Outlook launching itself

Discussion in 'Computer Security' started by tripwire45, Oct 2, 2007.

  1. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I'm posting in this forum because I believe the problem is some sort of malware on the family computer. Both my sons have gotten their hands on this PC (Windows XP SP2) some time ago and ever since, it's had "issues". I've cleaned krap off of it several times but I never seem to get it all.

    The latest problem is that after closing Outlook, it launches itself several minutes later. I've even gone into Task Manager and killed the Outlook.exe and Winword.exe processes, but to no avail. I'm running Spybot now to see what turns up and will run a couple of other malware detectors after that.

    I did Google this problem and came up with this rather lengthy forum thread:

    http://www.tutorials-win.com/IE6Outlook/continually-opens/

    If you have any other ideas, I'd appreciate you posting them. Thanks.
     
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  2. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Sounds like you've got something running in the background that's trying to send mail... so Windows opens your default mail client, which is Outlook. I bet if you changed your default mail client (Tools, Internet Options, Programs tab) to something else, like Outlook Express, it'd try to launch that instead.

    So... it totally sounds like malware to me. If you can't find it... it might be time for a wipe-and-reinstall.
     
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  3. newkoba

    newkoba Byte Poster

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    have you tried spybot and installing tea timer and doing an immunize? also run and install windows defender and maybe read up on hi-jack this and take a look at what it finds, but don't go deleting things in hi-jack this as you're liable to delete reg keys or other misc. items it finds.
     
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  4. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    What anti virus and spyware (apart from spy bot) do you have.

    I use anti vir as virus software and think its very good and adaware. These two progs are very good at finding very hard to find trojans, they are both free and should sort the problem for you.
     
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  5. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I bought the latest version of Webroot's Spy Sweeper (which just about killed me since I'm such a cheapskate) and that did the trick. One scan and blowing away three items and 12 traces later, Outlook is now well behaved. :)
     
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  6. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    Hey, Trip.

    You coulda saved money and put that free anti-virus, anti-malware software on there called Debian.... It gets rid of all that stuff for good.... :twisted:
     
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  7. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I know, I know. My Linux boxes never have this problem. The thing is, this is the "family" computer, primarily used by my wife. I've tried to sell the fam on moving to Linux many times but they won't hear of it. To keep peace in the home, I let my wife have her Windows XP box and just fix it when it goes wrong. :wink:
     
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  8. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    I think it's as much (or more) a function of use than a function of OS. My Windows boxes (that I and only I use) never have those problems either. But Lord knows what will end up on my kids' computer when they get older! My wife doesn't browse much, and when she does, she stays on safe sites... so I haven't seen anything pop up yet.
     
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  9. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Actually, both play into this. Most malware is written to foul up Windows if for no other reason than there are so many more Windows desktops than Linux desktops. Even if my sons had performed the same actions on a Linux computer as the Windows one, chances are, Linux would just have ignored any of the threats encountered.
     
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  10. TimoftheC

    TimoftheC Kilobyte Poster

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    Trip, can I ask, did you have other malware/spyware tools loaded that failed to sort this out? The reason I ask is that I'm just as bigger cheapeskate as you and I rely on on both Adaware and Spybot as my malware/spyware killers. I was just wondering whether you tried them and they failed to resolve the problem?
     
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  11. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Adaware and Spybot didn't do the job completely. They missed the three pieces of malware that Spy Sweeper caught and only Spy Sweeper corrected the problem.
     
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  12. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Yep, I agree completely (thus, why I said "as much a function of" rather than "instead of" :wink:). Windows is by far the biggest target, and the user base is not as technically savvy as that of Linux. If I were to create a virus, I'd certainly not waste time targeting Linux or Mac! :D
     
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