Tech help?

[thistlechaser]

Google failed me, does anyone have any ideas about this? First time this ever happened.

I always leave my computer on overnight. When I woke up this morning I had a blank screen (no taskbar, none of the open windows, no icon, just my wallpaper) and in the lower right hand corner there was a tiny little cell phone icon with a blue wave coming out of it, as if it were sending a signal. It looked like someone was using my computer remotely.

However, my virus scanner is up to date and says nothing's going on. I'm running another spyware scan now.

I've never seen a cell phone icon on my computer before, ever. It was small, about a quarter the size of a normal icon.

This really doesn't sound like a good thing, but if if my virus scanner (AVG) doesn't find anything, how am I supposed to go about this?

Comments

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-24492-taskbar-and-icons-disappearing-on-xp

There are many solutions given on that page to what sounds like your problem. The one that I would probably suggest is response #19 that's like 3/5ths down the page:

It's a Virus people!!!! Run the Malwarebytes application and it will take care of it for ya..I spent hours on this and all I had to do is run this application..other Anti-virus / spyware apps will not help..only this.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/remove-vundo­-virtumonde

Its caused by this trojan "Trojan.vundo"

Trust me here..will save you alot of headaches..plus will find some other malware you might not of known you had.

Peace!

Google search was "No taskbar on my PC help" and the site I grabbed that answer from was the first on the list btw.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, thanks! I just wonder why my antivirus is finding nothing...

[socksofjello.livejournal.com]

Certain AVs have better detection rates than others. AVG used to be one of the top defenders, but right now it's merely 'standard'--it's been far surpassed by newer programs with more advanced detection.

Check out this site for some comparisons and alternatives. I'd suggest checking back every year or so to see which programs are currently on top.

It never hurts to have a few different anti-spyware programs, either, so long as you only have one anti-virus. Malwarebytes and Superantispyware (which sounds like spyware in its own right, yes, I know) are the go-to for many at the moment.

[socksofjello.livejournal.com]

As an addendum, keeping Adobe Reader, Flash, and Firefox/IE/your-browser-of-choice updated is a pretty good preventative measure against some of the newer and nastier viruses out there. PDFs and Flash files have seen a ton of exploits lately.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, thanks for that. I've been a fan of NOD32 for years now, good to know they're still near the top. For a few years, they were on the top, especially for detecting new threats. Best part of NOD32, in my opinion, is the minuscule footprint. Smallest resources used of any antivirus I've ever used.


Note to Thistle: Depending on what OS you use (given you have virus & spyware issues, I assume Windows XP/Vista), I can send you a good [pirated] copy of eSET NOD32 if you need some emergency Antivirus.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! Thanks for the info!

[sel-s.livejournal.com]

Just FYI there was a pretty significant windows update yesterday that might've auto-rebooted your computer, or tried to.

Might the icon have looked like this?
http://danstoncloud.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/js/WindowsUpdate.jpg

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Nope, unfortunately nothing close to that. It looked like a flip-cell phone, opened, with a blue 'wave' coming out of it, the wave was animated as if it were sending a signal. It didn't look anything like I've seen on my computer before and didn't have a Windows logo or anything along those lines. :/

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

XP, yep! Thankfully I'm not stuck on Vista yet. Let me try downloading their trial version, and if it finds anything my usual one missed, then I'll take you up on that. Thanks!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I try to keep on top of that, as well as using noscripts and adblock and all those good things.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Not all malware are viruses and different programs detect different things. While you generally don't want multiple anti-virus programs, as they often interfere with each other, it's good to have multiple anti-spyware programs in addition to your anti-virus.