virus stuff

Ruz · May 2010

yup, got myself a nasty one this time. the fucker disables virtually everything including my windows activation key. works in safe mode, but not with networking
It pretends to be anti virus software and prompts you to buy the professional edition to remove it
It won't let me start avg, services.msc, notepad etc

Any ideas for a fix anyone. grr lucky I wasn't working on anything major
I was on this hd tv site when it happened. Never had problems with it before

Joseph Silverman · May 2010

Get malwarebytes on another computer, install it on a USB drive, update it, plug it in on safe mode and run it. Ought to fix your problem. May also want to try HijackThis first, to make sure the virus doesnt interfere with mwb.

Spark · May 2010

Ruz, I got this one as well, I suggest we get in a car and find the @#$#heads that did this and knock them back a few years. Look up in google for antispyware soft removal for a few more links but heard doing this link works: http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-antispyware-soft.html

Spark

Ruz · May 2010

cheers guys. yeah Spark I had this last year and this seems like a variation on the same theme. bastards, I hope they die in pain:)
damn my usb stick is broken also

seforin · May 2010

I use a software called nod32 which polyhertz introduced me to a while ago, which is updated atleast 3 times a day with new viral and spywear based threats .

Perhaps you should look into that one as well

Ive had little to no threats with anything since installing it

Joseph Silverman · May 2010

If it's letting you use internet, try just downloading a modern version of malwarebytes and then installing and running it in safe mode. The usb stick thing is just the first/easiest workaround my computer repair friends went for when they couldn't do anything on the computer itself.

Also, just in case you got the shoddiest virus ever, try renaming your AVG exe to anything (1avg.exe or whatever) and then opening it. There are still viruses out there that do things in comically straightforward ways.

PredatorGSR · May 2010

Reformatting is the best way to fix it unfortunately. A lot of times these viruses will damage or corrupt system functions so even if you remove the virus, it will remove important system files too, or at the least not be able to heal them fully.

To ensure that the system is problem free, and that you do in fact have a completely clean system, the best idea is usually to reformat for a virus that has its hooks as deep as it sounds yours does.

konstruct · May 2010

REEEEE-FOORMAAAT!!

KhAoZ · May 2010

Wow I had something similar happen to me man, I feel your pain.... I think reformatting is your best bet and you can try to move some of your more important files off the hard drive before doing so if you would like.

Hope everything works out for ya.

bearkub · May 2010

Don't reformat just yet. Go grab a copy of Hiren's Boot Disc. It has Mini XP in it that will allow you to run Malwarebytes directly from the CD and not using the OS installed on your PC to run it. Hiren's boot disc is one of the most valuable tools I carry around with me. You boot off the disc, it runs everything off the CD and allows you to run things when your normal OS is all dorked up.

Once you get the infection cleaned up, do a backup, then reformat and reinstall.

Ruz · May 2010

cheers for the suggestions guys, yeah I can't open safe mode with networking, only safe mode. If I try and boot up normally I get prompted for the activation key(WTF?)
so it seems reformattiing is the best bet. I don't keep a lot on my c drive but still a pain in the ass.
I just wonder why the fuckers who do this have n't been taken out yet. It's been a few years this has been around.

call me paranoid but when doing google search for fixes to this it might lead me to a site with more virus stuff posing as anti virus:)

cw · May 2010

ruz i feel for you buddy. I use nod32 and (touch wood) no problems, but my brother was staying here for a few weeks and he got the same thing as you. I told him on day 1 to save the pain and reformat. He refused as he is a stubbrn bugger and persevered for 3 days doing all the various processes to try to cleanly remove it and guess what he did in the end... yeah he reformatted.

good luck with your chosen course!

Ruz · May 2010

yeah I am going to just buy windows 7 professional. i have been using xp for the last year, but I need more ram so I think this is a good time to upgrade. I am still going to muck around with the suggestions and see If I can fix it, but yeah time for an upgrade.

gonna try Hiren's Boot Disc first then have a look at seforins suggestions
thnks again guys

Ninjas · May 2010

I hunted this down in the start-up list (had a random string of characters)-- also deleted something "installed" on the day it freaked out (called "viewpoint" or something). Seems to have killed it

Ruz · May 2010

bearkub - you are a star my man. That fixed everything.Super anti virus software on the disc detected all the spyware/trojans and got rid of. cool:)

I had to re authorize windows over the phone, but it did n't take long anyway

[MILES] · May 2010

Ruz,

Combofix works great, as does Malwarebytes. You might have to rename the .exe files so that the bug doesn't know you are trying to run those programs. (I've seen that before). Combofix will actually create a new restore point for you. But if you use anything, be sure to turn off your system restore or you might reinfect yourself later.

bearkub · May 2010

Hey no sweat. That disc has saved me at work on several occasions. The data recovery tools on there are pretty bloody robust as well. I have retrieved data from drives that couldn't be read by any OS with Hirens.

