Hi All,Norton Antivirus has detected this on my pc !!Has anyone contracted this virus which sits inside C:WINDOWSSystem 32msconfd.dll ?see Norton suggestions to remove (which does not work)http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcen....startpage.htmlI have investigated this on the internet and it basically changes your default homepage on IE to a web search for 'dodgy material' and amends your favorites with links to again 'dodgy websites', I am totally unaware of how this entered my machine?(and Yes before you ask I have not visited any 'dodgy websites' myself - try explaining that to the missus though) ... I have only just installed Norton 2004 last night as my machine was running very strangely and obvious IE was totally affected.Norton cannot delete this virus, and I am going to use a utility called CWshredder tonight in an attempt to delete this very annoying problem.The reason for posting this in this forum is that Flight Sim is totally unuseable while Norton is detecting this virus, as every attempt to open a program fires this virus into life !!Has anyone else encountered this previously? If so what did you do to remove it from your system ?ThanksPHIL

I'm suffering exactly the same problem so again help would be appreciated.

CWS Shredder should work. if not, try Spybot "Search and destroy". I had he same problem, only that whenever I did a search from the IE toolbar, I got redirected to another search page.

CW shredder worked perfectly thank you very much

PhilThis looks as if it is technically not a virus but a "browser grabber'. I did not get this one but about a year ago I got one called 'xupiter' that did pretty much the same thing. Try Spybot as suggested and Adaware. Both are available at PCWORLD.COM.Grabbers can add quite a few unwanted entries such as adding links to your favorites list for instance.Spybot and Adaware also have website links included which list known 'creep software' along with explanations and suggestions.Good luck.

Another one that you can pick up too easily is "XXX Toolbar" (go figure).I got rid of this - initially with Adaware(this disabled it) and then manually checking and removing all files and entries relating to it.These insidious programs are often installed without your knowledge - or before you can stop it happenning - I got zapped with XXX toolbar at a Russian site - ostensibly about aviation history in Russia-literally before I could hit the mouse it installed itself as the page opened .It put an extra toolbar on the IE6 offering direct links to Gambling ,Porn etc etc - changed the home page and so on.Nasty stuff.Dave

One way to help avoid these infecting your system is to watch some of the prompts that appear when you're browsing. If you ever receive a prompt saying "Do you wish to change your homepage to...." blah blah blah, do not click ANY of the buttons... Immediately go to task manager instead and terminate all Internet Explorer processes.In most instances, even the "No" button in such prompts is coded to infect your system with something and sometimes even the close box ("X"). Many of these spyware/trojans/etc... prey on people who mistype URL's... They grab common mispellings of domain names...it may be something as innocent as typing www.avsij.com vs. avsim.com. Watch your typing and as I mention above, if all else fails terminate IE immediately when you receive any prompt similar to the one I mention above.Regards,John

It can't be deleted because the file is in use, probably. Start in safe mode, then run norton. Should do the trick.Alternatly, you can use task manager to quit anything that looks suspicious, but because the file in question is a dll, it won't appear obvious in the running processes list. you can try quitting things labelled rundll32.exe or svchost and then re-run norton, but safe mode is your best bet. While you're in safe mode, run spy-bot and/or ad-aware - both free with a google search.Good luck!sg

The xupiter one I got was thru carelesness or fatigue on my part. I think the message said 'you are about to enter a secure site' and I mindlessly hit OK. The next thing I knew my home page was some German site and there were additional entries in my favorites list.

Hi Guys,Thanks for all your advice, I tried what Norton advised and unfortunately that did not work ? so I downloaded the CWShredder available here: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschro...html#cwshredderWhich worked a treat, even though you have to go through the whole process twice, but a little price to pay...Good luck and cheersPHIL