I was just lloking through my computer and I found a bunch of fuckd up file sin a folder called “kernel” in my Windows directory. It had a bunch of shit (literally shit) that I don’t even know how I got. As far as I know it isn’t spyware, but it is definitely shit I shouldn’t have on my compter. They were a bunch of executables from various things and bull shit things I shouldn’t have. I checked the dates and they were all created on the first of the month so I know that even the ones that had similar names ot programs I had, like “Bethesda Morrowind”, were not related the program it was named after. Those spyware distributors are very innovative and good. This is some crazy shit. I decided to look for other remains and see what is causing it to be recreated and I’m finding all kinds of little things. The only hard part is I’m noticing some dates are completely fucked (dates from before I even reformatted and even owned the computer, such as one was from 1999, XP wasn’t even out then and this computer came with XP pre-installed). However, luckily I have my shared folder from Kazaa so I have a reference for what Kazaa may have created on my computer. I’m also having to open some of the files in notepad to see what they contain if I’m suspicious. The worst thing is, this isn’t shit a spyware/adware detecor/remover will pick-up. Damn those advertisers are slick fucks.
Interesting. I think I have a related problem.
I get a message upon startup that an error has occured in a file called “Kernel32.dll” And I suspect it is spyware/adware related but I haven’t done anything with it yet, since the date on the file dates to like 2000 and such.
It seems that is a ruse that has fooled me.
Slick fucks, indeed. Did simply deleting it work, or did you need to uninstall something?
(I wanna make sure I purge this crap, and yes, in my case as well the Norton AntiVirus didn’t pick up on it. Bastards.)
It seems like it was related to WinMX surprisingly. Once I uninstaleld that it didn’t respawn. Also, for some really bizarre reason, people actually downloaded that bizarre shit. The one upload I had was from that folder, which is what first tipped me off. I don’t have WinMX anymore because of that. One way I know that it isn’t a system file is because I have XP hide system files by default. Oh, another strange thing before I forget (besides it being downloadable, in my Winodws folder, and it beign named “kernel”) is that it was hidden like a regular hidden file (it was one of the few, besides uninstall folders). It hasn’t seemed to reappear, but deleting it did work and it didn’t fuck anything up. I think they call it kernel to keep even somewhat computer savvy guys from deleting it.
Yeah, get Soulseek. WinMX isn’t nearly as good- and apparently its sneaky, too. :\
Hmm. I used to have that same problem on my old comp… but I didn’t have anything like kazaa or winmx then. I had aol though, and pretty much every time I would try to log on the thing would kick me off and tell me there was an error in “kernel32.dll”. Strange o_o
Astral: I’m getting precisely that error message. 
Alright, here goes, glory awaits…
I’ve gotten the Kernel errors as well.
And have WinMX.
You are not alone.
I too have errors in this file, but when i’m on the internet (it makes be close internet explorer) rather than at start up. I dearched for the file on My Computer and found it was an aplication extension in the windows system data, it was modified on 8th june 2000.
i have windows ME
Originally posted by Infonick
It seems like it was related to WinMX surprisingly. Once I uninstaleld that it didn’t respawn. Also, for some really bizarre reason, people actually downloaded that bizarre shit. The one upload I had was from that folder, which is what first tipped me off. I don’t have WinMX anymore because of that. One way I know that it isn’t a system file is because I have XP hide system files by default. Oh, another strange thing before I forget (besides it being downloadable, in my Winodws folder, and it beign named “kernel”) is that it was hidden like a regular hidden file (it was one of the few, besides uninstall folders). It hasn’t seemed to reappear, but deleting it did work and it didn’t fuck anything up. I think they call it kernel to keep even somewhat computer savvy guys from deleting it.
It was a worm actually, I forgot the name of it, I got it when my subscription ran out and didnt notice my norton wasnt updating anymore ><.