OT - Computer Virus

by EssBee on Dec 26, 2009 1:32 PM CST

I seem to have picked up a very annoying computer virus that is evading Norton and Spybot. It has messed up the search capabilities and causes sites to redirect to other junk pages. Norton has been finding other trojan horses, but there is one slippery little bastard that's still a pain in my holiday ass. I'm afraid it has the capabilities to be destructive, though. Is anyone familiar with this particular virus or have any suggestions on good, SAFE removal tools?

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Eset NOD32 is a good antivirus

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings.

by NothinG on Dec 26, 2009 2:04 PM CST reply actions

My advice

If you can back up any important files you have, just do a clean re-install of your computer’s operating system. Its the easiest and most effective way of getting rid of the virus.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.

"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Dec 26, 2009 2:30 PM CST reply actions

Thanks, man

I’ve thought about that, but haven’t pulled the trigger.

"If this video was an ice cream flavor, it'd be pralines and dick." Clark
re: Matthew Wilder-Break My Stride, 4/17/09

by EssBee on Dec 26, 2009 2:35 PM CST up reply actions

overkill

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 26, 2009 5:09 PM CST up reply actions

Not really

once a system’s been compromised the best way to eradicate all traces is a format and reinstall.
Though it may be extreme for the average user who isnt comfortable installing windows.

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Dec 26, 2009 6:38 PM CST up reply actions

Its something that usually needs to be done on a Windows computer every 6 months or so

If you’re lazy like I am, you can do it once a year. Its a bit of a pain to reinstall all your old programs, but with external hard drives being as affordable as they are, its very easy to back-up any important data you need and you really should already have most of it backed up anyways.

Now when you get a virus, you can spend days trying to eliminate every last trace of the virus or pay someone to fix your computer for you, but the easiest and most effective thing to do is to reinstall the OS. And like I said, its just a good thing to do for your computer if you want it to run like it did the day you got it.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.

"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Dec 27, 2009 12:38 PM CST up reply actions

My computer runs fine

I’ve never reinstalled an OS, but then again I don’t install a lot of programs to screw up the registry and all of that. This thing will handle 1gig graphics files just as well as the day I installed photoshop.

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 27, 2009 12:43 PM CST up reply actions

the problems start with all the installs and uninstalls of programs

windows starts to get sluggish after a while, something they may have addressed in windows 7 but i wouldnt know.

If you set it up once and mostly leave it alone you probably wont notice much slow down.

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Dec 27, 2009 1:09 PM CST up reply actions

It might still run fine

If you don’t use your computer for much and don’t do the install/re-install of programs, then you probably won’t notice much of a difference. Still, if you re-installed your OS today, I’d bet good money that you’d notice at least a small improvement in performance.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.

"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Dec 27, 2009 1:32 PM CST up reply actions

External hard drives

More of a necessity these days than a luxury

If you don’t have one yet, I’d put it on my next shopping list

by oc on Dec 27, 2009 5:46 PM CST up reply actions

what is it redirecting too?

that will help you identify the virus by name, so that you can google it. most viruses like these have specific removal tools.

by ab03 on Dec 26, 2009 3:31 PM CST reply actions

yeah

If’ it’s popping up bogus ads for Virus protection software then I have a good tip for you.

by shroomer on Dec 26, 2009 3:57 PM CST up reply actions

yep

I got it last night. I couldn’t fix it so I went and bought a new laptop since my other one was 5 years old.

2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
In the interest of quicker games Ron should just tell the ump he's pulling the Feliz card and the ump should rule the inning over.--Sherman McCoy on Sept. 4, 2009

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 4:00 PM CST up reply actions

read this

by octoberty on Dec 26, 2009 4:14 PM CST reply actions

Buy a Mac.

by downsetgo on Dec 26, 2009 4:33 PM CST reply actions

overpriced overkill

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 26, 2009 5:09 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

My wife

hit a site that tried to install Antivirus 2009, which caused her to panic and wake me up. I calmed her down by letting her know that she was on a Mac and thus it can’t do anything. At that point I realized it was worth the extra cost.

Not that I’m defending Macs, I love mine but can understand why people think it’s overrated.

"Losers assemble in little groups and bitch about the coaches and the system and other players in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team."
- Bill Parcells

by Taylor on Dec 26, 2009 5:57 PM CST up reply actions

I didn't say they were overrated.

They’re great computers, but they’re overpriced. It’s been several years since I had a computer virus running windows, and I’ve never had one on Vista. You just need to have the proper software running and a little common sense.

And like Taylor said, Macs can definitely be infected. A few months ago a friend of mine’s Mac had a really nasty virus on it. Nobody she knew could fix it and I think she ended up having to send it back to Apple, but I’m not sure about that.

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 26, 2009 6:33 PM CST up reply actions

Unfortunately

Macs are vulnerable to third party software, DNS and wireless driver attacks. When it comes to this area theres no operating system that can claim immunity.

"Losers assemble in little groups and bitch about the coaches and the system and other players in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team."
- Bill Parcells

by Taylor on Dec 26, 2009 5:59 PM CST up reply actions

or

a Commodore 64 for that matter. They are safe from viruses for the same reason.

