New SpyAxe version?

Ok, so I got a phone call to fix a laptop that was running really slowly 
and crashing at times.

I go there, and it's an AMD 2400+ CPU laptop, pretty modern, nothing slow 
about it, so I start digging.

I do a virus scan with Norton... nothing.

I do a virus scan with AVG... it finds 3 Agobot viruses and removes them 
all.

I do a virus scan with Panda... nothing.

I do a malware scan with Spybot Search & Destroy... it finds some of the 
regular spyware that I see on nearly every computer I work on the first 
time. It removes all of it.

I do a malware scan with Ad-Aware... nothing special (cookies, usage 
tracks, etc.).

I do a malware scan with A-Squared... it finds three malicious files (one 
was a trojan in System Restore) and removes them all.

I use AutoRuns to check what's starting up... nothing out of the ordinary. 
I remove unnecessary stuff (RealPlayer loader, QuickTime loader, etc.) 
from starting up.

I check Process Explorer and don't see anything running that I don't 
recognize... I don't see any files using DLLs that I don't recognize.

I reboot the computer, and A-Squared immediately pops up a notification 
that a seemingly randomly named file is trying to access the internet!

I tell A-Squared to delete the file, and go online to research the file... 
nothing online about the file name. A window pops up with an advertisement 
for spyware removal software (ala SpyAxe).

I kill the pop-up window, and check Task Manager and Process Explorer for 
unknown files... nothing.

I delete all the BHOs and ActiveX extensions for Internet Explorer, and 
reboot.

As soon as the machine rolls into Windows, A-Squared again pops up a 
notification that a file is trying to access the internet! I now realize 
it's a randomly named file.

While A-Squared still has the dialog open, I open Explorer and search for 
the file... it's not where A-Squared said it would be, even with system 
and hidden files shown. I do a command line DIR, it shows nothing with 
that file name. I tell A-Squared to delete the file.

I do a rootkit scan with SysInternals Rootkit Revealer... it finds 
nothing.

I reboot, and there's the A-Squared dialog box again with another randomly 
named file!

I open Task Manager and Process Explorer, and they don't see the file.

I do a manual rootkit scan, and find nothing...

Essentially, this laptop has a file hidden from the operating system, but 
it's running... the only way you can tell it's running is when it tries to 
access the internet.

Virus scans aren't catching it, rootkit scans aren't catching it, malware 
scans aren't catching it, Task Manager and Process Explorer can't see it, 
the command line can't see it... only when it tries to connect to the 
internet does it become apparent that the file is even there.

I wiped the drive and reinstalled, then locked down the machine in my 
usual way.

Looks like we've got a new version of SpyAxe out there... and it's a tough 
one to remove. There's no 'fake Windows Update' icon in the taskbar icon 
corral on this one, it runs completely hidden. After encountering a number 
of the older versions of SpyAxe, I could remove it pretty easily, but this 
one had me stumped, so I wiped the drive and reinstalled.

When are the people behind SpyAxe going to be put in jail?