HELP! Games no longer work.

[Shaun]

I just discovered that its not only M2TW that dosent work, but all my other games that require a CD as well.
When I click on the shortcuts all that happens is I get the egg timer for about 0.3 seconds then nothing. Any help?

[Maical]

restore windows to a previous point ?

[removeduser_426582376423734]

A good starting point would be restarting your PC. Often the simplest thing works. Also, you could, as said, try a system restore. If you don't know how, its START>Help and Support>System Restore

[Cha0sMarin3]

I've had the same sort of problem before. As my computer was quite filled up (not many gb's remaining on the hard disk) I low level formatted it. After the format all things worked normal again. But formatting your drive costs time, but when you've done it you'll remember what a fast pc was like again .

[Lord Phoenix]

I've had the same sort of problem before. As my computer was quite filled up (not many gb's remaining on the hard disk) I low level formatted it. After the format all things worked normal again. But formatting your drive costs time, but when you've done it you'll remember what a fast pc was like again .

Could just be that the CD/DVD drive isn't responding. No reason to charge straight into recovery/formatting. Can it read disks, like say, a music cd?

Also, try Ctrl-Alt-Del and click the processes tab to see if the games launcher starts running and just stops in the background.

[PyrrhusIV]

Don't do a System Restore, they are much, much more trouble in the long run than they are worth.

How about this, is your IDE cable from your CD drive to Mobo connected securely? Also, check to see if any normal Cd's work.

[Spiff]

Yeah check the cables from the cd-drive, assuming as mentioned already that it cant do other things like play music etc. Is it an old drive?

edit: Yeah what Pyrrhus said..

[Shaun]

Well, thanks for all the advice.

I will be try a low lever format and make sure the cables are connected correctly.

Also, try Ctrl-Alt-Del and click the processes tab to see if the games launcher starts running and just stops in the background.

Nope, nothing there.

A good starting point would be restarting your PC. Often the simplest thing works. Also, you could, as said, try a system restore. If you don't know how, its START>Help and Support>System Restore

This has been the case for the last week. Also, system resotre no longer works. I got a Trojan in the system volume are that I think is blocking it or something - I cant seem to get rid of the trojan. But in recent scans no other Trojans or viruses came up.

I can still play Music CD's and install games. Tis very weird.

[Lord Phoenix]

Last time something like this happened to me, it was a particularly nasty piece of spyware/malware called Elitum Ebar. At least I think that's what it was, I've had a couple of nasty ones get in before and had to manually clean them off and that was one of them. But, something like the Elitum Ebar (from our "friends" at CoolWebSearch.com I think) will disable any antivirus/firewall softare you have from detecting it as well as any antispyware programs (the damn thing killed Spybot S&D, Norton AV and Norton IS completely when it got on my computer and continued to kill it whenever I tried to reinstall it) and it also recreates itself if you delete it's files. It would also stop most .exe files from running.

I wound up having to leave the files it uses in place, and clean them out to 0 bytes with notepad, make them read only, and remove all permissions (even system permissions and my own permissions) from the files in order to stop it from regrowing itself.

If you got something like that on your computer, and you don't have someone really familiar with the inner workings of the computer on hand, the only real solution is to burn any and all important documents, pictures, music, etc. to CD/DVD and format the Hard Drive (which will destroy all the files on the HD and wipe it clean) and then reinstall windows.

I doubt most computer repair places could even deal with that elitum ebar. There was another one that did much the same thing but I can't remember what it was. It took me 5 hours to figure out how to kill it when I got it, and I still had to leave it's bloated carcass on my computer until the next time I formatted.

By the way, the way both of them worked was to hide themselves within the iexplore.exe or explorer.exe file as a .dll which is hooked into it.

[Shaun]

Hmmm, everything else seems screwed up as well, maybe a re format is the best thing. Even FireFox now seems to not work sometimes and currently when I scroll up the page is very wavy lol.

[Trojan**]

I have RTW and recently received Medieval 2 total war. So heres the problem I have 1GB of RAM and a Nvidia Geforce 6100 (not the best but good enough) See wat happens, is that wenever i run a game, they will always play for about 20min then crash to the desktop. Ive tried uninstalling all the games but that didnt help PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME

[Freddie]

Hmmm, everything else seems screwed up as well, maybe a re format is the best thing. Even FireFox now seems to not work sometimes and currently when I scroll up the page is very wavy lol.

