Help! My computer is telling me I have a spyware and trojan

[Hana]

I started getting this message after downloading and installing an active video something, I know very little about computers, after gettin the messages, I assumed it was the active video thing that's causing this, so I uninstalled it, and rebooted, and now I'm still getting the message, and my internet explorer has a new homepage, and is prompting me to download and install a spyware program. Right now I'm scanning my computer using bitdefender. Should I download the spyware program, that the internet explorere prompted me to? Please help! 

I tried attaching the picture of the internet explorer and the notification on trojan that I got, but JPEG etc are not accepted.

I don't know how to get the picture to appear in the message.

[Hana]

This is the message that popped up on my screen, among the various alerts...

Critical System Warning!
Your system is probably infected with latest version of Spyware.CyberLog-X.
Type: Spyware
Risk: High
System Affected: Windows 95,98,2000,NT,2003 Server, Windows XP
Behavior: Spyware.CyberLog-X is a spyware program that monitors user activity, logs keystrokes, and tracks Web sites visited.
Symptoms: Low Internet connection speed
Low system performance
Security center alerts
Strange pop up windows
Protection: Click Ok to download antispyware software.

I'm using XP.

A new icon just appeared at the rlower right hand corner of the screen with the message:

System Alert: Malware threats
your computer is infected with a back door Trojan that allows the remote attacker to perform various malicious actions. Click this baloon to download malware removal software.

Should I? Aside from the one the internet explorer is telling me?

[Hana]

Another alert:

Windows Internet Explorer
Warning!
W32.Myzor.FK@f is a virus that infects files with .exe extensions. It attempts to steal passwords and private information from the infected computer.

Type; Virus
Infection Length: 138,293 bytes
System Affected: Windows 95,98,ME,NT (all versions), 2003, Windows XP (all service packs)
System Not Affected: DOS, EPOC,Linux,Macintosh, Novell Netware, OS/2, UNIX
Technical details: 1. Creates files in %Windir%\ directory. By default, this is C:\Windows.
2. Adds values to registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MINACHINE\Software\Microsoft|Wondows|CurrentVersion\Run
3. Scans the hard drive for .exe files and infects any executable files. Searches for passwords/information, which it may send to a remote attacker.
Recomendations: Click "OK" to download officially approved security software. Always keep your patch levels up-to-date.

Should I adhere to this one?

[Andygal]

Go Here and download Ad-Aware SE Personal.

[Weaver]

The start page, lower icon, alerts and messages are all fake attempts to infect your computer further.
It's the Smitfraud malware. There is a removal guide available here including a tool. It requires booting your computer into Safe Mode.

Other software that can remove the infection are: ewido, PrevX, Spybot (possibly) and most Anti-Virus packages (AVG/Avast).
You can secure your computer with programs like SpywareBlaster or switching to alternate internet browsers (Firefox/Opera).

[Hana]

Thank you both for the suggestions, I have downloaded spybot, but it refused to install, so I downloaded ad-aware se, and it's now scanning my comp. I've found the culprit, but it can't be uninstalled(thru control panel), and i can't end the process in the task manager. it definitely got to do with the activex control that i stupidly installed. If you read the thread on brittney spears, don't go to the link, it was my curiosity to see whether brittney spears was really doing porn flicks that got me into this mess in the first place.

[ZiggyDoodle]

switching to alternate internet browsers (Firefox/Opera).

And don't rely on Microsoft's firewall (presuming you are running XP).  Download the free ZoneAlarm at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp or better yet, buy ZoneAlarm Pro and run it. 

[Venusy]

it definitely got to do with the activex control that i stupidly installed. If you read the thread on brittney spears, don't go to the link, it was my curiosity to see whether brittney spears was really doing porn flicks that got me into this mess in the first place.

In future, ignore those threads until someone deletes it. And if it was an Active X problem, then you definitely need to install Firefox or Opera, which don't suffer from the problems Active X controls tend to cause.

[Hana]

Thank you all for being helpful. I've scanned with ad-aware se personal, but the problem is still there. I can't delete the video active control folder that has all the files with the virus, it keep saying to turn off related programs, and when i try to delete the files individually, it says acess denied. Right now, I've downloaded spybot, and lets see how it does.

[miros]

If you reboot to safe mode (press f8 while booting), and don't run a browser, you should be able to get rid of those files.

[KatEnigma]

Yes, you're going to have to boot into safe mode (not always F8, unfortunately, it depends on the Bios/brand, my Dell used to be F10) and then go into the registry and delete it by hand.

[Hana]

All is fine now. BUt I'd like to share how I did it, incase anyone has the same problem. My friend googled "isamonitor removal" and went into one of the forums that told how to remove it, turns out, we had to download this program named smitfraudfix, and that solved the problem. It deleted the undeletable videoActiveXobject. *relieved*
Thank you all for being helpful, I really appreciate it.

[ZiggyDoodle]

Good.  Now get thee immediately to Firefox or Opera and get rid that damned vermin-attracting-allowing IE (as well as installing ZoneAlarm).

[Hana]

Thanks fro the advice ZiggyDoodle. I will convert back to firefox, I only started using explorer, cos the new version had multiple tabs feature like firefox, and also because explorer seemed to be faster at loading pages and less time out compared to firefox.
Hm, the ZoneAlarm is only a 15 days free trial, . But I'm gonna give it a try. Hm, just a thought, will it slow down my computer? especially when playing the sims?

[Weaver]

You could use IE7 for browsing, just tighten the security settings; blacklist tracking cookies, disable javascript on restricted sites, etc.
A good example would be to restrict Active-X for all websites minus trusted or ask for prompts everytime a control needs to run.

[ZiggyDoodle]

, the ZoneAlarm is only a 15 days free trial,

That's probably the pro version; you can download the free version without restrictions.  Hunt around at the ZA site and you'll find it.  A good thing about ZA (including the freebie) is that you can engage an Internet lock, or stop all Internet activity through the icon in your tool bar.  ZA not only monitors incomings to your computer, but what is outgoing as well - which the Windows "firewall" does not do (maybe it will in Vista).  ZA has no effect on my gameplay speed - but then, I'm at dialup at home so I just shut it down completely.  If you lock out all 'Net activity while you play, don't see why it would affect your game speed.

IE sucks, even version 7. I refuse to allow it on either my office or home machines.  Firefox is much slicker, faster, smaller, and secure.  My boss used to foul up his system regularly because of the crappy websites he would visit using IE.  Since I hid the IE icon on his computer and installed Firefox and ZA, his system has been clean. 

[dizzy]

ZoneAlarm was always bloated and buggy in my experience. My personal choice was Sygate back when I still allowed Windows to talk to the internet.

[ThyGuy]

You might need to crt-alt-del and shut down all the programs. If you find a asshole program that won't let you turn it off, you can force it to shut down by turning off "explorer.exe". If you know the program name for ad-aware, you can run adaware with explorer off, and it leaves virtually all bad program defenseless to stop from getting deleted.

when you're finished. Either restart your computer, or restart explorer.exe.