"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland

by DJCahill on Dec 27, 2009 5:40 AM CST up reply actions

HA

I failed my LSB ethics test.

"WHAT A SHITLOAD OF FUCK" - LL's "Poochie" on Rich Harden signing with Texas over Seattle

by LSJ on Dec 27, 2009 5:51 AM CST up reply actions

the c64 is easily the best computer in the history of computing

by Smoakin in the Boys Room on Dec 27, 2009 8:44 AM CST up reply actions

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

By far the best virus removal I’ve found, try to see if you can install it. Here’s the download link:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5756

If you’re able to install, update and run a full scan. Odds are, however, you’ll be unable to access the site (Or it won’t allow you to run). If that’s the case then do the following:

1) Right-click anywhere on your bottom bar and select “Taskbar Manager” or something similar (I’m typing this on a Mac so I’m going by memory)
2) Look for anything that doesn’t look like it belongs (If you’re not sure about a particular file then run a google search). You can try and stop the file from running but odds are it’ll run again.
3) Once you spot the file, goto A) Start, B) Run, C) In the box type “msconfig” (Minus the quotes of course) then hit enter. Goto the last tab (Startup) and uncheck anything that doesn’t look right (And you’ve confirmed through Google that it’s not legit. Myself I uncheck files that are legit but don’t need to run all the time (Real Player, Quicktime, ITunes, etc)
4) Now goto your registry A) Start, B) Run, C) In the box type “regedit” then press enter. Before doing anything, Backup your registry , I believe it’s under File.
5) Do a search (Think it’s under Edit) for anything that has a name similar to what you found in Task Manager/Msconfig. Anything you find, remove it!
6) Once you’re done, reboot the system then try and install Malwarebytes.

Finally, it’s just my opinion so take it for what it’s worth but Norton is past it’s prime. For Anti-virus I’d recommend Avast or AVG. Both have free versions and work well (Avast is my preference but it’s a user hog and not as user-friendly as AVG).

Spybot, I do like. Make sure you’ve update the Immunize part.

Good luck, hope you’re able to remove it.

"Losers assemble in little groups and bitch about the coaches and the system and other players in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team."
- Bill Parcells

by Taylor on Dec 26, 2009 5:53 PM CST reply actions

Yes but...

That is the program this virus infected on my laptop. I couldn’t get Malewarebytes to work.

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 6:14 PM CST up reply actions

Which program was infected?

Sorry, that part confused me. Also are you still infected? If so then I ask that you run a program called "Hijack This! (http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/). It runs a scan of your system and displays the result (Start-up items/Homepage, etc).

If you feel uneasy posting the results you can e-mail them to me and I can take a look, gtaylor1@gmail.com

"Losers assemble in little groups and bitch about the coaches and the system and other players in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team."
- Bill Parcells

by Taylor on Dec 26, 2009 6:55 PM CST up reply actions

My malewarebytes is infected

what ever this virus is it got into malewarebytes. I just went and got a new laptop since mine was 5 years old. I might run that and try to get my old laptop running again.

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 7:08 PM CST up reply actions

few years ago I had something similar

No idea how I got it, but it was on my old mess around laptop anyway so i didnt care.
Only way I got rid of it was in safemode.

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

by rentz on Dec 26, 2009 7:40 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks, Taylor!!!!

Malwarebytes worked like a charm. I found a bevy of adware, trojans, etc on here that hadn’t been recognized earlier. It cleared it all up just fine. I had installed Ad-Aware previously, but it didn’t work for shit, so I uninstalled it. I would suggest to everyone that Malwarebytes is the way to go!

Thanks again, Taylor. I appreciate the assist!!!!

"If this video was an ice cream flavor, it'd be pralines and dick." Clark
re: Matthew Wilder-Break My Stride, 4/17/09

by EssBee on Dec 28, 2009 2:52 PM CST up reply actions

I hate Ad-Aware

`Most of what its found for me in the past is just cookies that weren’t doing anything. I’ve also had some problems with Ad-Aware messing with my internet connection.

By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.

"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw

by Gdawg on Dec 28, 2009 4:06 PM CST up reply actions

Have you tried to do a System Restore back to an earlier point than when you picked up the problem?

by swampdonkey on Dec 26, 2009 10:33 PM CST reply actions

That doesn't work I tried that.

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 10:44 PM CST up reply actions

I tried that

and it didn’t work either. It should have, though.

"If this video was an ice cream flavor, it'd be pralines and dick." Clark
re: Matthew Wilder-Break My Stride, 4/17/09

by EssBee on Dec 27, 2009 11:17 AM CST up reply actions

Virus

I had something like this earlier this year but don’t remember the name of the virus. From what I remembe it prevented me from going to any antivirus websites. Since I didn’t have Malwarebytes on my computer at the time, i downloaded that program on another computer and then copied the files to a memory stick. I then installed it on my infected computer and got rid of the virus. If you can figure out the name of the virus fixing it should not be too much of a problem. IDing the culprit can be the hard part.

The Rangers have rolled up the welcome mat and bludgeoned the Angels with it. - Josh Lewin

by uthornfan on Dec 27, 2009 8:39 PM CST reply actions