This tutorial explains what exactly we are asking you for when posting a HijackThis log. Once you have posted your log, please wait for us to come back and tell you what to do next as "going it alone" and attempting to fix things yourself could make matters worse!

With no further ado, here is what to do:
  • Download HijackThis and save it to your Desktop.
  • Double-click the downloaded program and run it.
  • The default install directory is usually C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis; I'd change the HijackThis bit at the end to something else just in case, for example HijackCheck. Then click on Install. Remember what you changed the install path to!
  • If this is the first time you've ever used HijackThis, you'll get the licence agreement come up. Read it and click on I Accept if you accept it.
  • The program will start up, but it's called HijackThis.exe. This will never do, so just exit the program now.
  • Right-click on your Start button and select Explore. Navigate to the folder you set up in the install stage above (for example, C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackCheck). There you will find the HijackThis program on its own. Rename it to something else, for instance Hcheck. To do this, right-click on the program's icon and click on Rename from the right-click menu. Type the new name and press Enter. If your system is set to show filename extensions, it will be shown as HijackThis.exe in which case you must rename it to Hcheck.exe. Otherwise, if the filename is shown as HijackThis, then just change its name to Hcheck. Exit Windows Explorer.
  • The Desktop icon for the program is now useless. Either delete it (and run the program from its installed directory) or change it to point to the renamed program. To do this, right-click it and select Properties from the right-click menu. Change the shortcut from its current value (eg "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackCheck\HijackThis.exe" to point to the renamed one (for instance, "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackCheck\Hcheck.exe"). When done, click on Apply and then Done.
  • You may delete or move the installer program (HJTInstall.exe) as its work is now done.
  • Run the renamed HijackThis by double-clicking on its icon in the usual manner, either from the Desktop or its installed location.
  • You will then be presented with the "welcome" screen, and a list of buttons you can press. Click the first one, Do a system scan and save a logfile, as it's quick and easy.
  • HijackThis will then perform a system scan; this usually takes no more than a few seconds to complete. Once complete, Notepad will open up containing the scan results. If you are prompted to save the logfile, save it anywhere convenient but please do not edit the contents of the Notepad session!
  • If Word Wrap is turned on in Notepad, then turn it off. To do this, go to Format and if Word Wrap has a tick against it, then click on the text to remove it. The pull-down menu will disappear.
  • Copy and paste the entire contents of the unedited Notepad session into either a new thread if you haven't yet started one or as a reply to your existing thread if you have. Provide any further information that may have been asked of you as well.
  • Exit Notepad and HijackThis.
  • Please wait; one of us will be along and advise you what to do next.
EDITS
  • 4th September 2007: Changed download location of HijackThis to point to FileHippo to ensure latest version of HJT is always downloaded.
  • 3rd October 2007: Rewritten as the new version comes with an installer. Also advise renaming HijackThis to something else due to the fact that some baddies can hide from it, and added an instruction telling user to turn Word Wrap off.