picked up a nasty virus yesterday

[gabagoo]

I can't even figure out what happened but I was surfing around from forum to forum late yesterday and then my screen starts to flicker and Boom!!!

It freezes on this page with Canada word marking and this rcmp BS. You know it is fake cause they want $100.00 to free your computer....meanwhile it had stuff on there about copyright violations...I wasn't even downloading anything!!!!

So the entire computer just sits on this screen and nothing else works. I reboot and again once the comp gets booted up to the main desktop, this page pops up again and I am frozen.

I left for the night and read up on it at home and it looked far to technical for me to try and edit the config sys for fear of really deleting the wrong thing...so I came in this morning and shut off the router and got the comp into safe mode. I selected the networking option and when it was up and running I went for the system restore and backed up 2 weeks.

It worked and then I realized, maybe I got this trojan because I had not ran a windows update because of all this talk about fonts not working.... I ran the update and ran a full virus scan and it seems OK now....

I just wonder if a system restore is really the way to go with this? Why do the gurus online do it the hard way?
time will tell

 

[bdawg8527]

Normally you can just boot into safe mode with networking, then just google the virus/malware application and there is a thread about where it installs. Just go to where it is installed and delete the .exe. May have to do some registry edits but the google answer should tell you. Its really not that hard and takes maybe 10-15 minutes. Or you can take to a computer place that does the exact same thing for 50-100$

 

[ColoPrinthead]

Malware bytes is a freeware that has helped me remove similar viruses in the past.

 

[stickerman12]

I got a virus or something from brands of the world last week. Their download format has changed and that is when I got it. I did a system restore to a previous date and it has worked fine since

 

[Bly]

Most Windows updates are to patch security holes.
I wouldn't turn them off.

 

[GAC05]

Always wash your hands and never touch the door handles in public restrooms...

 

[Jillbeans]

Try Rogue Killer be careful to download it from the right spot as there are also stoopid ads too.
Love....Jill

 

[threeputt]

System Restore is your best friend. Especially if you have Windows 7. If this happens again, reboot in Safe Mode (f8) and go directly to Start-up Windows repair.

After that go to System Restore. Pick the most recent critical update date. Let the system run through that and then re-boot in regular mode.

That should do it.

My advice.

1) Be sure you have Windows Security Essentials running at all times your machine is on. If you don't have it, get it.
2) Keep it updated.
3) Keep Adobe reader updated.
4) Keep JAVA updated.

That plugs most, if not all the holes.

 

[Techman]

sorry, but these rogues unlock the restore, infect it and then relock the restore point.
Trying to do a restore just keep the problem in the loop. You have to cealn the machine and then clean delete the restore points.

I have a acer aspire one netbook in the shop now with the latest viri malware. It will need a complete repair install to get it all back. The user did the typical restore and got caught in the loop. Now the only thing left to do is the repair re install. Which by the way does not delete all the old files.

 

[visual800]

THE BEST antivirus is avast. I was free but for the past 2 years have been paying for it. I run malwarebytes and ccleaner updates are also turned off, they do nothing but cause issues. Knock on Wood its been a quite sometimes since I got the crud on my comp.

Norton, macafee 2 of the largest advertising anitivirus and two of the absolute worst. AVG is a free antivirus and is also one of the worst.

One thing that kills me is these people that do these viruses why dont they have a high paying computer job somewhere and what the hell do they get out of causing problems for others?

 

[Wiggum PI]

Yeah, system restore is not your friend with malware/viruses. Malwarebytes and ccleaner or windows reinstall/repair is.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

System Restore is your best friend. Especially if you have Windows 7. If this happens again, reboot in Safe Mode (f8) and go directly to Start-up Windows repair.

Since that was mentioned, I thought I would mention what I heard from a tech friend of mine. He said that that shortcut was eliminated from Win 8. So for those of you that made that plunge or thinking of making that plunge to the new OS. Be aware of that. I guess that would mean that the only way to get into safe mode would be from startup where it asks you if you want to boot up in safe mode, safe mode with networking, or normal bootup.