Hmm this is a strange one. My first thought is that it’s software related, so you can rule (for the time being) any faulty hardware. I believe M2TW is a DirectX game, do you have games that run under Open GL such as Quake 4? If so see if your Open-gl games are working if so you will need to reinstall the latest version of DirectX 9.0c. Also type in Dxdiag in Start>Run and see if anything comes up, like a faulty driver or something.

If this doesn’t correct it then if sounds you have a nasty virus or malware on your system. Next do the old 3 figure salute on the keyboard and click on the Processes tab. Click on the CPU usage and see what if anything is using your CPU bandwidth (should only be 48-50 % since you use dual core), make note of anything suspicious and put it into google and find instructions on how to remove it but frankly I would use Hijack This (found in the Recommend Software list at the top of the forum). After that do a FULL system scan with both Ad-Aware and Spy-Bot Search and Destroy AND a Anti Virus programme. If this doesn’t cure it at least you will have clean system free from nasty spyware and such like.

Another Start >Run programme you can try is ‘msconfig’, run it and click on the startup tab and turn everything off apart from systray. Reboot and turn your internet off so you don’t get attacked as you won’t have a firewall running at this point. Now try running your games, if they work then there is a corrupt programme in your startup group that is preventing your games from running. You will need to load each one until your games fail to load again.

[Lord Phoenix]

I have RTW and recently received Medieval 2 total war. So heres the problem I have 1GB of RAM and a Nvidia Geforce 6100 (not the best but good enough) See wat happens, is that wenever i run a game, they will always play for about 20min then crash to the desktop. Ive tried uninstalling all the games but that didnt help PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME

If it's time related then it's usually one of three things: Heat, Bad RAM, or most commonly, an unseated card. Over time, as the computer is turned on and off, the various cards, plugs, and other things attached to the motherboard and other internal components heats up and cools off repeatedly, which causes expansion and contraction (and sometimes bacterial growth) which can cause most of the stuff inside your computer to wiggle itself free. So something could be heating up, expanding past making good contact, and then contracting back into good contact when it cools off. Either that or your computer is overheating and thus crashing, or there is a bad memory address in the RAM, and as the RAM fills up more and more, it eventually reaches the bad spot and ctds.

First, try removing the video/sound card from your computer and cleaning them off (just use a dry soft rag or a very soft brush, nothing wet of course), and perhaps the cables inside the computer too, and the RAM, and then, after everything is clean, stick it all back into the computer. Save the cables for last, they can get in the way of putting everything back in.

Hmm this is a strange one. My first thought is that it’s software related, so you can rule (for the time being) any faulty hardware. I believe M2TW is a DirectX game, do you have games that run under Open GL such as Quake 4? If so see if your Open-gl games are working if so you will need to reinstall the latest version of DirectX 9.0c. Also type in Dxdiag in Start>Run and see if anything comes up, like a faulty driver or something.

If this doesn’t correct it then if sounds you have a nasty virus or malware on your system. Next do the old 3 figure salute on the keyboard and click on the Processes tab. Click on the CPU usage and see what if anything is using your CPU bandwidth (should only be 48-50 % since you use dual core), make note of anything suspicious and put it into google and find instructions on how to remove it but frankly I would use Hijack This (found in the Recommend Software list at the top of the forum). After that do a FULL system scan with both Ad-Aware and Spy-Bot Search and Destroy AND a Anti Virus programme. If this doesn’t cure it at least you will have clean system free from nasty spyware and such like.

Another Start >Run programme you can try is ‘msconfig’, run it and click on the startup tab and turn everything off apart from systray. Reboot and turn your internet off so you don’t get attacked as you won’t have a firewall running at this point. Now try running your games, if they work then there is a corrupt programme in your startup group that is preventing your games from running. You will need to load each one until your games fail to load again.

I'm betting that by his symptoms, the second he tries to run Spybot S&D or Ad-Aware, whatever is doing it to his computer will either destroy their detection rules outright or add every spyware/adware program in their detection lists to their scan ignore lists.

A Hi-Jack This log would be useful in determining what exactly it is though. Also, a list of hooked .dlls to iexplore.exe or explorer.exe, which I think Ad-aware can produce.

