Hi, I recently found that Norton Antivirus and ZoneAlarm won't run on my computer anymore. They can load up, but are automatically closed after 4-5 seconds. I found a suspicious file JMJA.exe inside Windows/System and tried to delete it but an error message appeared saying it was in use by Windows. After reading another thread on this forum, I went to disable System Restore (I'm using Win ME) and restarted my computer in Safe Mode. Then I manually deleted JMJA.exe and emptied it from the recycle bin. That done, I rebooted the comp again in Normal mode but the file remained in it's original location. I've tried online scans but they either say there's an Error Loading the page or the scanning won't start. Please advise. Is reformatting the last resort, or will it even work? Thanks a lot.

If this is not a genuine Windows file, I have Win ME & I don't have it... You can try deleting to the recycle bin, then deleting the recycle bin. On rebooting, Windows will create another bin. I have done this with two weird named files and it worked a treat. I even have Norton System Works 2002 & with the protected recycle bin, it still was re-created OK. http://www.computing.net/windowsme/wwwboard/forum/26306.html and... http://www.computing.net/windowsme/wwwboard/forum/26339.html

hello with m.e bootdisk reboot and delete the file from dos to do so you need to know the exact loacation of this file i,ll give an example a:del c:\windows\JMJA.exe click enter the last file in the path is deleted. so dont ever do a:del c:\windows with nothing else behined it or windows will be gone. you can d/l a free m.e bootdisk at www.bootdisk.com do this from an uninfected computer. install it to a floppy on that machine and write protect the floppy. have a nice day

if you don't have the rescue disks, and if your pc will bootup from the cd-rom, see sarc.com instructions to scan using the nav cd

I agree with response number 2. But if you have never used DOS then you better find a book on DOS before you do what number 2 said and read up a little on DOS and DOS commands first. Deleteing one file improperly will put you in a world of hurt. My dad had a virus like that in his computer. The only way I was able to remove it was through DOS and like number 2 said it will work. One more thought. It might be worth the money and buy an Uninstall program. Those are very prowerful programs and should remove the virus?? Anyway good luck.

I dont think JMJA.exe is the virus. I believe there is a master virus that re-creates JMJA.exe just incase someone has deleted it. look in start, run, msconfig, and in the startup tab, see the stuff there and tell us what you see. that way i can find out the origional source of the virus and i can tell you its removal.

Hi guys, thanks for your kind responses. Sorry I couldn't reply earlier as my laptop was sent in for hardware repair. Back to the JMJA thingy... Norton only works now when in Safe mode, and no virus is turned out, perhaps because the virus definition is old or it doesn't appear in Safe Mode. Also, how do I delete the Recycle Bin using Windows? About using a boot disk, I'll use that as the last alternative, though I've tried deleting the file using Dos (didn't use a boot disk though) and the same access denied message appeared. Regarding the response above mine about msconfig, this is what I see in startup: Loaded from Registry (Machine Run) -ScanRegistry, TaskMonitor, SystemTray, IrMon, LoadPowerProfile, PRPCMonitor, TosMem, CP51NBtn, AlpsPoint, NAV Agent, LoadQM Loaded from Registry (Machine Service) -SchedulingAgent, SSDPSRV, StateMgr, Machine Debug Manager, ScrptBlocking, UrtSvcExe, TrueVector Loaded from Startup Group - oko I've left out the more obvious ones like Winamp etc. Thanks again guys.