This may seem weird, but I was downloading a few files, and subsequently i noticed popups. I quickly uninstalled it, did a virus scan with mcafee, spybot, adaware, and microsoft. It found a ****load of stuff (spyware related, no viruses). I removed them all, and started studying, turning on some classical mp3s. Suddenly HUGE static sounds came out so i closed windows media player. i restarted my computer, and now the sound does not work. I rescanned everything, nothing showing up. at one point it said that mediaACC.exe was missing, and found out it was a malware, so i removed that using hijackthis. i reinstalled my audio driver...which btw, only says i have 4 channels...i should have 5.1 sound...

sound is still not working...please tell me i don't have to reformat...microsoft will not be happy that i'm gonna be using my cd key AGAIN

chen3170,

You will most likely need to post a Hijack This log so that the files associated with the malware can be identified. You can download Hijack This at this link http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ then place it into a folder of it's on, such as C:\HJT, so that back up copies can be made and not clutter your desktop or other folders and the backup copies of deleted items can be easily located if needed.

Once saved double click HijackThis.exe, and press "Scan". When the scan is finished, the "Scan" button will change into a "Save Log" button.
Press that, save the log, Ctrl-A to Select All, and copy its contents into the text editor to post the log.

It could be that removal programs messed up your system, not the parasite killed the sound..

well, i confirmed maybe 2-3 things:

i put in my old sound card (i realized it was 5.1 also) and it worked beautifully. interesting...

i put in my newer one (turtle beach riviera) and installed it like i never had it before (i previously completely uninstalled it) and it detected 5.1. i was ecstatic...and then when i restarted the computer the sound was a horrible staticy noise. so i figured...i'm this close, might as well do everything again. i uninstalled, put in my old card, took it out and put in the new card, going through the install process. no sound...and only 4 channels...i gave up and started using my old card although i would love to use my new one (the sound quality is better i think)

here's the logfile for hijack this. please note that i already got rid of a few things, and the spy removers got rid of a lot too.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 10:22:21 AM, on 10/31/2005
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:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\FrameworkService.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\Mcshield.exe
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\VsTskMgr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\SHSTAT.EXE
C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\UpdaterUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\TalkBack\TBMon.exe
C:\Program Files\D-Tools\daemon.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_04\bin\jusched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\VM_STI.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe
C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe
C:\Program Files\802.11 Wireless LAN\802.11g Wireless Cardbus & PCI Adapter HW.51 V1.00\WlanCU.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\devldr32.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasDtServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Chris\Desktop\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://slickdeals.net/
F3 - REG:win.ini: run=
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
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: [IMJPMIG8.1] "C:\WINDOWS\IME\imjp8_1\IMJPMIG.EXE" /Spoil /RemAdvDef /Migration32
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002ASync] C:\WINDOWS\system32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /SYNC
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PHIME2002A] C:\WINDOWS\system32\IME\TINTLGNT\TINTSETP.EXE /IMEName
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ShStatEXE] "C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\SHSTAT.EXE" /STANDALONE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [McAfeeUpdaterUI] "C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\UpdaterUI.exe" /StartedFromRunKey
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Network Associates Error Reporting Service] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Network Associates\TalkBack\TBMon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DAEMON Tools-1033] "C:\Program Files\D-Tools\daemon.exe" -lang 1033
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_04\bin\jusched.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BigDogPath] C:\WINDOWS\VM_STI.EXE VIMICRO USB PC Camera
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [gcasServ] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [C-Media Mixer] Mixer.exe /startup
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OSA.EXE
O4 - Global Startup: Wireless Configuration Utility HW.51.lnk = C:\Program Files\802.11 Wireless LAN\802.11g Wireless Cardbus & PCI Adapter HW.51 V1.00\WlanCU.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\Office10\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\jre1.5.0_04\bin\npjpi150_04.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_04\bin\npjpi150_04.dll
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\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
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {B38870E4-7ECB-40DA-8C6A-595F0A5519FF} (MsnMessengerSetupDownloadControl Class) - http://messenger.msn.com/download/MsnMessengerSetupDownloader.cab
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - "C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\msgrapp.dll" (file missing)
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\1050\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: McAfee Framework Service (McAfeeFramework) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\Common Framework\FrameworkService.exe
O23 - Service: Network Associates McShield (McShield) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\Mcshield.exe
O23 - Service: Network Associates Task Manager (McTaskManager) - Network Associates, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan\VsTskMgr.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe

Try this free HJT analyzer
Hi-Jack This analyzer
I would trust seeing what is in there before letting someone advise you on what to remove. Only a few people I know are qualified to give out advice on this and I didn't know that HJT logs are allowed in computing.net

Hopefully my advice will help you...Please post back with your results....thanks