Trojan/Virus thingy...again

[arigatomina]

I like to make records of this, in case I ever need to remind myself how to deal with it.  So far I haven't forgotten what is supposed to work, or the fact that it usually doesn't.  If my account spares anyone else from wasting two hours like I did, all the better

Comments

[caelimane]

Sorry to hear you're struggling with this shit again. I totally sympathize, since I went through it several times with my PCs (before I switched to Mac). Since viruses always attack PCs, my suspicion was always that Apple was behind it... but I digress. ;)

I had pretty good luck with MB in the past. One thing I remember is that MB itself is one of the first targets when a virus hits a computer. Not just MB, the virus will attempt to disable any anti-virus software you have. But I remember MB suggesting in one of their forums or whatever that you keep another copy of MB on your computer but rename the program so the virus doesn't go looking for it. I don't know if it will help you now, but that definitely worked for me, at least once. The virus corrupted my MB, but I was able to run "Bob" (the renamed backup version of MB) and I was able to scan, quarantine, and get rid of the bastard.

Jeez, I wish you luck. Viruses are such a pain in the ass.

[arigatomina]

Here's my theory

[caelimane]

So you're "clean" now? *fingers crossed*

[arigatomina]

I think so. I really hope so. ^^; I'm not restarting my computer to find out. That bluescreen of death really freaked me out. Most of my files are safe on external drives, but I do have a lot on the cdrive that I'd hate to lose. Trying to recover those from my old computer (which will only stay turned on for five minutes at most) would take forever. I don't want to think about it. Everything looks fine, so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

[petapepy]

Ah that sucks. I know how you feel having to deal with viruses and trojans. I agree, the FBI should be dealing with this type of crap rather than hunting down on copyright theft.

I tend to find when I do a system restore it doesn't work. So I end up doing a full clean install instead. Extremely time consuming but at least I know all those damn bugs and what nots are gone. Hope your computer is back to normal.

[arigatomina]

Considering the hackers who took down the FBI's site, you'd think they would care a little more about trojans and viruses and all the blatant attacks being perpetrated on the net without any fear of punishment. Even when it happens to them, they ignore it. I guess there's just no money in hunting down these guys. Maybe if computer users got together and offered reward money the government would take the bait. ;p

[anonusr]

Sorry to hear that - malware infections suck. Just helped a friend clear out the ping.exe virus.

Just two quick pieces of advice that have helped me over time - first, use a really good proactive antivirus. MB's ok for cleanup, but it doesn't actively monitor the system to prevent the infection. Believe it or not, Microsoft's free Security Essentials is incredibly good at detecting malware before it becomes a problem.

Also, it's a good idea to have a Linux live cd/usb just lying around in case you need it - that way, if windows ever becomes damaged, you can boot into directly into Linux (from the CD) without touching windows, get to the internet, and determine your strategy. Personally, for a live usb, I'd recommend Puppy Linux - I keep it on a 512MB flash drive, and it has served me very well over time.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on the FBI thing.

[arigatomina]

I never upgraded my computer to window's service pack 2 because none of my editing programs would run on it. Now they have service pack 3, which you can't upgrade to without going to 2 first. So I can't install any of the updates made to go with sp2 or sp3. I pretty much can't use any microsoft updates at all. They tell me to install sp2, then sp3, and *then* the new security measures. So I don't install any updates. Surprisingly, I don't get viruses often despite that. It's usually my mom who has the constant virus problems - and she's on sp3 with all the microsoft updates installed automatically.

I've never heard of this Linux cd. I'll google it, thanks! Usually if I get a virus that blocks me from the internet, I run to my mom's office and borrow one of her computers to print out the walkthroughs and download the files. It's only fair since I use my computer when she has virus problems blocking her from the net. ;p

[anonusr]

Oh - running XP with just SP1 would complicate things...

If you've never used a Linux live CD before, this might help you get started:
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm

[crazyoverbishie]

im sorry to hear that and...OMG...I know this virus...since i got it once...and my uncle got it the day before me...>.<...it's really suck...coz your computer becoming slowly...and some of the .exe files are cant be executed...>.<...it got me 3 days to figure out how to get over it...and there should be a way how to get rid of the virus on the internet...
sorry for my dumb question...but does your computer fine now???

[arigatomina]

My mom had the old version of this virus at the end of last year, so it was familiar to me, too. They've updated it so it's even nastier.

I think my computer is fine. As long as I don't see the popups and nothing is running slowly, I'm going to assume it's all clean now.

[crazyoverbishie]

Whoa..glad to hear that..^^
OMG..the virus become even nastier than before..ug:..I guess I gotta be careful..

[lovesichigo]

:| If only we had lobbying money to protect us from hackers.