Viruses and Junk

york · January 31, 2008, 12:37:13 PM

Faron,glad you started this thread....it woke me up...my pc,as of late has been slow and very strange...i read all of this stuff and then installed Spyware Detector...now,i have my pc back...

Faron · January 31, 2008, 12:45:38 PM

Early this morning a screen popped up wanting to scan my computer for viruses and spyware. Naturally any way you tried to get rid of it started it "scanning "my computer. Time I got rid of it , it was warning me my computer was still infected. I ain't too sharp, but even I can figure out they are the guys who put the stuff on there to start with. >:(

logwalker · January 31, 2008, 12:49:57 PM

I am certainly not an expert but have been playing with pc's for years (25+). The one thing that seems to make the most difference for me is to use a program called Registry Mechanic and run it about once a month. It goes into the registry and finds conflicts and resolves them. The registry is the area in Windows where all the different applications are neatly fitted together so they run concurrently. It is a $30 download and is produced by PCTools, a company I have always had confidence in. The internet security software I use is Avast. It is a free (as in free beer) download and I used it to replace Norton which came with my Dell. It has worked flawlessly now for two years. Handles everything in the security department. Joe

york · January 31, 2008, 12:50:43 PM

you better believe it...the people who write this stuff seem to have a cure,wonder if they could make lumber...

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2008, 01:22:05 PM

I recently downloaded Registry Mechanic, and use the trial version. It claims you need to purchase to get full benefit, however, it finds and "restricts" about 70 items every morning. It's always a different number, so, maybe it actually DOES something ??? Puter seems to be struttin it's stuff 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D ;D

Ianab · January 31, 2008, 01:51:59 PM

Quote from: Faron on January 31, 2008, 12:45:38 PM
Early this morning a screen popped up wanting to scan my computer for viruses and spyware. Naturally any way you tried to get rid of it started it "scanning "my computer. Time I got rid of it , it was warning me my computer was still infected. I ain't too sharp, but even I can figure out they are the guys who put the stuff on there to start with. >:(

That is one of the current scams :

They trick you into downloading some bogus virus checker, that then 'finds' something on your PC and wants $29 for the full version to fix it. If you fall for the scam they then sent you more malware AND they have your credit card details >:(

The programs that Tonich has pointed you to are legit, and even if they dont find the problem, at least they wont make it worse. Its OK to have several 'on demand' scanners installed, ones that only start up when YOU run them. But you only one one 'resident' or background scanner thats running all the time.

Sometimes though you just need someone that can dig into the system and do a bit of detective work. Some of these things are incredibly sneaky in the way they dig themselves into the system and the measures they take to re-install themselves if you try and remove them. >:(

Sometimes it's simpler just to Nuke the PC (delete Windows) and reload :

Cheers

Ian

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2008, 02:04:25 PM

Sounds fine, Ian, BUT, how do us dummies do this without losing all our programs and info ??? :

:

:-\ :-\

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 02:41:27 PM

Quote from: Quartlow on January 31, 2008, 08:48:00 AM

Live CD's are a very good option. I used one just a couple weeks ago to recover some files from a windows machine the refused to boot.

Well heck, if you want to do that, might as well use AROS. Comes in PPC and X86-64 bit and i386 flavors under linux or windows. :D :D

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2008, 03:08:21 PM

How does one tell a "live" CD, from a "Dead" CD ??? :

:

;D

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 05:13:26 PM

Shove a CD in the caddy, power up and hold the 'C' key down. ;D

If you try that AROS, don't be alarmed by the floppy drive clicking (if you have a floppy drive) that is the disk detection routine. It may not do anything on some releases. But, when you insert a floppy a disk icon appears on the desktop.

Fla._Deadheader · January 31, 2008, 06:42:20 PM

Caddy ??? Never seen a Caddy down here. What's THAT got to do with a computer ???

Quartlow · January 31, 2008, 07:07:08 PM

Gee thanks SD, you realize I am downloading that to test drive it. :D :D

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 07:12:20 PM

Well your probably right. :D I meant your CD drive. Some older drives had what was termed a caddy to hold the CD before insertion into the CD drive mechanism. It was actually a better design because it protected the disk more from scratches. I don't seem them now.

Quartlow, sure why not. ;D

Quartlow · January 31, 2008, 07:54:39 PM

Burning a CD right now SD, see If I can get it to run as a VM ;D

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 07:59:38 PM

I'm d/l tonights build. It's been quite awhile since I looked at it.

