Dialer.generic

[quickaupair]

Hello all
I am no computer expert! Just use one in home office for my living

For the last week, I have been plagued by
generic.dialer trojan

I have Norton Internet Security 2007 loaded on Windows XP system
I also use Spbot S + D and Webroot Spysweeper

I have been in contact with Symantec.com who while helpful, take control of the pc and delete the offending virus

However they don't appear to be successful at getting to the cause of the problem and deleting it permanently from my system

The infected file was located in program files/on line services/btyahoo
It has now been removed but the pc is still acting abnormally

Another symptom is that my windows security center is "disabled" and cannot be unlocked

I have formatted my computer three times this week and reloaded XP using the factory supplied recovery disks

It loads without problems

However, as soon as I updated XP from Microsoft, I noticed the computer becoming unstable again

I did a scan using Norton Internet Security and ran spybot

Here is the log of Norton IS:-

Source: [btwebcontrol.dll] inside of [_____] inside of [c:\program files\online services\btyahoo\hppre05.msi]
Risk category: Dialer
Overall Risk Impact: High
Click for more information about this risk : Dialer.Generic
Action taken: Removal failed



I have been in touch with Symantec on their livechat 3 times and paid them £70!

Each time, they are helpful and say they have removed the infected file

With difficulty, they re-start the windows security centre

However, the next day, the virus reappears and I have become exasperated!

Usually formatting the HD and reloading windows resolves these kinds of problems

But this is persisting

I am at a complete loss what to do next?

I could load up XP or I could load Vista but I fear i will have the same frustration once more

Can anyone please help?


Many thanks

 

[howard_hopkinso]

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

I have moved your post to it`s own thread. This will save any confusion.

Very Important: Before deciding whether you should clean or reformat your system, go and read this thread HERE and decide what it is you want to do.

If after reading the above, you wish to clean your system, do the following.

Go and read the Viruses/Spyware/Malware, preliminary removal instructions. Follow all the instructions exactly.

Post fresh HJT, AVG Antispyware and Combofix logs as attachments into this thread, only after doing the above.

Also, let me know the results of the Panda Antirootkit scan.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

This thread is for the use of quickaupair only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.

 

[quickaupair]

Howard
I am so grateful for your advice

I persisted yesterday and managed to establish the following:-

1) The reason Windows Security Centre is disabled is because Norton Internet Security is shutting it when NIS appears in the System tray. It was a process of elimination by usong Spybot in advanced mode and then stopping each program from opening up on start-up one by one and looking to see if the Security Center would then start up.

It turned out that NIS 2007 was the culprit

Now I am turning on the security centre manually using services

It's working fine


2) I established that Spysweeper by Webroot was somehow stopping my incoming emails


I have contacted them for advice. But if don't allow it to start in the system tray, email is fine


3) I think it a great shame that Symantec don't admit the "clash" between their system NIS 2007 and Microsoft. Had they told me this when I first contacted them, I would have been so much less concerned


4) I am even beginning to wonder if the dialer generic is a "genuine" virus? Could it have been caused by some software clash? Who knows


I have now re-loaded Windows XP and Microsoft Office etc
All is working ok for the time being

I have not yet bothered re-loading Vista as I want to see how system behaves over next few days

Am onstantly checking with Spybot and Spysweeper and system scans on Norton to check no recurrence of previous problems. So far so good!......


I will go through your recommendations later today after work


However I just want to say how grateful I am to you and Techspot for the fantastic support

I will continue to check in here daily and see whats going on

You are great!


Thank you



:approve:

 

[howard_hopkinso]

In my opinion, Symantec/Norton is complete crap and causes more problems than it solves. It`s also a system resource hog.

I recommend you do the following.

Download this Symantec/Norton removal tool.


Download one antivirus and one firewall programme from the choices below.

AVG free or Avast antivirus programmes.

Zonealarm Kerio or Comodo free firewall programmes.

Disconnect from the net and run the removal tool.

Reboot your system the required number of times and install whichever firewall you chose.

Reconnect to the net and install whichever antivirus programme you chose. Run the Antivirus updates and do a complete system scan.

If you any further security problems, please post in this thread.

Regards Howard

This thread is for the use of quickaupair only. Please don`t post your own virus/spyware problems in this thread. Instead, open a new thread in our security and the web forum.