I am looking for ways to secure my computer. What are the best free tools that I can use. - Bose

Based on past history, I highly recommend using the following free softwares:-
Anti-virus: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Firewall: ZoneAlarm for novice users and Comodo Pro for advanced users.
Browser: Firefox
Anti-spyware: Ad-aware 2008 and Spybot S&D.

Whats a trojan and does my computer have one? - Aamod

A Trojan horse, or simply trojan, is a piece of software which appears to perform a certain action but in fact performs another, such as transmitting a computer virus. Contrary to popular belief, this action, usually encoded in a hidden payload, may or may not be actually malicious, but Trojan horses are notorious today for their use in the installation of backdoor programs. Simply put, a Trojan horse is not a computer virus. Unlike such malware, it does not propagate by self-replication but relies heavily on the exploitation of an end-user (Social engineering). It is instead a categorical attribute which can encompass many different forms of codes. Therefore, a computer worm or virus may be a Trojan horse.

Source: Wikipedia.

You can check if your computer has a trojan by using one of the popular anti-virus software like AVG Free Anti-virus.

The start page of my browser has changed to protectionband.com. Could you please tell me how this could have happened and how can I rectify it?
- Divya

Your computer has been infected with a trojan called Zlob. Zlob hijacks your homepage to protectionband.com and generates warning messages to try and get you to buy fake programs such as SpyDawn, SpyHeal, Antivermins and others. You just dont need to get rid of protectionband.com start page, but also the Zlob Trojan that implanted it there.

You can use SpyBot S&D or Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition to get rid of it.

Border patrol for Internet Explorer | CNET News.com
A security start-up is borrowing a technique from the research labs to try to give Internet Explorer PCs relief from Web-based attacks.

GreenBorder Technologies, a venture-backed start-up, plans to release on Tuesday a consumer security tool that puts Microsoft’s IE in a virtual sandbox. Called GreenBorder Pro, the product uses virtualization technology similar to what researchers at antivirus companies have been using for years. In a virtual environment, malicious software is allowed to execute, but it can’t touch the underlying operating system …

… GreenBorder Pro will cost $49.95 per year. A shield for files sent and received via instant messaging or run from USB drives costs an additional $14.95 per year. As a special promotion, the first 10,000 people who download the software will get a year of use at no cost.

Time will tell how much time it takes for people to write code to bypass GreenBorder and infect your machine.

I think I have a virus that keeps giving me popups like crazy. The popups are for www.detoate.home.ro, top100.ro and other. Following is my hijack-this log:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 11:57:20 PM, on 6/20/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxdll\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\jusched.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Maxtor\OneTouch\Utils\OneTouch.exe
C:\WINDOWS\MXOALDR.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
C:\Program Files\Dantz\Retrospect\retrorun.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Jerry\Desktop\Jer’s Things\hijackthis.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://www.detoate.home.ro
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = www.detoate.home.ro
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://www.detoate.home.ro
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.detoate.home.ro/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://detoate.home.ro
F3 - REG:win.ini: run=C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxdll\svchost.exe
N3 - Netscape 7: user_pref(”browser.startup.homepage”, “www.netscape.com”); (C:\Documents and Settings\Jerry\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\y0maj2vr.slt\prefs.js)
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] C:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\jusched.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MaxtorOneTouch] C:\PROGRA~1\Maxtor\OneTouch\Utils\OneTouch.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MXO Auto Loader] C:\WINDOWS\MXOALDR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe” -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] “C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe” -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] “C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe”
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [services] “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE” www.detoate.home.ro/MAIN.htm
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [NBJ] “C:\Program Files\Ahead\Nero BackItUp\NBJ.exe”
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Translate English Word - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmwordtrans.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate Page into English - res://c:\program files\google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmtrans.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\npjpi142_04.dll
O9 - Extra ‘Tools’ menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.2_04\bin\npjpi142_04.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM95\aim.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra ‘Tools’ menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O16 - DPF: {00B71CFB-6864-4346-A978-C0A14556272C} (Checkers Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/msgrchkr.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {0EB0E74A-2A76-4AB3-A7FB-9BD8C29F7F75} (CKAVWebScan Object) - http://www.kaspersky.com/kos/english/kavwebscan_unicode.cab
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {2917297F-F02B-4B9D-81DF-494B6333150B} (Minesweeper Flags Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MineS…er.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/…b?1139091878854
O16 - DPF: {8E0D4DE5-3180-4024-A327-4DFAD1796A8D} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/Messe…nt.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {9A9307A0-7DA4-4DAF-B042-5009F29E09E1} (ActiveScan Installer Class) - http://acs.pandasoftware.com/activescan/as5free/asinst.cab
O16 - DPF: {BB21F850-63F4-4EC9-BF9D-565BD30C9AE9} (a-squared Scanner) - http://ax.emsisoft.com/asquared.cab
O16 - DPF: {E7D2588A-7FB5-47DC-8830-832605661009} (Live Collaboration) - http://liveca04.rightnowtech.com/7020-b369…l/java/RntX.cab
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite control - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPodService - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: Retrospect Launcher (RetroLauncher) - Dantz Development Corporation - C:\Program Files\Dantz\Retrospect\retrorun.exe

- Kavita Krishnan

Please run HijackThis, click Scan, and check the checkbox against the following entries:

F3 - REG:win.ini: run=C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxdll\svchost.exe
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://www.detoate.home.ro
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = www.detoate.home.ro
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://www.detoate.home.ro
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.detoate.home.ro/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://detoate.home.ro
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [services] “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE” www.detoate.home.ro/MAIN.htm

Close all open windows and click Fix Checked.

Delete the folder:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\fxdll
You might have to restart the machine in safemode to be able to delete this folder.