iexplore.exe error help

[Fleshstalker]

WOAHHHH now... 

I think I finally got rid of it. How strange, it no longer appears on my processes screen. It just vanished all I remember yesterday is that I deleted a bunch of old AGS games which I have been downloading into a file folder (I usually download AGS games just to check them out first before really keeping them; a big mess might I add). Then afterwards, I ran AVG Free edition. Either one of those two or combination of them somehow got rid of the trojan. Now that is wierd, but great news to me. No more having to end the task when shutting down my PC. AND my PC is really fast too!!! 

[Nikolas]

Alright, I went to Geek Squad at Best Buy and they told me my only option is a fresh OS install. Registery scan won't do any according to them. They said it would cost me $200 for them to do it for me and they copy all my files that aren't affected by any viruses. Sounds ok I guess but a little expensive. I might take their offer later on as I'll save some money for it. For now, I'll be fine as I don't buy online or anything involving money transactions. I'd do it myself, but it's too much of a hassel. I might even get a new PC down the line too. Who knows.

Woah! Wait a minute there!

I'm not 100% sure, but the following should be true:

* pic files (jpg, png, etc) shouldn't have anything, they're pciture files.
* music files shouldn't have anything either.
* Not sure about word doc files, but I don't think there are many viruses hitting on word doc files
* Project files of any kind seem to specific to carry viruses. I mean what kind of virus hits *.cpj files? (cubase project files)

I doubt you need anything else from your computer, assuming you have disks with the software you use.

Assuming (again) that you do have the original Windows xp disk somewhere (which you should have if you bought windows) then you should be able to just put the disk in a format the whole thing, after you have salvaged what you need from your computer.

In my case I need all my audio files (talking about several GB actually, more than 20). Then I need the Finale files (scores), which are around 500 MB in total. Some pics, some files from a folder called "work", and that's all. I don't care about mp3 files, or pics, I can get them again (from my CDs). I don't have movies and other stuff in, and various free stuff from the net, I can certainly google and in an hour have them all back on.

Bottom line:
1. saving what is without virus <> what is worth saving.
2. Since you probably don't do 3-d or audio, the files you will want to save will be relatively small. I've not seen any AGS game more than 100+ MB really, maybe except the very few.
3. Inserting the Windows xp disk in your drive and booting from there will give you an option to format (deep or not) and clean the hell out of your hard drive. It's a simple follow the instructions.
4. Having backed up the things you need, the worst that can happen is screwing up the installation of windows. It won't destroy the hard disk. In such an unfortunate event, take the computer for a windows installation only since you've already backed-up what you need. And if you have the Windows CD already, there's ABSOLUTELY NO QUESTION that a simple installation, without buying the OEM version does NOT cost $200!

EDIT: You posted while I was typing! Happy news mate! Great to have your computer back, huh?

[Fleshstalker]

HA! Ya, you posted right when I left to work. Thanks anyways Nikolas and everyone else here for steering me all the way through. My PC is as fast as it was when I first bought. AMAZING AVG software, I recommend it to everyone.