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[Davemcc]

I understand this is an insidious infection. What's the simplest and surest way to be free of it?

 

[bandphan]

http://www.securiteam.com/securityreviews/5RP0L0UD5U.html

Ive been running AVAST Pro, along with malwarebytes and spybot for protection.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I honestly have hard time understanding what's the question is, but concluding you are asking in HTPC section and mentioned infection - I assume you are talking about computer viruses/trojans/spyware.

I'd start with free Microsoft Security Essentials - it's pretty easy to use, FREE and have pretty good detection/removal.

If you can a trial version of Eset Nod32 Antivirus and ran a scan as well.

 

[Davemcc]

I honestly have hard time understanding what's the question is, but concluding you are asking in HTPC section and mentioned infection - I assume you are talking about computer viruses/trojans/spyware.

Well, from what I can find online, it appears to be a redirect trojan that hijacks your homepage among other things. Apparently, most free and commercially available programs can't catch all the bits of the virus and it comes back. There does seem to be some people that have developed procedures to eliminate it but they are rather involved and over my head in computer terms. I was hoping that there was one anti-virus company out there that has managed to successfully deal with this specific virus.

Actually, I've been having a ton of computer problems lately and this seems like it could be a big one. I'm also dealing with resolving host and resolving proxy messages on Chrome. I also seem to have connection issues that seem to originate in my computer and not on the modem or network. Sometimes it seems I wait forever to make a connection or I have to continually try to reload the page until a connection is established. Other times, pages load blazing quick. It seems though that it takes me an hour to do online what should take 5 minutes.

 

[bandphan]

Well, from what I can find online, it appears to be a redirect trojan that hijacks your homepage among other things. Apparently, most free and commercially available programs can't catch all the bits of the virus and it comes back. There does seem to be some people that have developed procedures to eliminate it but they are rather involved and over my head in computer terms. I was hoping that there was one anti-virus company out there that has managed to successfully deal with this specific virus.

Download highjack this from the link I provided and post the results to here or their forum. What software are you running for prevention? Removal is fairly simple, just some typing involved. One thing that is needed is to dump all temp files and cookies with a program like this and turn off windows restore, as you dont want it replicating inside there (for the repair steps only)

 

[Davemcc]

I'm using AVG and also running superantispyware. I have reviewed your link and I'll have to get my head around it before attempting it. I am not computer savvy at all.

 

[bandphan]

I'm using AVG and also running superantispyware. I have reviewed your link and I'll have to get my head around it before attempting it. I am not computer savvy at all.

It looks overwhelming but its not Id add spybot as it does a good job, and dump the Superantisyware. Depending on the other problems you have Id download Smitfraud fix, go into safe mode run the program down to registry fix, run malwarebytes and spybot afterwards reboot and enable your restore again (might need to run programs as ADMIN dependent on your OS)

 

[fightinkraut]

Another solution which does an outstanding job of stopping this type of infection is to run rkill (found on bleepingcomputer here.), then run Malwarebytes full scan. I've found this is often the quickest and easiest way to eliminate problems.

Good luck, let us know what happens!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

MS's AV beats free AVG without sweat. Try it (if your windows is legit )
Spybot is free so I'd highly recommend it too.
Autoruns/Hijackthis both great products, but be very VERY VERYcareful with both as you can do a lot of damage with them.

I also found that Windows System Restore rollback, if not damaged by virus, works quite well in most cases...

 

[Nemo128]

MS's AV beats free AVG without sweat. Try it (if your windows is legit )
Spybot is free so I'd highly recommend it too.
Autoruns/Hijackthis both great products, but be very VERY VERYcareful with both as you can do a lot of damage with them.

I also found that Windows System Restore rollback, if not damaged by virus, works quite well in most cases...

Before some zealot comes along and says it's sacrilege to advocate the use of an MS product, I concur with above as totally true and worth considering.

 

[Davemcc]

It looks overwhelming but its not Id add spybot as it does a good job, and dump the Superantisyware.

