Beat up by Spy Sherriff

Step 1 of the SpySheriff sticky thread says:

You did not run ALL of these steps please complete them. For example, the 1 step of the cleaning process requires two online scanners (BitDefender and RAVantivirus) to be run. I can see they were not, so therefore I have to assume other items were not run either.

 

If you are using WinXP or WinMe, make sure you have system restore disabled (per the tutorial).
For all OS types, make sure viewing of hidden files is enabled (per the tutorial).

Run HijackThis and select the following lines but DO NOT CLICK FIX until you exit all browser sessions including the one you are reading in right now:
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = about:blank
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/search.php?qq=%1
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/bar.html
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://hsremove.com/done.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/search.php?qq=%1
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/search.php?qq=%1
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/search.php?qq=%1
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = http://www.bestwebslinks.com/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = 127.0.0.1
F2 - REG:system.ini: Shell=Explorer.exe, msmsgs.exe
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFA} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RegSvr32] C:\WINNT\System32\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Uninstall BitDefender Online Scanner v8 - {85d1f590-48f4-11d9-9669-0800200c9a66} - %windir%\bdoscandel.exe (file missing)
O9 - Extra button: Related - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links - {c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a} - C:\WINNT\web\related.htm
After clicking Fix, exit HJT.
Boot into safe mode and use Windows Explorer to delete:
C:\WINNT\System32\msmsgs.exe


If you get an error when deleting a file. Right click on the file and check to see if the read only attribute is checked. If it is, uncheck it and try again. Other wise open Task Manager and kill the process if running then delete the file.


Now run Ccleaner (installed while running the READ ME FIRST). Now if running Win XP goto c:\windows\Prefetch and delete all files in this folder.

Now we need to Reset Web Settings:
1) If you have an Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop, goto step 2. If not, skip to step 3.
2) Now right click on your desktop Internet Explorer icon and select Properties. Then click the Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK. Then skip step 3.
3) If you do not have an Internet Explorer icon on your Desktop, click Start, Control Panel (for some systems it may be Start, Settings, Control Panel), Internet Options, Programs tab and then click "Reset Web Settings". Now go back to the General tab and set your home page address to something useful like www.majorgeeks.com. Click Apply. Click Delete Cookies, Click Delete Files and select Delete all Offline content too, Click OK. When it finishes Click OK.

Fixing Locked Desktop
Also you should right click on your Desktop and select Properties. Then click the Desktop tab and then the Customize Desktop button. Now in the next window that comes up click the Web tab. Make sure at the bottom that Lock desktop items is unchecked. Then in the Web pages: box delete all items but My Current Home Page and make sure it is unchecked too. Then click OK. Apply. OK.

Now reboot in normal mode and post a new HJT log. And tell us how things are working.

 

But underneath, alot was fixed.

Did you do step 8 in SpySheriff (aka SpywareNo) Removal . If not, please do it. If you had already, then please do it again.

If that does not help, do the below:

Copy the contents of the below Quote Box to Notepad. Then click File and then Save As. Change the Save as Type to All Files. Name the file desktoptab.reg and then click save. (make sure you save it somewhere you can find it. Saving it to your Desktop may make that easy.) Then double-click on the desktoptab.reg file on your desktop (or locate it with Windows Explorer and double click on it if not saved to the Desktop) and when it prompts to Add in to the registry, say yes.

The system32 folder opening on startup is typically a sign of a bad/incomplete registry entry. See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=170086

 

You're welcome! Make sure you checkout the below steps to help keep you clean:

How to Protect yourself from malware!