Quartlow · January 31, 2008, 08:40:41 PM

well don't get too excited. I can't get it to boot in a vm, It's trying to boot on the old dell I use for a fileserver

Wait there it goes :D

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 09:53:42 PM

I'm going to try it out. Some video cards don't have drivers under AROS I've heard, but I know this build works as it has been confirmed on the forum. HP computers have troubles sometimes if that is what you tried.

ANyway, I'm going to give'r a go. ;D

There are stable builds with applications on the main site I think, should be 64 megs plus. Anyway, off for a restart. ;)

SwampDonkey · January 31, 2008, 10:46:35 PM

I just booted the regular i386 ISO image and had no problem on my Toshiba Centrino DUO.

SwampDonkey · February 01, 2008, 09:13:13 AM

Quartlow, which VmwAROS did you pick up? The latest is 305+ megs.

http://vmwaros.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-vmwaros-beta-06-available-for.html

Quartlow · February 01, 2008, 01:05:44 PM

I downloaded the AROS-20080131-i386-pc-boot-iso.zip
It boots on the dell fine, which means it should boot on a virtual machine.

Only 350 meg you say? piece of cake!

SwampDonkey · February 01, 2008, 04:20:43 PM

Yeah, but that was a READ ONLY LIVE CD ISO, a VMware allows read/write without having to install on your system. It becomes a Hard file on your HD that behaves like a partition. ;D My experience is they are slower because they are an emulated drive partition. You have to communicate with the host OS via an FTP client if you want to transfer files. The DISK OS is FFS, meaning Fast File System, not FAT32. ;)

rebocardo · February 01, 2008, 07:51:30 PM

> Going to a Mac is like getting rid of ones automobile and just taking the train

When the auto is a Windows Model T with holes in the floorboards and no seatbelts and the train is a new Bullet Mac, I will take the train. Especially if I want to do anything with Java. I am just sick of Windows and refuse to go along with their system of spying on end users.

I assume everyone knows MS embeds marker IDs into every app created by their software including embedding IDs into your hard drive and documents? It is how MS catches many of the virus authors, those dumb and lame enough to use MS apps to create them, even from pirated MS versions.

Faron · February 02, 2008, 01:09:14 PM

Tonich ,Ok, I am now down to the Panda ActiveScan. It is still scanning, and lists one rootkit and 14 spyware files after I have run all the scans above. As I understand it, I need to buy a program to take care of anything but viruses. Do I need to do that, or will the next step get them?

Quartlow · February 02, 2008, 10:53:57 PM

Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 01, 2008, 04:20:43 PM
Yeah, but that was a READ ONLY LIVE CD ISO, a VMware allows read/write without having to install on your system. It becomes a Hard file on your HD that behaves like a partition. ;D My experience is they are slower because they are an emulated drive partition. You have to communicate with the host OS via an FTP client if you want to transfer files. The DISK OS is FFS, meaning Fast File System, not FAT32. ;)

yeah I knew that, Actually I don't care for Vmware due to performance issues. On my machine Innotek Virtual box performs very well ;)

Ahhh all bootable ISO's are read only. This is the only one I've ever had fail to boot on virtual box.
I always boot the lates live cd of Ubuntu release on a vm and install them to test them.
Unless the FTP is built in and invisible I've never used one to transfer between the host and the guest operating system.
I just set up shared folders and transfer it over the network, Well the guest system thinks it the network. maybe it is using ftp, either way its just as fast as copying files from one place on the hard drive to another place on the same hard drive.. At least for me it is.

tonich · February 03, 2008, 06:08:14 AM

Quote from: Faron on February 02, 2008, 01:09:14 PM
Tonich ,Ok, I am now down to the Panda ActiveScan. It is still scanning, and lists one rootkit and 14 spyware files after I have run all the scans above. As I understand it, I need to buy a program to take care of anything but viruses. Do I need to do that, or will the next step get them?

Hi Faron,
Sorry, it took me some time to replay!

Тhe rootkit is supposed to be found a bit prior Panda ActiveScan. Than again, this won’t be a problem since it offers online free find and clean without buying the product. So do the requested clean of what it can and complete the whole procedure, which should be enough to cure all the in-deep evil in general. You do not have to buy anything, unless you want to use any software permanently afterwards.
However, the tutorial does not say anything about buying certain software.

After finished each and every scan, turn on System Restore and create a new Restore Point!
Watch out for any unusual behavior of the computer.
If it happens to have a new screen popup alert, make sure you capture it and post it here, on this thread!
I believe there will be no reason to do that, though.