Can't get rid of virus

Hello - I have been working on this problem for 2 days now and obviously need some help.

I am running Windows XP on my desktop computer. My McAfee virsus scanner detected a "Trojan" and removed it. Since then I have been running many differerent scanners which have removed many files.

Symptoms: explorer.exe is using 99% of the cpu time. If I shutdown the process and restart it, things are OK. If I don't, in addition to the cpu time hogging, I evenually get a dialog box that reads:

"Warning! Your computer is infected! Further work is impossible. Data can be lost. Immediate actions to protect you PC are highly recommendabe. There is a high risk of computer bread down if ignored. For immediate solution to the problem, please, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx"

Clicking on the link or OK takes you to a fake microsoft site. The dialog box cannot be closed using the X.

I initially removed several files thought to be bad news: mousepad1.exe, gimmysmileys1.exe, and drsmartload1.exe, all under the c:/windows folder.

One of the trojans detected by McAfee was named PWS-JA.

I have made a hijackthis log file, if it would be of help. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Welcome to MajorGeeks!

- Run ALL the steps in this Sticky thread READ & RUN ME FIRST Before Asking for Support

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 in the below link to properly use HijackThis and attach a log:

Downloading, Installing, and Running HijackThis


When you return to make your next post, make sure you attach the following logs and that you have run these scans in the following order too (these scans are covered in steps 6 & 7 of the READ & RUN ME sticky)

• Bitdefender
• Panda Scan
• HijackThis​

 

Thanks for your help. I downloaded all of the programs and followed all the steps. When I got to Bitdefender, it caught several things, but it was scheduled to run for another 74 hours. I don't know if this is because my PC was crippled, or it just takes that long. After deleteing many infected files, McAffee caught some more that it hadn't originally found (it has updated several times since my problem.). I ended up trying to repair my Windows XP installation, then finally just reinstalled Windows (and darn near every other program on the planet.) My PC is working again.