I am also having the same problem. After Googling for some help I have tried running Ad-aware and Prevx neither of which have resolved the issue. This only happens with Firefox, tried it in safe mode which is still the same and I don't get the problem with IE8.

same problem.... Prevx didn't work... anyone???

Follow the instructions on this site:

http://www.davewolf.net/2010/05/74-55-39-45-firefox-connection-of-death

In my case, it was a recent download of Vista Codex (although I am running XP).

Prevx (http://www.prevx.com) located the infected file. After removing Vista Codex, deleting the registry, I booted into safe mode to delete the dll file.

Rebooted and happily surfing again.

thanks, saw that post... but as I wrote, Prevx doesn't find anything on my system. it's running now, but firefox is still hanging trying to connect to the dreaded 74.55.39.45.

Seems prevx finds it on some systems and not on others.

Then try this:

Open Windows Explorer and change your settings so that you can see hidden files (Start, Run, Explorer [press enter] / Select Tools, Folder Options, View, Select "Show hidden files and folders" and click OK.)

Next, navigate to "C:\Documents and Settings\youruserprofile\Local Settings\Application Data\".

Is there a folder with an unusual name? Open that folder.

Is there a dll file with the same name as the folder that when you right-click and select delete, you get an error message "Access denied" and thus, you are unable to remove?

That's probably the culprit. Right down the name of the file.

Now, run regedit (Start, Run, Regedit and press enter)

Before doing anything! Back up your registry!

File, Export, Export Range is ALL (this selects ENTIRE registry), give it a meaningful name like "myreg-todaysdate.reg" and click Save.

Select F3 and enter the name of the file (without the dll) and press Enter.

You should end up in MyComputer\USERS\S-1-5(thisvariesfrompctopc)\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

On the right side, you should see the registry entry. Highlight that entry and delete it.

Exit the registry and restart the computer and start pressing the F8 key. When the menu pops up, select Safe Mode.

Log into windows (if you unable to log in with your own credentials, try Administrator with no password or Administrator with the password you entered when you first set your computer up - yep -way back then).

Now, navigate to that folder again and see if you can delete that file. You should be able to now. Might as well as delete the folder too.

Reboot your computer normally.

Let me know what happens, but with me, it stopped searching for that infamous IP address.

Forgot to mention to change your hidden files settings back to unhidden.

sorry

Sorry again.

When I stated highlight the registry entry to delete, I should have stated, highlight the registry entry, right-click and select delete.

DUH!

frankay - thanks for the help. I was already on that path actually. davewolf said he found it in common files so I was searching there and found. "TaskBarCommunication.dll". removed it and the reg entry. it's a long shot. we'll see.

thanks again.

Okay.

Fingers x'd.

I have similar problem ... trying to connect to 74.55.29.45 ip which takes long time to connect. I have Vista Home edition with Firefox 3.6 installed. I have read your problem and some of you had different .dll files name that caused it. I had mine MicrosoftWBEM.dll sitting in C:\users\xxxxxx\appdata\local\microsoft . Couldn't remove it until you manually delete it in the registry. I presume any *.dll in appdata\local\microsoft\ is BAD. dll should not reside there.

Same Problem. trying to connect 74.55.39.45... which takes long time to connect.

Scanning with Malwarebytes, Spybot, Ccleaner, Prevx and Nod32. They find nothing.

Prevx did detect a file on my system at: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\iSCSI\iSCSIInitiator.dll and a registry reference to it.

May I also suggest going to microsoft site and running online scan on your computer. Note: this will not work with Firefox as Firefox does not use ActiveX.

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

Additional note: this will take a l-o-o-o-n-n-n-g time to run.

I was able to fix the problem by using Malwarebytes. Problems found and fixed were:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\h@tkeysh@@k.dll (Trojan.Agent)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\forceclassiccontrolpanel (Hijack.ControlPanelStyle)

4 hrs and 3 test reboots later, 74.55.39.45 hasn't reappeared. Pages load at the usual speed again, Opera and IE are faster, too. Looks as if it's been solved.