Help me out with a error message...

All though your message is fairly long there is not enough information on what the real problems are and what malware you have been finding. The only item mentioned was SurfSidekick. You did mention you were computer illiterate. If this is true, you should not be deleting items on your own and you should definitely not be using HijackThis on your own and you should not be working on a customers computer. Why would you even think of doing that.

You also said:

If you really did remove ALL items in msconfig, you are asking for trouble. Some things loading at startup are needed.

If you have already done a System Restore or a format of the system, and have no problems, what is the reason for this post. If you still have problems follow the steps below, but whose computer are you working on (yours or a customers)?

Please follow the steps below:

- Run ALL the steps in this Sticky thread READ ME FIRST BEFORE ASKING FOR SUPPORT: Basic Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal

Make sure you check version numbers and get all updates.

- Very Important: Make sure you tell us the results from running the tutorial...was anything found? Were you unable to complete any of the scans?...Were you unable to download any of the tools?...Did you do the on-line scans as suggested? etc.


After doing ALL of the above you still have a problem make sure you have booted to normal mode and run the steps below:

- Download HijackThis 1.99.1

- Unzip the hijackthis.exe file to a folder you create named C:\Program Files\HJT

- Do NOT run Hijack This from the Desktop, a temp folder, or a sub-folder of C:\Documents and Settings, or choose to run it directly from the downloaded ZIP file.

- Before running HijackThis: You must close each of the following:your web browser, e-mail client, instant messenger, and programs like notepad, wordpad, MS Word etc. And any other unnecessary running programs.

- Run HijackThis and save your log file.

- Post your log as an ATTACHMENT to your next message. (Do NOT copy/paste the log into your post).

 

Sorry I misread your message.

Long messages are not a problem. But specific details are more important. Also we prefer that msconfig is not used to stop loading processes because all that does is prevent us from seeing them and most tricky malware will get around that anyway.

In reality is is nor a common problem after removal of malware to have IE cause errors. It does happen sometimes though especially if required system files have been damage or deleted. Since we do not know the specifics of what you have been doing, it is rather difficult to answer a question on what it wrong. System Restore is rarely required but it is an alternative in some cases.

Do you have the PC now and does it currently have problems? If so, follow the steps in my previous message.

 

In most cases sfc does help. But there are many cases where it just does not know that the file has been damage. For example SmitFraud causes problems in wininet.dll and goes totally undetected and it cannot be repaired by sfc. That's just one case. There is no specific tool written to remove SurfSideKick. Sometime the problems related to it go away pretty easy. We have had a few cases where it was pretty stubborn. Sometimes this is due to interactions with other malware. It has had three versions too.

 

Yes! That is one of the files that can be stubborn sometimes. It shows on an O20 line of HJT. A typical cleanup may look like:

Uninstall if found:
Surf Sidekick
Surf Sidekick 2
Surf Sidekick 3

Fix the below using HJT:
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {000AB005-FF12-42C2-8DF5-39E12E5F9C91} - (no file)
R3 - URLSearchHook: (no name) - {000AB005-FF12-42C2-8DF5-39E12E5F9C91} - C:\Program Files\SurfSideKick\SskBho.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SurfSideKick] C:\Program Files\SurfSideKick\Ssk.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SurfSideKick] C:\Program Files\SurfSideKick\Ssk.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SurfSideKick 3] C:\Program Files\SurfSideKick 3\Ssk.exe
Delete the below files and folders (in safe mode):
C:\PROGRAM FILES\SurfSideKick
C:\Program Files\SurfSideKick 3\

Search for the below and delete:
Sskknwrd.dll
Ssk.log
SskUpdater.exe
repairs.dll (usually in the system32 folder)

Merge the below patch into the registry:
REGEDIT4
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SurfSideKick]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{000AB005-FF12-42C2-8DF5-39E12E5F9C91}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Surf Sidekick_is1]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SurfSideKick]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks\{000AB005-FF12-42C2-8DF5-39E12E5F9C91}]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SurfSideKick]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks\{000AB005-FF12-42C2-8DF5-39E12E5F9C91}]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\URLSearchHooks]
"{CFBFAE00-17A6-11D0-99CB-00C04FD64497}"=""

 

As I said, some are easy and some are not. But we have managed to fix all of them here eventually.

 

Oh and by the way, the c:\program files\dns folder is more likely to be: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.shorty.html

 

Also one other note I forgot to mention, SurfSideKick's own website does say it can be removed using Add/Remove programs. Look for a program named “SurfSidekick” or “BTS Media”. But who knows if you can trust them.