[Maical]

thread hijackers are always funny :p

trojan, ur problem seems better suited in m2tw support

[Trojan**]

i would agree with u Maical but the problem consists on RTW also not just M2tw

[Trojan**]

would it possibly be something with the cooling fan??
If so should i put a home fan 2 c if that helps?

[Shaun]

Thanks Freddie, did a hijack this and here is the log file

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 19:05:41, on 27/12/2006
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.5730.0011)

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\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCDsrv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXPPS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\Program Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\nhksrv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorsvw.exe
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4ss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\UAService7.exe
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4gui.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4gui.exe
C:\Program Files\NASDAK\OmniMouse Driver\4.0\MOUSE32A.EXE
C:\Program Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\MMKeybd.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\Program Files\Anti-Dialer\Dialer_Watcher.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLI.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
C:\Program Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\TrayMon.exe
C:\Program Files\Netropa\Onscreen Display\OSD.exe
C:\Program Files\Netropa\InetKb\Inetkb.exe
C:\FRAPS\FRAPS.EXE
C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SUPERAntiSpyware.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Program Files\SAGEM\SAGEM F@st 800-840\dslmon.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.tiscali.co.uk/broadband
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.ocx
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {C1B4DEC2-2623-438e-9CA2-C9043AB28508} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {BA52B914-B692-46c4-B683-905236F6F655} - (no file)
O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {C1B4DEC2-2623-438e-9CA2-C9043AB28508} - (no file)
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ElbyCheckAnyDVD] "C:\Program Files\SlySoft\AnyDVD\ElbyCheck.exe" /L AnyDVD
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LWBMOUSE] C:\Program Files\NASDAK\OmniMouse Driver\4.0\MOUSE32A.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD] C:\Program Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\MMKeybd.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [adiras] adiras.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [antidialer.co.uk] C:\Program Files\Anti-Dialer\Dialer_Watcher.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BearShare] "C:\Program Files\BearShare\BearShare.exe" /pause
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATICCC] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\CLIStart.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RTHDCPL] RTHDCPL.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Alcmtr] ALCMTR.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [InCD] C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpySweeper] C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe /0
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Skype] "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe" /nosplash /minimized
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Fraps] C:\FRAPS\FRAPS.EXE
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SUPERAntiSpyware] C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SUPERAntiSpyware.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.exe.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: DigiCell.lnk = C:\Program Files\MSI\DigiCell\DigiCell.exe
O4 - Global Startup: DSLMON.lnk = C:\Program Files\SAGEM\SAGEM F@st 800-840\dslmon.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: Download with Go!Zilla - file://C:\Program Files\Go!Zilla\download-with-gozilla.html
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_09\bin\ssv.dll
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
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O15 - Trusted Zone: *.bp.com
O16 - DPF: {00B71CFB-6864-4346-A978-C0A14556272C} (Checkers Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...r.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S...in/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {4D7F48C0-CB49-4EA6-97D4-04F4EACC2F3B} (InstallShield Setup Player 2K2) - http://sib1.od2.com/common/Member/Cl.../OCI/setup.exe
O16 - DPF: {4F1E5B1A-2A80-42CA-8532-2D05CB959537} (MSN Photo Upload Tool) - http://spaces.msn.com//PhotoUpload/MsnPUpld.cab
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S.../bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {8E0D4DE5-3180-4024-A327-4DFAD1796A8D} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...t.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {9059F30F-4EB1-4BD2-9FDC-36F43A218F4A} (Microsoft RDP Client Control (redist)) - http://localhost:8000/third_party/RDP/msrdp.cab
O16 - DPF: {B38870E4-7ECB-40DA-8C6A-595F0A5519FF} (MsnMessengerSetupDownloadControl Class) - http://messenger.msn.com/download/Ms...Downloader.cab
O16 - DPF: {E292EFB0-EE32-11D1-8C74-0000C0B0E2E9} (RptViewerAX Class) - http://reuxeuus132:8080/wi/ActiveX/RptViewerEN.cab
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: !SASWinLogon - C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SASWINLO.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O21 - SSODL: WPDShServiceObj - {AAA288BA-9A4C-45B0-95D7-94D524869DB5} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\WPDShServiceObj.dll
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: InCD Helper (InCDsrv) - Nero AG - C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCDsrv.exe
O23 - Service: Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall 4 (KPF4) - Sunbelt Software - C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4ss.exe
O23 - Service: LexBce Server (LexBceS) - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\LEXBCES.EXE
O23 - Service: Netropa NHK Server (nhksrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Netropa\Multimedia Keyboard\nhksrv.exe
O23 - Service: SecuROM User Access Service (V7) (UserAccess7) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\System32\UAService7.exe

Anything suspicous there?

