What can I do if I think a spammer has hijacked my computer?

bishopsjewels: What can I do if I think a spammer has hijacked my computer?
My computer has started running very slowly VERY suddenly whenever I’m online. I suspect a spammer has hijacked it. I have tried Norton Antivirus, AVG antivirus, Sypware Search and Destroy, and even Yahoo Anti-Spy, but the problem is only growing worse.

I would like to know if there is a way to say for sure if my suspicions are right, and what to do to rescue my computer.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Chris W
Restart your PC press F8 KEEP IT DOWN you will get a black screen go to safe mode
then log in
then go to start-run then type in msconfig
Click on the startup tab click disable all
click on the services tab click ” hide all microsoft services
then click disable all click apply and restart your computer and run norton etc and the virus cant launch so norton and spybot search and destroy etc can delete it without trouble

Answer by 892999
You computer might be used as proxy. Install firewall and see what programs try to connect when you go online.
See link below for free firewall.

My self I would re-install the OS completely to get rid of all bugs in the system.

Answer by globeweasel
depends on yer hardware, could be a bug, look in outlook or outlook express and see if any mail is being sent. firewall is a must, nortons uses lots of power and almost everything makes files as time gos on. the above are sound advise. update everything and scan in safe mode.

Answer by dogenzenji
if your computer is going slow, chances are your computer has picked up some viruses, spywares and malwares. update your anti-virus application’s definitions and rescan your computer. or try microsoft’s onecare free for 90-days: https://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials/onecare

Answer by Anonymous girl
You might have a rootkit installed that is hiding the infected files from the operating system.

You can get the Rootkit Revealer from Microsoft:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897445.aspx

You can look in your task manager and see if anything weird is running, something you do not recognize as part of the operating system, a service, or programs you use.

If there are a bunch of files with random filenames of the same size, then you know you have a problem, and getting rid of those is the first place to start. If a cluster of files in the Windows nor WINNT folder have the same date, and the dates are not those of Windows files (which will mostly share the same date) or service packs, it may be suspicious.

Sometimes, the way to knock out the problem is to boot into DOS mode and just delete files that were created around and after the time of infection, or files that you know are suspicious but cannot delete under Windows.

Like others have suggested, disable startup programs that are unfamilar.

After making any significant changes, try rerunning your antivirus programs and spyware removers. Sometimes correcting problems may allow the scanners to detect other problems they could not detect before.

If things are really a mess, then reinstallation of everything might be the only way around things. Just backup user data and not applications before formatting. Replace those from their source or from the original CDs, DVDs, floppies.