Computer creating .tmp on startup

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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Guest

Everytime I turn my computer on in the past few weeks my anti-virus locates a
file which it considers may be a "backdoor" program. These files are ones
that do not exist until I turn the computer on and then it miraculously
appears in my WINDOWS folder on my harddrive. It is always a .tmp file and
usually a .exe.tmp file with a various names (ie xmp.exe.tmp). I cannot
figure out what is happening and it is driving me insane because then each
time I have to run an anti-virus scan on my computer to try to determine if
other files were created and it is quite time consuming. Any ideas???
PLEASE HELP ;)
 
Start > run > msconfig > startup and review the programs listed there to see
if one of them is creating the problem files or .tmp folder.
 
Jerry said:
Start > run > msconfig > startup and review the programs listed there
to see if one of them is creating the problem files or .tmp folder.
Click to expand...

Actually, what you will need to do is clean the computer completely.
Just looking at Startup probably isn't going to solve the problem
because this sounds like malware that will morph into
differently-named .exe's. You have av, so make sure it is a current
version (not earlier than 2003) and that its virus definitions are
updated. Then scan with it in Safe Mode. After the virus scan, do
general malware removal as follows. It is crucial that you do all scans
in Safe Mode with updated tools.


1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions.

2) Remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-aware. These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from Intermute. I would not
install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there are
CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at SilentRunners.

Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good idea
to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode. Make sure you are able to see
all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options).

HijackThis is an excellent tool to discover and disable hijackers, but
it requires expert skill. See below for HijackThis links. A combination
of HijackThis and About:Buster works well in removing the About:Blank
homepage hijacker. Again, this is an expert tool and novices should get
help with it.

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).

4) Make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update.

5) Run a firewall.

Links to help with malware:

Software/Methods:
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Ad-aware
http://www.majorgeeks.com - good download site
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. - SilentRunners

HijackThis:
http://www.aumha.org/a/hjttutor.htm - HijackThis tutorial by Jim
Eshelman
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5 - Spyware Warrior HijackThis
forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/

General:
http://forum.aumha.org/ - look under "Security" for various forums
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Malke
 
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