I managed to fix the screen scroll issue, my dad accidentaly deleted my ATi drivers. When I was installing the drivers during reboot where windows checks for drive consistency (or something like that) it found a few errors in the C/system volume info/restore section, I have found a few viruses there before and havent been able to do a system restore. Hope thats another problem fixed.

[Freddie]

Thanks Freddie, did a hijack this and here is the log file



Anything suspicous there?

I managed to fix the screen scroll issue, my dad accidentaly deleted my ATi drivers. When I was installing the drivers during reboot where windows checks for drive consistency (or something like that) it found a few errors in the C/system volume info/restore section, I have found a few viruses there before and havent been able to do a system restore. Hope thats another problem fixed.

On the Process Tab (Ctl+Alt+Del) is System Idle process running at 98-99%? If it is, then you nothing to worry about. The problem file I had was with a malware virus that disguises itself as an Antivirus programme.

C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4gui.exe
C:\Program Files\Anti-Dialer\Dialer_Watcher.exe
C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SUPERAntiSpyware.exe

I take you recognise all these programmes as programmes you have installed, its just that I’m not familiar with any of them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ve just had a thought! Have you installed any games recently that contains…..(Dramatic Music!!!!)……….StarForce! Man that’s ***** to remove as well, uninstalled the game culprit isn’t enough it often leaves behind the Starforce drivers.

Do this

Device Manager>View>Show hidden Devices>Non-Pug and Play Drivers.

Can you Starforce listed?

[Shaun]

On the Process Tab (Ctl+Alt+Del) is System Idle process running at 98-99%? If it is, then you nothing to worry about. The problem file I had was with a malware virus that disguises itself as an Antivirus programme.

Nah, its fine, around 3-4%.

C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\Personal Firewall\kpf4gui.exe
C:\Program Files\Anti-Dialer\Dialer_Watcher.exe
C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SUPERAntiSpyware.exe


I take you recognise all these programmes as programmes you have installed, its just that I’m not familiar with any of them.

Yep, Sunblet software is my firewall, found it recommended in the reccommened software thread. Dialer Watcher is a program that notifies me when my connection settings change, had it years it legit, same with SUPERAntiSpyware, was recommended it on an anti virus forum.

I’ve just had a thought! Have you installed any games recently that contains…..(Dramatic Music!!!!)……….StarForce! Man that’s ***** to remove as well, uninstalled the game culprit isn’t enough it often leaves behind the Starforce drivers.

Do this

Device Manager>View>Show hidden Devices>Non-Pug and Play Drivers.

Can you Starforce listed?

Yes, I found Starforce listed. What can I do to get rid of it, and what games will I need to uninstall?

[Lord Phoenix]

There are a few things I'd question:

C:\WINDOWS\RTHDCPL.EXE

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [adiras] adiras.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RTHDCPL] RTHDCPL.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Alcmtr] ALCMTR.EXE

Any idea what these are? They look like they could be gibberish names that these sorts of things like to use, but then again, their letter grouping also suggests that it might be something legitimate as well.

I recognize kpf4gui.exe as Kerio Personal Firewall 4 (which I use), and I assume you have a Lexmark printer for those two LEX*.exe in the system32 folder.

Ok, try this: Open Hijackthis again and click on the "Open the Misc Tools section" button (4th one down on my version). Then click on Open Process Manager under System Tools. Then check the "Show DLLs" box at the upper right (just above the scroll bar). Then click on Explorer.exe and click the disk icon beside the Show DLLs thingy to save it to a txt file, then post everything under "DLLs loaded by process C:\Windows\Explorer.exe" in the text file.

Oh, also, it would be a good idea to go to your C:\Windows\System32 folder (or C:\WinNT\System32 depending on what it decided to set itself up as) and sorting the files by Modified and listing out what files in the System32 folder have been modified since this started happening. The System32 folder usually doesn't get modified that often, so any recent changes should stand out.