VX2 removal by XP reinstall?

[Icarus41]

I have Win XP and a malicious VX2 trojan called guard.tmp... I have seen guides to removing this but just don't have enough knowledge to feel safe attempting it.

So I am thinking I can just reinstall XP to get rid of it.. is this correct?

But the problem I have is that I have a lot of stuff on my harddrive that isn't backed up.. and I have 2 harddrives.. so I am wondering if I can put everything on the auxiliary harddrive and then reinstall XP on C.

Will this work?

If so, couple questions.. how do I make sure the VX2 isn't transferred to the other drive and then reinstalls itself on the reinstalled XP C drive?

The other thing is.. I have a Hewlett Packard system.. and someone told me that these systems have a system restore disk.. but that I need to make a special boot disk to reinstall XP.. is this true?

[hotmale]

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but why not leave "reinstalling" as the last option? This is much more simple:
Download Ad-Aware SE if you don't have it (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5)
Download the VX2 Cleaner (http://download.lavasoft.de.edgesuite.net/public/plvx2cleaner.exe)
Install Ad-Aware, then VX2 Cleaner

Then follow these instructions for removal:

Start Ad-Aware
Go to “Add-ons”
Select the VX2 Cleaner add-on and click “Run Tool”
Select “Clean System”
Reboot your computer
Scan your computer with Ad-Aware
Remove any VX2 objects detected
Reboot your computer again
Run a second scan to make sure the files have been removed from your computerHope this helps :D

[Curio]

Some variants of VX2 are a real nightmare to remove but there are a lot of tools out there to aid you and it's worth running all of them, of particular note are
Microsoft Antispyware Beta (free from HERE (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=321CD7A2-6A57-4C57-A8BD-DBF62EDA9671&displaylang=en))
Spybot Search and Destroy (free from HERE (http://www.securitywonks.net/projects/details.php?file=2))
X-Cleaner online scan (http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html)
and VX2 Finder (free from HERE (http://www.downloads.subratam.org/VX2Finder.exe)).

Between that lot you should be rid of 'A better Internet' VX2 and probably a whole heap of other junk because VX2 helpfully installs other spyware too.

[Icarus41]

Thanks for the responses kotmale and Curio.

I actually tried that Ad-aware vx2 add on and it wouldn't work.. I guess the VX2 thing is constantly mutating and there are all kinds of different "strains".

I haven't tried the x-cleaner or VX2 finder, Curio. I will give those a shot! Thanks!

[hotmale]

I actually tried that Ad-aware vx2 add on and it wouldn't work.. I guess the VX2 thing is constantly mutating and there are all kinds of different "strains".You're welcome.
Actually I have never been infected by this VX2, so I don't know how bad it is. Good luck with the other tools Curio suggested.

You can also try this:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Find_It_NT2000XP_d4613.html