Windows Malicious Software Removal

Towards the end of January, help desks like the one I manage started to receive a lot of foot traffic from Skype users. Something that looked a lot like a Trojan or virus was making Internet Explorer windows open repeatedly, stacking error message on top of error message in a cascade of spawning windows. A quick speed-read of the error message pointed towards Facebook -- a site that's blocked by many corporate Web filters as not related to business.

"Our Anti Virus has come up clean, as has MalwareBytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, HiJackThis, and AdAware," said one post, which went on to say that uninstalling the program and installing the latest version did not fix the problem.

Yep, the spawning Facebook windows were not caused by a virus; it was likely a case of poor programming. Why else would Skype 5.0 keep looking for Facebook when WebSense and other content filtering programs keep saying "Site blocked"? That's the most likely explanation and as of nevertheless, Skype doesn't seem to have offered any other reason.

All this came to light almost specifically a month ago, nevertheless in the post-Presidents' Day holiday rush, our help desk is however getting cases of Skype 5.0 related spawning pop-up windows.

Finger-pointing frenzy

In a finger-pointing frenzy, it's possible to blame Skype, WebSense, and other content filtering software, or the administrators who choose to block social networking sites from their company networks. But in the end, the path of least resistance is the same: Just say no to Facebook integration until the bug is fixed.

1. Brace yourself for multiple browser windows.2. Launch Skype.3. Use Alt-Tab on your keyboard to get through the spawning windows to Skype.4. Click on the Facebook tab in the right pane of the Skype window.5. Click on the link labeled "Don't Show Facebook In Skype."

The insane flow of new browser windows

This will halt the insane flow of new browser windows. Now to get rid of them, you'll probably want to restart your system.

Matt Lake is an author, award-winning innovation journalist and technical services coordinator in the field of education.