HOW TO KILL SPYHUNTER 2008, ANTIVIRXP08, ENABLE IE7 ADD-ONS
I am running 64-bit XP Pro with 3 browsers and the AVG Free 8.0 antivirus. My browsers are: IE7 32-bit, IE7 64-bit and Firefox.
My system was infected by some malware a few days ago, that caused Spyhunter 2008 popups continually and would not allow access to the internet. It blocked both of the IE7 browsers, but I was still able to operate with Firefox. I ran AVG several times and deleted anything it found. However, the popups continued as the malware seemed to reinstall itself continously. Eventually, I downloaded Spybot Search and Destroy [free] and it took out a lot of the Spyhunter 2008 files. I ran AVG again. Then, I could get online with the IE7s; but still had popups. I suspected that there were still other things in there that were also not removed and later I found that something named Antivirxp08 was installed and listed as a program under add/remove programs. When I removed it from there, it said it had uninstalled; but it did not go away. It remained on the programs list.
So, I went to Start/Programs/Accessories/Windows Explorer/C/Programs[86]/ and located a folder named "r-gooblydegook-Oe99" or something like that which obviously did not belong there. So, I did a Google search on the name of the folder and found that it was linked to Antivirxp08. I deleted the entire folder.
My only remaining problem, which lasted for days and days and days, was that the add-ons on both IE7s were all disabled and the manage add-ons option under Tools on both IE7s was also disabled and greyed out. Restarting IE7 would not enable the manage add-ons option. Nothing I tried would enable them until I learned that, if you:
Delete the IE7 icon from your desktop and remove the icon from the list in your start menu, the problem is fixed.
If another icon pops up on the start menu, it is a good one, you can use it from there or drag it to your desktop.
{If no icon appears on the start menu, you can go into programs, find IE7, open it and drag the icon in there to your desktop.}
When you now open IE7, your add-ons will all be re-enabled and your manage add-ons option under Tools will also be enabled.
Wa-hooooooo. Everything is back to normal.
My system was infected by some malware a few days ago, that caused Spyhunter 2008 popups continually and would not allow access to the internet. It blocked both of the IE7 browsers, but I was still able to operate with Firefox. I ran AVG several times and deleted anything it found. However, the popups continued as the malware seemed to reinstall itself continously. Eventually, I downloaded Spybot Search and Destroy [free] and it took out a lot of the Spyhunter 2008 files. I ran AVG again. Then, I could get online with the IE7s; but still had popups. I suspected that there were still other things in there that were also not removed and later I found that something named Antivirxp08 was installed and listed as a program under add/remove programs. When I removed it from there, it said it had uninstalled; but it did not go away. It remained on the programs list.
So, I went to Start/Programs/Accessories/Windows Explorer/C/Programs[86]/ and located a folder named "r-gooblydegook-Oe99" or something like that which obviously did not belong there. So, I did a Google search on the name of the folder and found that it was linked to Antivirxp08. I deleted the entire folder.
My only remaining problem, which lasted for days and days and days, was that the add-ons on both IE7s were all disabled and the manage add-ons option under Tools on both IE7s was also disabled and greyed out. Restarting IE7 would not enable the manage add-ons option. Nothing I tried would enable them until I learned that, if you:
Delete the IE7 icon from your desktop and remove the icon from the list in your start menu, the problem is fixed.
If another icon pops up on the start menu, it is a good one, you can use it from there or drag it to your desktop.
{If no icon appears on the start menu, you can go into programs, find IE7, open it and drag the icon in there to your desktop.}
When you now open IE7, your add-ons will all be re-enabled and your manage add-ons option under Tools will also be enabled.
Wa-hooooooo. Everything is back to normal.