 

[gabagoo]

sorry, but these rogues unlock the restore, infect it and then relock the restore point.
Trying to do a restore just keep the problem in the loop. You have to cealn the machine and then clean delete the restore points.

I have a acer aspire one netbook in the shop now with the latest viri malware. It will need a complete repair install to get it all back. The user did the typical restore and got caught in the loop. Now the only thing left to do is the repair re install. Which by the way does not delete all the old files.

I would tend to agree with you, but I am back up and running and have run malwarebytes and nothing found... I also had a similar virus on my laptop about 6 months back and again the system restore seemed to bring it back with no signs of the trojan. It just might be this particular trojan, but heck i dont care and I am happy to be back up and running.

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

This is one of the reasons I love Macintosh. Never had a virus and probably never will. No need to run a virus program. Now if Flexi would just get their Mac compatibility issue fixed I would be set.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

This is one of the reasons I love Macintosh. Never had a virus and probably never will. No need to run a virus program. Now if Flexi would just get their Mac compatibility issue fixed I would be set.

I haven't had a virus in years and I can say that it was user ignorance in my case (oh was I ever so young).

I'm also still in a tizzy that Alicia's Mac laptop HD died around 2 yrs of age. I have a Toshiba that has no anti-virus that does get on the internet and is still running tip top that's cheaper then her Mac and older.

So I really have to wonder about the virus thing and I think it's more a combination of things, not just about the OS alone.

 

[Techman]

This is one of the reasons I love Macintosh. Never had a virus and probably never will

Here it is. The typical MAC fanboy inserting his alaho snackbar praise of the great leader of a mere 2% of the computer world..

But the MAC fanboys always fail to mention all the problems they have with all the MAC OS changes. For example all the expensive problems and downtime and fail running legacy software with the newer OS releases. It is so bad they have to purchase windoes software and run some hack VM software to get their legacy stuff working again. Cutter, printer, drivers etc.

In the end they have to run OLD computers with their OLD software on OLD setups.
And then having to buy NEW computers with a NEW almost FREE OS that demands NEW updated software some of which is no longer available.
Geeses this MAC crap is so friggin old.

Oh and do not attempt to say software problems happen with windoes.
People are running old windows software on Win 7 every day without a single hitch. I still run Photoshop 6 in fact. People are running win XP software with a dongle that runs perfect without an updated driver..

 

[genericname]

Not interested in the mac/pc debate, Techman, but I'll back you up on the legacy software front. I've recently run old DOS and Win95 games on my install of Win7 with no issues whatsoever. Actually, they run better now, with fewer headaches, than they did when they were launched.

Never understood the "Nobody makes viruses for macs" argument. That's like arguing something's better because nobody else uses it. Elitism.

 

[threeputt]

sorry, but these rogues unlock the restore, infect it and then relock the restore point.
Trying to do a restore just keep the problem in the loop. You have to cealn the machine and then clean delete the restore points.

I have a acer aspire one netbook in the shop now with the latest viri malware. It will need a complete repair install to get it all back. The user did the typical restore and got caught in the loop. Now the only thing left to do is the repair re install. Which by the way does not delete all the old files.

Ok Techman, I know that you're head and shoulders above most of us with respect to this tech-y stuff.

But tell me, once one is up and running again (after a system restore) shouldn't his proprietary security program catch any residual malware after running a full scan?

I guess I just don't get all of this. Your respected comments would be appreciated.

 

[Baz]

TrendMicro's Rootkit Buster is pretty badass as well. That sucker can take over your computer ... Make it run like a SOB ... Restarts your computer a few times on it's own.

I surf where i want to surf and like going to the dark side of the internet ... It's more fun over there!

If i have things in my pc that i cherish ... I keep them safe outside.

 

[gabagoo]

TrendMicro's Rootkit Buster is pretty badass as well. That sucker can take over your computer ... Make it run like a SOB ... Restarts your computer a few times on it's own.

I surf where i want to surf and like going to the dark side of the internet ... It's more fun over there!

If i have things in my pc that i cherish ... I keep them safe outside.

I want to know more about the dark side... darth