Posted on 09/04/2009 5:55:59 AM PDT by quintr
Yesterday I got a notice that my computer was infected with a worm that gathers email addresses from a compromised computer, also a trojan. I started getting a critical warning on the desktop.
I have long been a customer of McAfee and thought that McAfee would keep these kind of vermin off my computer.
However, now it appears that problems are getting through.
Need any suggestions you may have. My field is analytical chemistry, not computer science.
Does anyone have a better source than McAfee. I'm willing to change -- especially if I can get a vendor that provides a tech support telephone number to its customers!
Another dirty little secret are the emergency calls that techs get because a little pop-up shows you a message - "Oh Crap, Your PC is infected!"
Some techs won't take the opportunity for some education for the customer, rather they charge for their emergency call, and present a bill for a lot of good work that they indeed performed.
Computer Repair is a dangerous ability if you have a lot of friends.
ping
Eset Nod32
Please add me to your ping list.
I use a free anti-virus... Avast! it is great. Bare bones but works marvelous.
Polly
You’ve been added. Welcome Aboard!
Don’t switch to Norton’s. We installed a boat load of Norton’s stuff (wasn’t my idea) and within the week the computer was code blue. It was in the shop for a month. It still has some Norton junk on it (again, not my idea) and still isn’t working like it should.
Oh, and Norton’s didn’t send us the advertised rebate claiming we didn’t send them a copy of page one in our old virus program. I did. So, not only are we out a repair bill but no lousy rebate on their crappy product.
Thanks.
I use a free anti-virus... Avast! it is great. Bare bones but works marvelous.
Polly
bookmark
You are right Matchett.
There is what is circulating as a fake-virus. Makes it look like you have been messesd up. Of course the object is to click on the “ repair all” link.
I am on a yahoo tech support group and read about it fortunately before it hit me last week. I ran my Avast and Malwarbytes ( which I love!) and found no viruses as I figured.
Polly
definitely spybot for starters.
Have you ever noticed that people post these desparate HELP! articles and then disappear?
First and foremost, disconnect your machine from the internet. If you are infected, you’re only making yourself MORE infected.
Next, get a thumb drive or USB hard disk, go to a non-infected machine and download MalwareBytes, HiJackThis, and some free antivirus program. MalwareBytes and HiJackThis are available from download.com.
Next, boot the infected machine into Windows safe mode (Hit F8 when the machine first starts up and don’t take your finger off the button until you get a screen with numerous text boot options. Cursor up to Safe Mode and hit enter.
When in safe mode, plug in the thumb drive or USB disk with the programs and install them one at a time. Start with MalwareBytes and let it do a full run at the machine. It will try to clean, but it may not be able to get everything. Make notes as to which files are infected to check later.
Once complete, run the anti-virus. Make notes of the files infected and the virus they’re infected with.
Finally, run HiJackThis and save a copy of the log (it’s an option you’ll see) and put it out on bleepingcomputer.com forums. They’ll tell you what you should remove, and then delete the files off of the hard disk that were identified in the previous scans.
Reboot the machine into Safe Mode again, run it all over again until you get no infections found. DO NOT PLUG THE MACHINE INTO THE NETWORK YET! Reboot into full Windows, run the scanners again.
Please note that this could take several hours. Viruses, esp. trojans, can be VERY hard to get rid of. Have patience.
Just after he posted he unplugged his computer ... he's on his way now to throw it in the ocean.
When this happens to me I bite the bullet and reformat the hard drive. I save all my data files to a back up and then reinstall windows. It usually takes a whole weekend to reload all the software and all the hardware drivers, but it’s worth it.
quintr
Since Sep 25, 2007
The Original Poster has been around a while and checking his profile and past forum posts he seems like a sincere Freeper.
He probably realizes it wasn't as bad as he/she thought and is a bit embarrased.
Although he may also be in the process of taking is pc offline / checking and cleaning and reinstalling programs, etc.
I think in such cases where several people jump in and post with solid helpful advice, a quick "Thanks everyone for your input." post would be nice...
that is what I have on my PCs.. I have a new mac.. A relief to NOT have that worry (YET)..
Perps found should be shot! they are terrorists!
I got the same (or a very similar) notice yesterday via what looked like a pop-up. But the warning was 100% fake.
Now if I had clicked on the link in that pop-up, I might have contracted a REAL virus. But I immediately closed my browser and ran a Norton scan — thankfully with no problems found.
Bookmark. It’s always good to read the latest on anti-virus tactics.
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