enbrowser adware on my computer and i'm besieged with adware

oldhead44,
I haven't left you.
Trying to figure out the logs.
Sorry it's a bit slow. This is a stack of symptoms we haven't seen exactly before.
askey127

whew, thanks i thought i was up you know what's creek w/o a paddle i've tried to do some research on this myself, been to ten blogs to see if anyone has any of these symptoms...it's not funny but i guess i set a record or something. order a new computer today just in case. this one isn't even 2 yrs. old though, but i'm going to give it to the kids. they better not touch my xps420 or else this is an xps400 and it's excellent until this month. i never should have switched internet security though. trend micro stopped everything coming up the pipes, this mcafee is f.u.b.a.r.

Oldhead,
You may realize that most Dells come with a hidden recovery partition. It can be used with the original Dell CD to reset the entire C:\drive to the exact condition it was when it came out of the box. There could be some diffierences in the way it's done depending on the model, but Dell support will know. If you are going to use the machine for the kids, that may be a good way to go. If the hard drive is OK, that hidden partition should be intact.
If you go that route, you would have to go to Microsoft as soon as it's back online, and update Windows.
All of your own data files, .doc, text, video, music files, etc. would be gone. You would have to save those to CDs or flash drives beforehand. The applications that you installed would be gone also.

One of the things you might do for your own information is to check the integrity of the hard drive. If it's defective, it could cause all the symptoms you have.
You can test it like this:

First Sequence
Got to Start, Run and type cmd and hit <Enter>
When the command window comes up, type at the prompt :
chkdsk c:
hit <Enter> again.
Maximize the command window, and wait for the scan to finish. These scans can take quite a while.
Read the results carefully to see if it says that it found problems with your file system.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Sequence
IF it has found any errors with your file system, it needs to run a different sequence on reboot to do repairs.
(It can't repair the file system while Windows is running)
Go To Start, Run and type cmd
hit <Enter>
Type the black text here into the command window at the prompt:
chkdsk c: /F <==notice the /F, with one space between c: and /F
hit <Enter>
You will get a message that the volume is locked, with a request to do the repair on Reboot.
Answer Y
Then type exit to close the Command window.
Go to Start, Turn Off Computer and choose Reboot
It will scan again when it boots up and make the repairs as the first part of the reboot process.

After it reboots, run the First Sequence again (without the /F parameter), and see if it still shows any File System Errors.

It's possible that the chkdsk c: /F sequence may have to be run on reboot twice to pick up everything.
If it repeatedly shows File System Errors, even after running the Second Sequence a couple of times, you can assume the hard drive is likely at fault.
askey127

hi, askey i had to reinstall my os as whatever infected my computer destroyed the ability to restore the factory settings. i have a warning for everyone here.....the first question anyone should ask themselves is did they update or install messenger. if they did they need to do a system restore right away as that program is corrupt and the infection is stemming from whatever is bundled into the download. i can say this because i just got finished downloading msn messenger onto this computer which i just got finished installing. this is a brand new xps420 delivered yesterday and set-up today. when i downloaded msn im live to add my existing account to this computer.... 25 web browsers opened up. that was the start of the symptoms that led to me having to lose all of my files andsettings (i didn't know what caused it and how far the infection had spread) i didn't take any chances. this time with vista i was able to do a system restore and remove the program immediately. i will now do a scan with trendmicro pc cillin and tell you the results. thanks for all of your help.....and please warn people about this. i am going to contact microsoft after my scan because i reported that to them in the first instance. they need to be aware of what is bundled in windows live and take appropiate action.......yours truly old head 44

oldhead,
Are you able to say what site you used to download the msn im?
askey

i went to microsoft.com both times, i restored this system but i'm still getting web browser openings, especially the ones that say blank. i might also add that, whatever is bundled into that software package isn't able to be deciphered by windows live one care or any of the microsoft virus programs...... call me a conspiracy theorist, but it smacks of an inside job to me.....quite possibly a disgruntled employee software program developer

i can now say with complete proof, that there is indeed a third party program bundled into the msn live messenger 8.1 download. after working with both dell and microsoft techs to restore my hd space, and being told by microsoft techs that there wasn't anything wrong with 8.1. i reinstalled 8.1 messenger and the same thing happened again. the web browsers opening by themselves, multiple dell start pages if i opened a new tab. and the program used up 7Gb's of hardware space on my new computer. i will be contacting microsoft after this post. the 7gigs used were as follows. 3.5Gb's for the install and 3.5 Gb's doing a system restore after uninstalling the messenger

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