Computer help please - Page 2

Computer help please · 02-04-2010, 11:43 PM

I was in a Facebook page and all of a sudden my PC shut down the internet and it told me that I had over 32 "trojans" in my computer and I needed to download "Personal Security" it looked like it was from "Windows" and it took me by surprise. So it is downloaded now - bad mistake I do believe - I can not get it off of my PC now and alot of things are going crazy with it - I am on my daughter's LT right now - any suggestions

CatButler · 02-05-2010, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by PChristy

I was in a Facebook page and all of a sudden my PC shut down the internet and it told me that I had over 32 "trojans" in my computer and I needed to download "Personal Security" it looked like it was from "Windows" and it took me by surprise. So it is downloaded now - bad mistake I do believe - I can not get it off of my PC now and alot of things are going crazy with it - I am on my daughter's LT right now - any suggestions

This is what I would try. This program has a 15 day trial.
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Home-Home-Office/VIPRE/

Download the program on another PC and burn it to CD or put it on a USB drive if it fits.
Boot you infected PC to "safe" mode. This can be tricky to get into because there is a narrow window before jumping from the initial ROM BIOS to Windows. What I would do is right after you reboot, wait for the BIOS message, then lay on the "F8" key. If windows comes up, you were too late.

Safe mode bypasses a lot of the stuff that these trojans use to start themselves. You should be able to install the above program from CD/USB.

Mt. Gomer · 02-05-2010, 08:15 AM

Phillip,

A lot of these trojans, once running, are smart enough to recognize and block the installation or running of anti-virus/anti spyware software. Here's what I suggest trying before taking it in.

Download a good Anti-Virus program. Avast is good, I've also had good luck with AVG (free editions can be obtained at download.com). Also make sure you go to the software's homepage and download the most recent updates. If your daughter's laptop has a CD burner I'd do it from there then burn these files onto a disk
Boot the infected computer into Safe-mode without networking. This should skip all but the most essential registry settings and hopefully prevent the trojan from running
Install the anti-virus software and anti-spyware software while in safe mode and do a full scan. Hopefully it will now be able to clean out the infection.
Cross your fingers and re-boot.
If that doesn't do it you're really stuck either doing a manual removal of the trojan (which involves A LOT of digging around in the File system and registry) or a re-install of the OS (perhaps using the recovery disk you got from the manufacturer.

Good luck and I'm happy to help over the phone if you have questions. Shoot me a PM and I'll send contact info.

Travis

CatButler · 02-05-2010, 08:19 AM

Here's another thing to try. This are bootable from CD images that can clean viruses. These you burn from CD, boot from CD, then they scan your hard drives and clean things up.

http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootab...download-list/

You may never get all the after effects of this off, but you should be able to get data files off, then reinstall.

Trent Mason · 02-05-2010, 08:36 AM

Phillip,

Something similar happened to me a few years ago while on myspace. This may be a long shot, but have you tried a system restore? If not, try this:

Reboot in safe mode *you may or may not be able to do this in safe mode but I'd try it in safe mode first

Start

All Programs

Accessories

System Tools

System Restore

Restore my computer to an earlier time

Then a calendar will come up and you can pick a restore point going back to yesterday or possibly months/maybe years in the past. I would start with just a few days ago in hopes that it was something you clicked on yesterday.

Then go ahead and click next and it should reboot your computer with everything exactly how it was on that particular point in the past. Again, it is a long shot, but it may work. I had something very similar and that worked for me. Then you can download some of the software that everyone else has mentioned, run it, and that should get rid of anything else.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

jrs · 02-05-2010, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Luckbox72

Download the free version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebyte...-10804572.html

then run the app. The free version should remove the app. That will buy you time to research all the options. I eneded up going with vipre.

Another vote for MWB. I have used that on my mothers computer, and it was the ONLY thing that could get it clean.

(OK, my FIRST vote is 'buy a mac' also. If it costs too much, get ubuntu linux for the PC).

PChristy · 02-05-2010, 09:54 AM

nothing working

jrs · 02-05-2010, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by PChristy

nothing working

What's going on? Can you run any programs, or does it complain about no launcher?

MarkE · 02-05-2010, 10:01 AM

My experience with these kinds of malware has been that it takes many steps to remove them. I have not found one program that was effective in removal. Most of the ones I have seen required manual removal steps like removing keys (many keys) from the system registry.

The 2 most effective options for someone that doesn't have the tools or experience to do that:
1) Save what you can and re-load the OS and all of your apps
2) Bring the PC into a shop that can remove the malware for you. Or at least save what they can and do the OS re-load for you.

Option 2 is probably less painful, except to the wallet.

PChristy · 02-05-2010, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by jrs

What's going on? Can you run any programs, or does it complain about no launcher?

Nothing I have tried has worked so far

PChristy · 02-05-2010, 11:12 AM

right now I am able to run a download from www.regcure.com and it has so far found 439 problems - what they are I o not know

FredP · 02-05-2010, 12:15 PM

this is presisely the reason I dont use facebook, myspace or any of the "hey here i am" sites. we use panda and have not seen a virus attack in years. it is kinda pricey but it works. norton and mcaffee didn't cut it for us.YMMV. as someone already said your best bet is a complete reinstall. wipe it and start over. save what you can but dont put it back in until it has been scoured for bits and pieces of the virus. good luck!

fergy · 02-05-2010, 12:37 PM

I used to use AVG and Norton, but had issues with both. I've since moved to Kaspersky, after getting just this sort of thing on my desktop PC. Spybot and the others didn't touch the malware. Kaspersky and a regedit cleaned me up quite well.

I keep Kaspersky running now, and while it's a little more complicated, it's done great.

Of course, I also got a nice new Macbook Pro for work.

nicemac · 02-05-2010, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by JohnDistai

Buy a Mac?

(I couldn't resist)

I support almost 400 Macs daily. I recommend them to any that ever asks what they should do in this type of situation. I had a co-worker, a pc guy, tell me he got tired of "fixing" his "wife and kids" computer so on my recommendation he bought them a Mac. I sat in a meeting with him last week and he told me it had been over 5 years since he touched their computer...

gazzer · 02-05-2010, 02:08 PM

I agree with Trent. Being able to restore your PC to condition before your problem essentially eliminates all the bad stuff. These sort of things are called scareware. They sit on various sites and popup on some trigger. The point is to "coax" you into downloading some program that fixes the problem. At best, you get a so-so product. At worst, you download real bad stuff. Sounds like yours has written stuff to the registry that now is preventing you from doing anything of use. I hope you can restore it to an earlier date because finding and correcting all the registry hacks is tough.

I run an application called Acronis Home. Although it won't help you now, it will save some future headaches. What it does is run scheduled disk or partition images, which basically are clones of the data. I do my c:\ drive (which is small and contains only system stuff) once a week. Any tough problem can then be reversed fairly easily.

On the plus side, I don't think anything personal (photos, tax records, etc) is damaged by these things. You'll be wanting to back all that stuff up ASAP.

Good luck - sorry I am not more help

-g

PChristy · 02-05-2010, 05:10 PM

I can't even format the stupid thing now