I need computer help

[carsonshepherd]

My boyfriend "accidentally" opened some porn from an email attachment and now my computer has a nasty virus that Avast, Ad-Aware and Spybot haven't been able to root out. Spybot detected it, but couldn't get rid of it.

I just took my computer into the shop for a blown power source, and when I got it back it was working fast and better than it has in a long time. And now this.

I'm thinking I need to take everything back to before he opened the email attachment. I had to do that once on my old HP, but I don't remember. What is this called, and anyone have any advice as to whether this is a good solution?

Thanks.

 

[egelante]

My boyfriend "accidentally" opened some porn from an email attachment and now my computer has a nasty virus that Avast, Ad-Aware and Spybot haven't been able to root out. Spybot detected it, but couldn't get rid of it.

I just took my computer into the shop for a blown power source, and when I got it back it was working fast and better than it has in a long time. And now this.

I'm thinking I need to take everything back to before he opened the email attachment. I had to do that once on my old HP, but I don't remember. What is this called, and anyone have any advice as to whether this is a good solution?

Thanks.

Hmmm... sometimes system restore whilst you have a virus can actually make it worse.

Try looking up AVG Antivirus, or using an online virus scanner. But be very careful to find a reputable one, as you're really exposing your computer by using one. I can't remember any right now, but will post again if I can remember the one I last used.

Hope that this helps.

 

[DocCIS]

You can try booting your system in Safe Mode (if it's WinXP or less) by hitting F8 right after all the BIOS messages appear and then run AdAware or SpyBot again and see if they can clear it out.

What's the virus? There are quite a few virus tools available targeted at the more nastier to remove viruses so there may be an individual cleaner for that one in particular...

 

[TheEarl]

The fun part of that kind of virus is going to be that it's probably invited a whole load of its friends along with it and getting rid of one will only lead to it being reinstalled by another next time you reboot. If you want my honest answer, I'd back up all your data onto portable storage and completely reformat the computer (a complete destructive recovery which takes the computer back to factory settings will do as well). Then install a top level internet security package (I've got a soft spot for Norton 360, but I'll bet you'll get several people telling you it's the devil. Kaspersky is also top-notch) and move your data back on a bit at a time. It's the equivalent of a nuclear strike. It means you have to rebuild again, but you're certain that nothing bad survived.

If you're not willing to wipe and start again? Your best bet is the aforementioned top-level internet security package as a first line of attack. It's like launching a load of cruise missiles and hoping you're destroying everything that you need to. AVG is a waste of time; it doesn't pick up half of what a good one does. If you must have a free one, then Avast is the best of a bad lot, but you get what you pay for and if you're looking to winkle out an entrenched virus, then you're going to need the best.

If the IS doesn't solve all your problems, then you're down to trench warfare. You have to find out what you have on your computer and deal with each one in turn. Best bet is to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the Task Manager and then select "Processes". Google everything in the list that appears. Yes, everything. Google will invariably come up with a site that will tell you whether it's evil or safe. If it's evil, then you will often have to look for a specific removal tool. If it's safe, let it go.

If you can't find a removal tool, then you're going to be looking at hand-to-hand combat. There's a program called Hijack-This! which will allow you to see every program that influences the running of your computer. It's low-level, which means that it can remove pretty much anything, but relies on you knowing which bits need removing, as it won't try and tell you which ones are good and which are bad. Googling individual entries will help here too.

Unfortunately, even with all of this, a virus can shift, hide and reinstall itself from the tiniest fragment. Your best bet is the nuclear strike and getting a decent IS so that it doesn't happen again.

Good luck.

The Earl

 

[champagne1982]

For 30 USD you can buy Spyware Doctor. It's quick and really does catch all the crap that porn sites and email clicks can install in your registry.

Don't dl the free scanner, since that's all it does, it doesn't remove infections until you actually buy the protection and removal tools.

A lot of the free scanners on the web are just that, scanners. As well you get the privelege of dl'ing their trojans that are product specific, giving you a tonne of popups that are legally entrenched in your software because YOU downloaded them -- voluntarily.

As TheEarl stated, you get what you pay for and sometimes, without protection, you can get more than you bargained for.

 

[TxRad]

Symantic (Norton) has an online scanner that is safe and can remove a lot of this junk. Running the scan will give you a list of what needs removing. Panda also has a good scanner but won't remove anything.

And Highjack This has an online forum to help with what is supposed to be there and what needs removing. They also have a lot of links to removal tools and such.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[mjl2010]

I had a virus and it did just what someone else said, kept reinstalling itself, invited others in. Norton and Mcaffee kept finding the new ones, but not the source of the original. I finally found AVG and tried that. It worked the first time and cleaned everything up. So far, I'm pretty happy with it and have been using it over a year now.

MJL

 

[Guest]

It might be malware virus like thing. Try ewido. They have a free online scan. They helped me when I uploaded crap from p2p shareware. Also, it's helpful to do virus removal/detectors when you are in safemode.

 

[Lisa Denton]

My boyfriend "accidentally" opened some porn from an email attachment and now my computer has a nasty virus that Avast, Ad-Aware and Spybot haven't been able to root out. Spybot detected it, but couldn't get rid of it.

I just took my computer into the shop for a blown power source, and when I got it back it was working fast and better than it has in a long time. And now this.

I'm thinking I need to take everything back to before he opened the email attachment. I had to do that once on my old HP, but I don't remember. What is this called, and anyone have any advice as to whether this is a good solution?

Thanks.

Stop!!!!

Don't Restore, restore can take your computer back to before it had the virus, but it takes the virus with it.

Spybot detected it, great, thats all you need is the name.

Google it, if necessary google the name with "virus", when a googlegillion hits come up look for some from sites with names like:

"JoeBobs - If We Can't Fix It Then It Ain't Broke - Computer Repair . com"

Or something else which seems reputable like that.

Every virus even before it gets going around good will have multiple posts with step by step directions for killing it. They are all different and some of the lil replicators must be killed in a specific sequence so they won't return.

Lookit a few posts and you will find one written for the layman, you. It is usually easy. Just a series of simple steps. If you need print that page and then follow the steps.

If you restored your computer - this is important - restore it back, it will give you that option "restore back" - anytime you use restore before choosing another restore point or anything always restore it back first.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I used Neo's link and ewido (AVG) got rid of it. Thanks, all, for your advice and help.