists.

good point... in the morning i found that i cannot see the hidden files/folders! what i found through DOS was there was a hidden file b.com in every drive. i am sure this is the culprit as when i tried to delete this file (via DOS) and got a message that file not found, though i could clearly see it under 'dir /a:h'. i tried to delete a b.com from a FAT32 drive using Ubuntu 7 LIVE disc but could not delete the file in the NTFS drives. so the file came back (to the FAT 32 drive) after rebooting. can i delete the files in the NTFS drive using the LIVE disc (if so how?) and what is the solution of the second problem?

bump...

similar problem here.......

there is autorun.inf at the root of C, D and E drive but not on F and G
and Recycler\Recycler\Autolaunch.exe on where the autorun.inf is present. Ive deleted it severel times, in SAFE MODE also but appears again.

i use Avast from DIGIT and NOD32 with 14.Feb.2008 virus definitions

you can remove this virus manually. click here

Remember, this is a very smart virus. you will encounter two files one .bat
and other .com (having different names on diff computers) the tutorial shows file named u.bat and d.com. in your case the .com file is b.com.

to find the name of .bat file goto command prompt and type dir /a this will list all the files in a particular drive (even hidden)
look for any .bat file with strange name.

I would do a fresh install, these kind of viruses are nearly impossible to recover from.

^^ you will never learn if you don't try......first study the virus and then remove it......simple

and ofcourse you can always fresh install if the problem is not solved...

@ayush_chh
thank dude, the method worked excellently. now my comp, and zen, is virus free. yippee!!.

but what about the second problem? one thing i have noticed is whenever i open Tune-Up Utilities 2008, i get the message box. if i click 'work offline', the application area shows IE page 'Page cannot be displayed' but if i click 'connect' the app opens fine. this thing is really irritating me (i have also selected this comp is not meant for internet option from Tune Up). any suggestions?

it can be any ad ware or spy ware which tries to connect to internet, i can't suggest much on this. wait until someone looks after.....

^thanks but i'd prefer an alternate option... i am so bored of fresh installs!!

bump... somebody pls help me with the 2nd query!!

2nd isssue : go to internet explorer properties i mean internet properties, click on network tab and select : never dial a connection , click apply and ok.. you are done.. scan your system with anti spyware, adware and malware..

^thanks. will try

shantanu your method did not work. it is already set to never dial a connection (which is disabled!!)... what do you suggest now?

scan your computer with a good Anti-spyware.. and go to c:/documents and settings/and got ot folder options and show all files system files and everything.. nnow loook for temp folder in the sub folders of c:/documents and settings/ and clear it.. after that clear the preftech folder and c:/temp and temporary internet files..

now go to regedit and search for the name of the service you see which asks for dailing the connection.. and remove it..

also try this :

log off :

now press CTRL + ALT + DEL

and type administrator in username nothing in password field.. now go to user accounts and delete your previous account and click on save files.. now create a new account and set it as administrator... log off again and log in to the new account you created... i think your problem will be solved..

You can try to use System Restore to a date that you remember your computer was fine. That might help