Im having Virus issues, any advice?
polycounter lvl 17
Okay Im just about at my wits end, Ive been having recurring issues with Trojan e-mail links going out to everyone on my MSN contact list and its starting to become a serious problem! At first I brushed it off as a harmless thing and simply updated my virus and malware apps, after running a number of scans and removing the bugs I thought I was home free. Sadly this is not the case, even with daily scans of my system I still seem to be sending out malicious e-mail links to people on my contact list! Not only that but my all in one antivirus software seems to be coming up with infections on a daily basis. For example I ran a scan on my system and the app came up with a few low risk level bugs, then I ran the same scan again and it came up with a whole new batch of infections what gives! Lately Ive been looking into getting some new software and even going so far as reformatting my drive and doing a complete reinstall of windows, though Id rather that be a last ditch effort. Anyways Ive spent more time and money investigating this issue than actually getting any work done and would really appreciate any and all advice you guys may have.
By the way I almost forgot to mention the software Im using now:
Current Antivirus: PC tools / Spyware Doctor with Antivirus so far it blows
Current Firewall: Comodo Firewall Pro seems to be doing a good job
Prior Antivirus: Avast Anitvirus home edition
Prior Firewall: Sygate Personal Firewall
Looking into / Antivirus: AVG Internet security version
Looking into / Firewall: Zone Alarm Firewall
At this point Ive paid for the software I already have but wouldnt mind spending more cash for better security and piece of mind.
By the way I almost forgot to mention the software Im using now:
Current Antivirus: PC tools / Spyware Doctor with Antivirus so far it blows
Current Firewall: Comodo Firewall Pro seems to be doing a good job
Prior Antivirus: Avast Anitvirus home edition
Prior Firewall: Sygate Personal Firewall
Looking into / Antivirus: AVG Internet security version
Looking into / Firewall: Zone Alarm Firewall
At this point Ive paid for the software I already have but wouldnt mind spending more cash for better security and piece of mind.
Replies
LOL!
Download Hiren's Boot Disk 9.5, burn the ISO to a DVD and boot to it. Run it's Windows Virus Removal tools...
This will prevent windows interacting with the removal tools, thus removing it's "hiding spot".
Finding a rootkit takes hours, so you better have some extra time.
A lot of anti-virus/anti-spyware programs do a lot for preventing infection, but do almost nothing for after-the-fact removal, no matter how much you pay. Just be careful what you download, and scan EVERYTHING you download BEFORE you run/open it.
Good luck.
None for me thanks ^_^!
Thanks a bunch for information PfhorRunner it's really appriciated, I'll look into this a.s.a.p!
Since I don't know which virus you got I have some links below that might help you out before you go crazier and reformat, even though every 6 months to a year that should happen on a regular basis.
Newest info:
http://www.trap17.com/forums/page-3-t20262-s20.html
Older:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/07/11/19/new-msn-messenger-trojan-spreading-quickly
Hope this helps.
I know some info about viruses since I always try to protect my PC.
Best thing I recommend is reinstall your OS "if" you still can, since some computer companies are not giving backup disks anymore. I just reinstalled mine toke me about 3 hrs and another 2 hours to install my programs again.
If you still want to try to find every virus on your computer its going to be hard. Its getting harder to stop entry's. I found these spyware programs helpful, but I still still wanted to wipe my entire OS since I want more space on my computer.
1.Spyware Docter
2.VundoFix
3.Spybot-S&D
4.Ad-aware
5.ATF-Cleaner
These are the programs I use when I want to get rid of a virus/malware from my computer. But unfortunately some malware won't let some of these programs delete the virus such as VundoFix . You have to run it in safe mode, and then sometimes it still won't let you delete the virus not even in safe mode because it latches onto explorer.exe and thus have to shut down explorer.exe and then delete the file.
That's why I recommend reinstalling your OS. I just got Norton Antivirus which comes with Spyware protection. If you want full protection and got extra money I would get Norton 360 not Xbox 360, Norton 360. That will give you full shields on your PC.
Hope that helps.
All major computer brands still have their ways of reinstalling the OS, they're just different. Be it a separate partition on the hard drive (Dell, Gateway), or having to make your own recovery suite (HP). They would never restrict you from installing it again, since you're also buying a license to the OS.
It shouldn't take much more than an hour to re-install windows, the problem being is that you have to baby-sit it and answer a bunch of questions.
Like I said before, Hiren's allows you to not boot into explorer, so you can do an effective scan and clean with a multitude of removal tools.
Any Norton product will take up quite a bit of your system resources, I would recommend something like Kaspersky Anti-Virus, where it takes a little more knowledge to use, but is also very lightweight. The problem with Norton besides being a resource hog, is that it is also difficult to take off. You have to get a removal tool for it, which in-itself makes it similar to a virus (which is most people's complaint).
Even with "full shields" on your windows machine, there is a risk, you can never be fully protected, but you can also never be too cautious.
http://dban.sourceforge.net/
http://www.eset.com/products/compare-NOD32-vs-competition.php
http://www.eset.com/products/
Security Apps running:
AVG
Comodo Firewall
Peer Gaurdian