Need help with READ & RUN ME FIRST instructions

Uh, this is going to sound stupid, but I may have inadvertently run GetRunKey at a stage where it explicitly says "Do not run the scans yet!!!" I'm trying to follow the (quite overwhelming) instructions step by step. It said to:
1) download GetRunKey and ShowNew to a folder outside of C:\Documents and Settings - done
2) extract them to a folder of their own - done
3) install them where recommended - doubleclicked on swreg (which seemed like the setup file) and a DOS-like screen popped up for a split second then disappeared

Nothing happened after that.

I've already saved all the instructions on Notepad for when I need to carry them out later with no browsers running. But I may be experiencing an information overload at the moment. :confused Help!

 

Hi BamBam!
Welcome to Major Geeks!

You're doing fine. It doesn't hurt anything to run GetRunKeys early on. It's just that the information we want from the scan is something we need later in the process, so just run it again when the right time comes. How are you doing otherwise with the instructions?

abri

 

Thanks. I'm still downloading Spybot and Counterspy. Then I'll install, update, and configure them according to the instructions, then reboot in safe mode and then follow some more instructions. Phew! I'm tempted to just reinstall Windows on my computer! Haha! But I'm not sure if it will install successfully on a hard disk with bad sectors like mine.

Anyway, I'll give this a try. I might just learn something from it.

 

Hi again. Is it normal for Counterspy to update so slowly? I left it updating when I went to sleep last night because the progress was so slow (only about 1/10 of the progress bar had lighted up after around 30 minutes; my internet connection speed is 384kbps by the way), then when I woke up it said Counterspy encountered a problem updating. So I tried updating it again and it seems to be stuck now. There hasn't been any progress for about 10 minutes now. And my local area connection icon in the task tray is blinking slowly - the lights are off more than they are on. Isn't that supposed to light up steadily while a program is accessing the internet?

I'll give Counterspy 5 more minutes to update, then if it doesn't finish I'll just use AVG Antispyware. I've already used it before and it updated quickly with no problems.

 

15 minutes has passed and only 1 tiny bar has been added to the progress of my Counterspy update. Is it okay to kill it? There's no Cancel button and I can't click on the Counterspy window to close it, so I'm just going to end the entire Counterspy application in the task manager.

I'll continue with the malware removal procedure when I get home from work later. Thanks.

 

Hi BamBam!
Sorry, I just got this. Go on without Counterspy. BE SURE TO RUN CCLEANER before you run the other scans. This will save a lot of time all around. Also, please tell me how long it takes you to run Spybot S&D on your computer. If it's much slower than normal, I may rearrange your priorities. And while you are posting this information to me, please let me know what makes you think you might have malware problems. If you're dealing with bad sectors on your harddrive (how do you know this?), that may explain some of the slowness and there may be a tool that could help you with that.
Thanks.
abri