Protoride.A worm/MSN popups

[Binoculars]

Part 1.

I am getting popups, I think only when MSN Messenger is running, but not totally 100% sure on that; looks like this...

MESSENGER SERVICE

Message from CHECKFORSPYWARE to USER

*********SYSTEM ALERT*******

It rabbits on for a while then directs me to go to www.swc7.com. I haven't and I won't.

Part 2:

My Computer Associates e-trust EZAntiVirus keeps informing me that Msupdate.exe in the startup file contains the Win32.Protoride.A worm. It doesn't delete it until I locate the file and run the antivirus over it, then it tells me it is deleted. Appears to be no other ill effects at this stage.

Question: Are Parts 1 and 2 related?

I did a search of the Computer Associates website on Win32.Protoride.A and oddly enough came up with nothing.

Running Windows XP. The Msupdate.exe file places itself into Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs/Startup.

Any suggestions?

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

See the thread entitled How to Eliminate Spyware, Adware, and Random Popups (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116753) ? :rolleyes:

[Binoculars]

Thank you for your suggestion, sarcastic icon and all. I'm aware of the frustration the helpers on this forum must feel when the same questions keep popping up, which is why I keep up to date with all threads as they happen.

I have Ad-aware installed, and have quarantined all the files it suggested; the popup I described is still happening. As I mentioned elsewhere in this forum, just being told to remove anything that looks as if it shouldn't be there often doesn't help the non-expert. I found carpserv.exe on both msconfig and in the Registry. Should it be there or not? How would I know? Msupdate.exe is not the sort of file the non-guru would risk removing. Should I?

My question in fact was whether there was any correlation between the worm I mentioned and the popup, not how do I remove the popup.

P.S. The link you posted also suggests removing Messenger, which I'm sure will be very effective in removing popups that target Messenger, but it seems a rather drastic step for somebody like me who uses Messenger every day.

[RomeoTangoFoxtrotMike]

You asked for suggestions, with no preconditions... I pointed you to a thread which had some. :ouch:

[goates]

Bino - Do you use MSN Messenger or Windows Messenger everyday? The second one is the one that should be disabled as this is where most of the pop-ups come from. As it isn't used by most people, disabling it shouldn't cause any problems. If you don't want to disable anything, installing a firewall like ZoneAlarm should prevent any messages getting through.

goates

[Binoculars]

Thank you, gentlemen. Goates, thanks for pointing out the difference between the Messengers. Once again I feel like a bit of a clod. Have now disabled Windows Messenger.

All my anti-virus files are up to date, but it just dawned on me (duh again :O ) that I never bothered installing Zone Alarm on my laptop because it was always networked to my desktop which had Zone Alarm on it. Now that I'm away from home..... :hmm: I'll install it next trip home.

Thanks again guys.