Vanishing photos

My photos are vanishing. Originally I was just not finding files that should be there, Then I witnessed while viewing thumbnails in Windows Explorer, images would begin getting blacked out from the bottom up. Once the entire image is blacked out the file vanishes. This started a year ago. I tried 3 different security suites and they were of no help and their support staffs would only say that it was "not their fault". I finally changed the system hard drive and the problem seemed to stop. Now it's back. It is happening to .PSD .JPG and .NEF (nikon Raw). It may be happening to other files on the computer, I don't know. Please hel if you can.

Right off the top, it sounds like you have an infection of either a Trojan, a WORM or similar Malware.
I'd first look into downloading AdAware or Search & Destroy. I would turn of the Restore Points (remember to turn it back on later), and then reboot to Safe Mode, and run a scan of the system. SpySweeper is a good one too, but I do not recall if it has a trial version. Running in Safe Mode does not allow many nasties to hide, though it is still not foolproof.
If you still find nothing, then you might want to furnish the complete system specs.
As a test, I'd go to one of your image folders, immeditately do a Ctrl-a (Select All) and Rt-click, selecting Properties. Change the Attributes to Read Only, and then watch that folder in Windows Explorerer. What happens? Are they still being erased? When these files are being erased, are they showing up in Recycle Bin, or are they completely gone? When this is happening, is there any HDD activity, based on the light? Can you open Task Manager, and click twice on CPU Usage, while this is going on? What program/process shows up as using CPU cycles, when this is happening? Are there programs/processes in Task Manager Processes, that you do not recognize? Does Google help you track these down?
Go to Start>Run and type msconfig. Look in the Startup tab. Is there anything there that you do not recognize? What does Google say about the ones that you do not recognize? Look in Processes and also in Boot.ini. What do you find there? Any clues?
Good luck,
Hunt

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