IEatApples · May 2010

This virus has been spreading round everywhere recently, its been really bad. I had it too, managed to get rid of it using Malawarebytes but it also infected my laptop with a virus which attatched itself to all of my .exe files which Malaware wouldnt find. AVG professional trial managed to sort out the .exe virus though.

Disco Stu · May 2010

The fuck i just reinstalled my computer and thought i was the only one.
Was called malware doctor that little fuck for the life of me i couldnt get rid of it.
Malwarebytes found it and deleted it but after reinstall same story.
I backed up files on my external hdd so how likely is it that it spread?
And if what would you recommend me to scan the drive?

Vrav · May 2010

This happened to me, but I was able to sneak a fixed ANTIWPA.dll into the system32 directory using knoppix. Might be questionable practice and likely disables autoupdate / anything official on Windows, but it fixed my login and that's what matters.

It was MalwareBytes that deleted the activation, actually. I recall having to do this before when updating to XP SP3. The dll was leftover in my downloads folder from then, which is how I fixed the login on a hunch when it got deleted (ie, when MalwareBytes decided to go vigilante). The ANTIWPA.dll fix may be "questionable," but it works. *_*

If you don't want to just call up Microsoft, that is. You shady thing.

jtravers · May 2010

A possible solution in the future could be rkill. It basically kills unfamiliar processes so you can run a virus scan/ malware scan software.

It comes in a few different files just in case the the virus/malware will not let you run a particular type of file etc.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic308364.html
The dude that made the program supports it in the above thread.

Lamont · May 2010

You need to install clean. Something like this you get, install CLEAN and change passwords to every site. Every drive on your machine needs to be scanned. before being attached to the main computer. I recommend booting up into command and running an anti-virus software tool.

I stopped running Nod32 a few months ago after 4 years. Went with MSE. Works like a charm.

PhattyEwok · May 2010

Ouch guess who got hit by this fun bug Whoooops that would be me so far that tool sparks posted up before is working and then I can just reformat from there.

Lamont · May 2010

Where the heck are you guys going to get this virus?

PhattyEwok · May 2010

Lamont wrote: »

Where the heck are you guys going to get this virus?

haha that's a good question I'm thinking they got it in my system through a java exploit because AVG has been reporting that it has blocked a known java exploit quite a few times in the past 3 weeks so

I'm assuming that's where it eventually got in

silversteez · May 2010

i got this a couple weeks ago, as well. ended up installing windows 7 over my old xp install without doing a full reformat (which is nice because all my files are still in the windows.old directory) and everything is running squeaky clean.

i'm also using the noScript firefox extension now...kind of a pain, but i feel much safer.

PhattyEwok · May 2010

Little More Info On Java I'm sure of it now that this is how I got it cause I was on that site several times for school report

Linky

[Deleted User] · May 2010

This stuff is disgustingly common. I don't know which one, (starts with a C, I think) but at least one of those tv-on-the-internet sites is run by Joshua Abram (one of the billionaires from Direct Revenue. Another of those guys runs Jango (a free-music-on-the-internet site). The others are all still active too, last I checked. I don't know the names of their current projects, unfortunately. But just that group of like 7 or 8 guys alone is enough to pollute the web with enough system-obliterating landmines to make almost the whole thing nearly not worth the risk of using.

Essentially, Abram invented this kind of shit. There's an article on it here. They've been taken to court numerous times about it, but they're rich and they operate commercially, so make of that what you will.

Mark Dygert · May 2010

Ruz wrote: »

yeah I am going to just buy windows 7 professional. i have been using xp for the last year, but I need more ram so I think this is a good time to upgrade. I am still going to muck around with the suggestions and see If I can fix it, but yeah time for an upgrade.

gonna try Hiren's Boot Disc first then have a look at seforins suggestions
thnks again guys

NooOOoo that's what they want you to do! Two people I work with, where hit by the same thing, both XP users. I smell a tricky MS plot to get all of the old XP holdouts converted over or just sell software that is slightly less annoying than getting a virus. =P

Kubs solution sounds like the smartest bet, I just wouldn't trust it once you got it back up and "clean". I would reformat and reinstall after you back up. Hopefully you install your OS on a separate drive than where you keep your files so a reformat doesn't lose any data.

I reinstalled XP about a month ago just because I hadn't done it in while. Even with time to prepare and a image of a base install, it was still a pain. I bought Win7 just for the driver updates ha. It installed like a dream, as it should.

Good luck! Win7 is the way to go, even if "the man" is under handily forcing you to update, heh

/conspiracy theory

Ruz · May 2010

ha ha Vig, TBH I wanted windows 7 so i could make use of my extra ram. I have had windows vista which chugged like hell - so i was a bit loathe to upgrade, but I have heard mainly good things about 7.
yeah my files are on separate disk drives so I don't keep many important files on drive c.It's just the whole inconvenience of it. real pain
Actually I could install vista instead of buying 7 but I never got an install disk with my laptop and the laptop is totally fucked now and as I say vista was quite slow for me.

