The clipping you spoke of was also in the Virginia Pilot here where I live. A friend of mine sent it to me to read. I have done the things mentioned before in efforts to rid a machine of Spyware, but only as a last resort. When Norton says that there are files it can not remove, it is usually because the files are in use by Windows and therefore may be protected - which is why they can not be deleted. I can not answer for Norton as I do not use it, but the software removal tools I use will let me know this and offer to remove them the next time I reboot the computer as they will not be in use by Windows at that time since the program was removed. The most important thing I tell people when removing spyware is to "Turn OFF System Restore". Spywares today are sophisticated and often embed themselves in the system restore files so that if they are removed, they will be restored on the next boot. This will create a vicious if it is not turned off first before scanning and cleaning spyware. Fran Hi Jo, I just ran across a potential solution (albeit for a different adware program, but others may be using this trick) in my local Sunday newspaper. It says to bring up the registry editor (go to "Start -> Run", enter "Regedit" and "OK"). First thing is to backup your registry in case something goes wrong. Select the top line ("My Computer"), then "Registry -> Export Registry File", make sure "All" is selected, and enter a filename. Next, press "Ctrl-F" or "Edit -> Find" and enter the name of the file in question ("conscorr.exe" for example), and click "Find Next". If you come across an instance of the name that has a value associated with it, then double click the entry and delete the content of the "Value data" and click "OK". Repeat for each offending program. Now re-run the virus scanner, and it should be able to find and delete the problem files. Apparently this is a new trick, using a "semi-secret" registry key value that make the files hidden on the disk. At 02:55 AM 12/13/2004, you wrote: >A regular, routine scan by Norton 2005 found these files on my >computer: conscorr.exe, MultiMpp.dll, and PreInMpp.exe. Norton's message >to me after trying to delete them was "Deletion failed." > >No other scan or search (AdAware, Spybot, Panda, Housecall, Windows >XP--all up to date and run regularly) finds these files. My search of the >web was fruitless (but I'm a novice in this area). > >I am running Windows XP. > >Thanks for any help you can provide me. > > PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download > visit our download web page at: > http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml Russ Poffenberger [log in to unmask] --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 0451-0, 12/13/2004 Tested on: 12/14/2004 6:09:22 AM avast! - copyright (c) 2000-2004 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com PCBUILD's List Owners: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>