It does look overwhelming. I have to admit that as much as I use the computer for browsing, all my attempts to learn more about their function have come to nothing. When I see a list of script or file names, I can't seem to decipher what it all means. It almost seems like it could be Cyrillic or Cantonese. I get lost in a kind of dyslexic haze in the jumble of seemingly random letters and punctuation.

Depending on the other problems you have Id download Smitfraud fix, go into safe mode run the program down to registry fix, run malwarebytes and spybot afterwards reboot and enable your restore again (might need to run programs as ADMIN dependent on your OS)

To give an example, I don't know how to go into safe mode nor how safe mode works. I also don't know how to run as admin. Very, very noob stuff here. Perhaps I need a professional.

 

[bandphan]

Safe mode entry is allowed by hitting f8 during bootup.

 

[sholling]

You won't like my reply but but it comes with well over 20 years in the IT field behind it. The sad fact is that many modern viruses are so well written that they are almost impossible to remove completely. Gone are the days when the potent viruses were written by kids seeking nerd glory. Now days most are written by highly skilled pros working for organized crime. My advice is to back-up your data, reformat the drive, and reinstall your operating system and software. If it's a Windows system then that's something that really should be done every year or so anyway just to keep it performing well.

The key is to avoid viruses in the first place.

• Use a top notch anti-virus/anti-spyware product like Nod32.
• Make sure there is a router or firewall between you and the Internet. If a hardware router/firewall isn't always possible (laptop) then use a software firewall.
• Abandon Internet Explorer for Firefox or Chrome. A lot more traps are laid for IE than the others.
• Use a DNS that filters out known malicious sites, I use OpenDNS.

 

[highfigh]

Since we're talking about weird stuff happening with Windows-based computers, does anyone have a reason I would have major slowdown issues immediately after installing Service Pack 3? I don't mean soon after, I mean as soon as I rebooted after installing it. I had been using Spybot and AdAware for over a year, I never go to sites that are well-known for viruses and never open e-mails from people I don't know (although I know some viruses will forward themselves). I removed SP3, did the restore date and it still stops, with the (Not Responding) at the top. I haven't used IE in years and unless I absolutely have to (some things require it) and I use AntiVir.

Also, I open the Task Manager and see processes like Tea Timer using up all kinds of resources. I run XP on my laptop and XP Pro on my desktop, but my laptop always has a lot more processes running at any time. The laptop is a lot newer- is this a hardware thing? If I understand this, a newer OS uses more temporary processes instead of them being part of the BIOS, right?

I HATE THIS STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bandphan]

Since we're talking about weird stuff happening with Windows-based computers, does anyone have a reason I would have major slowdown issues immediately after installing Service Pack 3? I don't mean soon after, I mean as soon as I rebooted after installing it. I had been using Spybot and AdAware for over a year, I never go to sites that are well-known for viruses and never open e-mails from people I don't know (although I know some viruses will forward themselves). I removed SP3, did the restore date and it still stops, with the (Not Responding) at the top. I haven't used IE in years and unless I absolutely have to (some things require it) and I use AntiVir.

Also, I open the Task Manager and see processes like Tea Timer using up all kinds of resources. I run XP on my laptop and XP Pro on my desktop, but my laptop always has a lot more processes running at any time. The laptop is a lot newer- is this a hardware thing? If I understand this, a newer OS uses more temporary processes instead of them being part of the BIOS, right?

I HATE THIS STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tea timer is part of the spybot. Ive heard of issues installing sp3 thru updates but not clean installs. FWIW I do not use any windows updates, I have them turned off, as Ive find them to buggy. As for the process how many programs are in the start menu folder? Time to do some upgrades to the desktop, or a new one. Unless you have a lot of apps that you cant re-install, Id back up and wipe the drive clean and start fresh

 

[Davemcc]

My advice is to back-up your data, reformat the drive, and reinstall your operating system and software.

The more I look at the solution, the more I'm leaning towards this idea for three reasons. 1. It avoids having to read, identify and confirm lines of script. 2. It seems less risky with the high probability of my making a mistake. 3. This is something I can get my wife to do without precipitating a fight. Besides, I have no music, data or other info on the computer at this time. It's basically a glorified browser.