Spark · May 2010

Ruz, I did the link that I told you about and it cleaned up the computer fine, no need for me to reformat and did another program after that to check to see if it was all cleared up. So definetely try that, unless you want to update to 7

Spark

Disco Stu · May 2010

Vig i think your on to something there.
I stroll trough the same hell places of the internet with my laptop and desktop.
Theyre connected via lan and as it seems only my xp64 desktop was infected and my
vista laptop is clean. I find this very shady.

Psyk0 · May 2010

I fixed a similar one on a co-workers machine, took me a few minutes to figure out the trickery.

My solution is prevention...

-Use firefox (general users have no clue it exists)
-Install no script add-on (protection against java threats)
-Install (and keep up to date) spybot search and destroy
-Update AV
-Run hijack this from time to time to check for suspicious entries.

fly_soup wrote: »

Essentially, Abram invented this kind of shit. There's an article on it here. They've been taken to court numerous times about it, but they're rich and they operate commercially, so obviously the justice system doesn't work on them. Why no one's had the gumption to track them down and end them is beyond me. I can only assume most people either don't know who they are, don't have the skills to find them (that's my reason), or just have issues with killing vermin. It's sad that supervillains like them exist, but no one has the guts to at least rough them up a little.

A group of vigilante should follow them around with a bullhorn and scream retarded ads 24/7 right to their face, see how they like it!

Ruz · May 2010

Spark, I did try but I could n't get safe mode with networking . I tried it manually but had no joy.
I prolly just did something wrong.
No worries though Bearkubs disk thingy did the trick.

pior · May 2010

I know its late and somewhat of a hardcore solution, but I ve been tired of security risks in the past and ended going for the most simple solution. Hardware. Simply get a laptop (went for a mac to have even less viral infection risks) and make it a dedicated browsing machine. You can load it up with antiviruses if you need to.

Now use that machine as an 'empty box', not storing much on it. Bookmarks can be saved online (Delicious), notes/stickes as well (Google notes), and so on. Then you can use Dropbox to communicate files between the dedicated browsing machine, and your main beefy computer. The desktop only needs Dropbox, you dont even need a browser on it. Maybe a free AV program just to be safe (I use Commodo). You can watch online TV fine on the laptop, by simply putting it on your desk near your main screen.

It really is a relief, and a good side effect is that, it makes you less tempted to browse risky sites on your main machine :P And it frees up power for the workhorse machine too.

Hope this helps!

Lamont · May 2010

http://www.techspot.com/guides/274-run-ubuntu-from-a-flash-drive/

Go in run some AV soft and get out... or play around and enjoy the experience.

Yarl · May 2010

Disable Autorun for all drives and plugged-in stuff. If you back up before reformatting, you could copy an insidious little file called Autorun.exe or somesuch. It re-infects you as as soon as you plug that drive in.

I reformatted a couple times in a row, reinfecting every time I plugged my external in.

If you still have to use that external, never just click on it again. Right-click and choose Explore, or give yourself a shortcut to a folder on that drive.

crazyfool · May 2010

Yea I had this f***er recently but malwarebytes and Superantispyware saved my life. No idea how I got it as my machine was left idol over night and I turn to it in the morning and BAM. My one tried installing a bogus software which I managed to stop and locked up my internet. Lucky I got my laptop which was fine to get all the neccessary installs.

I remember getting it about a year ago on my laptop aswell out of nowhere, strange its still out there?

Ben Apuna · May 2010

Yeah I recently discovered a hybrid solution of both pior's and Lamont's suggestions. And ended up installing Linux Mint (an offshoot of Ubuntu) on a old laptop of mine.

It works great as a dedicated browsing machine. Very secure and it boots up faster than my 4 years newer desktop.

Firefox + NoScript and Dropbox all work great. There's even a version of Avast for linux if you want to be extra careful.

I wish I could switch my main work machine to Linux Mint. Unfortunately with linux there's a severe lack of game art creation apps that will run natively or without issues even with things like Wine.

cw · May 2010

pior wrote: »

I know its late and somewhat of a hardcore solution, but I ve been tired of security risks in the past and ended going for the most simple solution. Hardware. Simply get a laptop (went for a mac to have even less viral infection risks) and make it a dedicated browsing machine. You can load it up with antiviruses if you need to.

Now use that machine as an 'empty box', not storing much on it. Bookmarks can be saved online (Delicious), notes/stickes as well (Google notes), and so on. Then you can use Dropbox to communicate files between the dedicated browsing machine, and your main beefy computer. The desktop only needs Dropbox, you dont even need a browser on it. Maybe a free AV program just to be safe (I use Commodo). You can watch online TV fine on the laptop, by simply putting it on your desk near your main screen.

It really is a relief, and a good side effect is that, it makes you less tempted to browse risky sites on your main machine :P And it frees up power for the workhorse machine too.

Hope this helps!

This is awesome. I am actually inspired to maybe do exactly this.

thanks!

virus stuff

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