Disappearing Desktop icons + Personal Folders (Virus?)

Question

Wierd things are happening,

I think I have a virus. A day ago i was using my computer and I lost all my desktop icons and short cuts except for

My Docs,

My Computer, and

My Network places.

I was able to get them back using System Restore

But

I also just found out that a bunch of .gif animations I had made (that were kept in folders on the desktop) are gone.

Searched the computer, they appear to have been completely deleted and some of them had not been backed up and are irreplacable. (insert MAD smiley)

Here's the deal.

I had just recently downloaded Ad-muncher, a free popup blocker (got it from Major Geeks, a popular download page) and was trying a feature called IP scramble that is supposed to let you browse anonymously. Sounded cool so I tried it and seemed to work fine.

When i was finished browing I used a program (that I've had for years) called Windows Washer- a utilty that cleans caches and cookies etc. I've used this program hundreds of times with no ill effects.

However, this time when I closed the Window Washer screeen, ALL of my desktop icons where gone (except the 3 mentioned above) and my background was missing.

I paniced - and immediately used System Restore - which seemed to work, I got them all back. Then i ran Norton anti-virus (with up to date definitions) and came up clean. So I figured whatever it was I had got it in time.

2 days later it happened again. (same situation) And I just found out that my animations were gone BUT only the ones that where stored in folders on the desktop (nothing else was gone from these folders)

I thought I'd try using System Restore again to set the computer back to a date prior to any of this trouble in a attempt to get my anim.s back BUT All the Restore Points where GONE, except forr the one that let me undo the last Restore.

I was able to use that to get my DeskTop back

Ad-muncher will not let me uninstall it. It says it can't find the uninstall .exe and when i tried to use

Add/Remove Programs in the control panel, Ad-muncher disappeared from the list but is still running.

WHAT is going on?

Norton still says I don't have a virus.

I ran Spybot and Spyware Blaster -> no threats found

=========

My son just informed me that he downloaded a screen saver the other day....never a good idea.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

3kids · Answer

I should mention  i have not added any new programs on my pc..

3kids · Answer

Same thing happened to me this am..  I have no idea what caused it. I know Nortons have new Virus's listed on their site, however, when i ran my Norton i found it clear of any...   I was able to restore also after calling support. I was unable to connect to anything before calling support.... Something happened and i hope someone can tell us what!!!!

3kids · Answer

support told me their phones were busy with people calling about the same problem. No explanation as to why the problem.

I also ran Ad-aware, Nortons, spybot. Found nothing there..

Like you i am at a loss as to what happened. I am afraid to shut down my pc for fear of having the same problem tomorrow...

Someone has to know what happened. Perhaps we will have a answer soon.... Good luck!!!!!!

Brian Kilburn · Answer

That's interesting. what did support tell you?

I'm starting to think that this is not a virus.

I ran norton (w/ up to date definitions)

I also ran e-trust anti virus web scanner

and Ad-aware (latest version with up to date def's)

along with Spybot search and destroy.

all these programs say my computer is clean....anyone eles ever experience anything like this?

3kids · Answer

Goodmorning Brian, What Provider do you use for your Internet and E-mail? I notified everyone in my address book. Those that replied did not experience any problems. No one uses the same Internet Provider i do or the email server.

I am wondering if the problem was connected to my server!!!!!!!!! someone playing around??????

Brian Kilburn · Answer

Well with the phone lines jammed with people all having the same problem, someone must know something!

The closest I've been able to come to a -possible- explanation is that the icon cache file has become corrupted. ShellIconCache can apparently become corrupt and/or hide viruses.

It's a hidden file so to unhide it, you need to go to Tools / Folder Options / View tab in the Control Panel. Check the appropriate box. Then search for ShellconCache and delete it - and reboot - Windows will create a new, clean cache file when rebooted.

One more way to reset ShellconCache (if you don't want to shut down your computer) is as follows;

Open your display applet via control panel,or a right click on the desktop,select properties,on the settings tab,change your color settings, -ok - out, then go change them back again. That's what i was told anyway.

I did the First method of manually deleting the file and rebooting. No ill effects - but of cousre I don't know if it actually fixed anything either.

The part of this explanation that doesn't quite fit my situation is that I had the 3 Winows Icon still on my desktop and that I lost stuff out of personal files kept on the desktop. (BTW, I was able to find coppies of most of my animations -insert happy smiley!)

I'm still hoping someone will come along with a better explanation - this has happened 2 times to me recently. I hope it dosn't happen again but i have no way to know if I've fixed it or how to avoid it since i don't know what I did to cause it in the first place.

Computers, don't you love'em....

3kids · Answer

I have sent all info to a computer tech this am. Waiting for an answer... Will let you know if i find out anything. Thank you for the information...

RadioRay · Answer

A similar thing happened to me. I did a wash with Window Washer v6.0.5.409 and program appeared to hang a long time before finishing normally. Closed program and noticed that most of my desktop icons were missing as were all of the files in all desktop folders. Found that "C:\documents and settings\my name\desktop" folder was empty. Those icons which did remain on my desktop were loaded from the All Users folder. Checked the Wash statistics on program home page and it showed last wash as 6/7/05 even though this failed wash was on 6/25/05. I had no custom wash items defined. Checked several other forums and this appears to be a known issue (by Webroot) of build 409 and 410. This is an excerpt of an email received from Webroot by a user in another forum:

"As of today, we have released a new Window Washer build that will prevent this problem from happening in the future. I have gone ahead and sent a new download link with download instructions to your email. This download contains the most recent program available, Version 6.0.2 Build 411".

Hope this helps.

Windows General

Disappearing Desktop icons + Personal Folders (Virus?)

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