AIM Virus Symptoms

  1. When exiting AIM, the message:
    "The aim hyperlink you've clicked on may require you to be online to work. Please log in first." Pops up and you are signed back online
  2. Random links appear in a buddy profile or in messages, to sites such as "engagingphotos.com", "christianmovies.com", "realphx.com", "fals.net" or "profilesbyte.com" or "geocities.com" websites. They are often designed to be enticing, using song lyrics, promises of pictures, jokes, saying "WTF LOOK!!!", etc.
  3. Regedit, Task Manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL), and msconfig will not stay open.
  4. Links to anything like "hilarious.scr" or "bestfriends.scr" or "friends.scr" or any .exe or .scr files - these are executable and should not normally be in a friend's away message unless they are a programmer or you know they can make a screensaver.
  5. Same as the above but for .pif files - there is basically no legitimate reason to be distributing these, so don't download or run them.
  6. Anything related to "Block-Checker" - see the BlockRemove tool and the block-checker information page.

If you have any of these symptoms, run AIMFix and it should remove the AIM virus components. You should also see the Spyware Removal page and follow the steps to remove spyware installed by the virus

Spyware Symptoms (NOT AIM VIRUSES):

  1. Your computer may start acting strangely, especially Internet Explorer. This is usually a symptom of spyware, which is installed by the viruses. You will have to remove the virus, AND the spyware. AIMFix will remove the virus, but for the spyware, you need to follow the instructions from the Spyware Removal page.
  2. AIM crashes any time you attempt to send or receive a message. - This is NOT a symptom of a virus, but is also caused by spyware. Specifically, Shopping Wizard, Home Search Assistant, and Search Extender are known to cause this problem. As a temporary solution, you can uninstall AIM 5.5/5.9 and install the older version, AIM 5.2 which is available for download here: [ftp.newaol.com]
  3. Your computer is suddenly slow or crashes a lot.
  4. You receive pop-ups constantly, even when not surfing the web.

If you have any of the spyware symptoms, see the Spyware Removal page and follow the steps to remove spyware installed by the virus. You may also find sites such as [subratam.org] helpful if you need more detailed or specific assistance removing spyware.