Big black dot on screen -- similar to spiral virus? Anyone else seen?

[window_washer]

We've got a woman's machine here who keeps coming back with a black dot covering 80% of the screen. It's a file that keeps getting back into the startup files with an 8-letter random name, similar to the Spiral virus described elsewhere on this forum. However, virus scans don't seem to catch it. Anyone else ran into this? We think she got it over Outlook Express, but we aren't positive.

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There's an exception to every rule, except this one.

[MacGyver]

Boot into command prompt only (Shift-F5 when the computer is booting) then check the autoexec.bat, winstart.bat, and \windows\start menu\programs\startup for any signs of this thing. Use the file size of the random name to try and find where this thing is coming from.

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If it ain't broke, and you try to fix it anyway, then it WILL need fixing!

[Gord]

I had a custoemr with the same problem.
Here are the files that I found that got rid of the dot,

AIIAAIIA.exe
AILIALLI.exe
AIMBAIMB.exe
AJOAAJOA.exe
ALBCALBC.exe
ALMAALMA.exe

these were in Windows\System.
one is referenced in the "win.ini" under
[Windows]
run = then a file name.

hope that helps.

[window_washer]

Actually, we managed to get rid of it, we were just curious as to who if anyone had seen this particular variant. (BTW, Sudbury, customer got it from a relative in Southern Ontario... maybe same thread of infection?)

Thanks for the advice tho

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There's an exception to every rule, except this one.