Members Actor87 Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 My desktop PC is fading fast and I don't know what to do. About a month ago, I went to britneyexperts.com. I've always gone there on my laptop, but never on my home PC. What happened is something I wish I could take back. As soon as the page started loading, my computer popped up a message that some virus had infected my computer. It said the virus would display desktop shortcuts to porn sites. For about two hours, I scanned my computer up and down with every virus correction software I have (which is one-Spybot Search & Destroy). The desktop shortcuts would re-appear every time I deleted them. Finally, I was able to rid myself of the problem. Fast forward to last night. I get on my computer and see a huge red X in the taskbar at the top of my screen. Spybot is popping up all sorts of registry changes and I keep denying them. That told me something bad was happening. Then, the red X popped up a small bubble saying that my computer was infected. Alot of the words were mis-spelled which told me this red X probably was a worm or a virus. I spent hours trying to launch my Spybot, but nothing. My un-registered Norton will still scan for stuff, but won't let me fix anything. Even Norton wasn't coming up. Finally, I clicked the balloon the red X was attached to. It sent me to xpsecurityinfo.com. It was telling me to buy this anti-virus for $50, but I wasn't budging. Any time that I'd try to pull up SON, the screen would change and tell me that I was vulnerable to attack and to remedy the problem. It had a link to continue browsing, but anytime I clicked it, it would take me back to the XPsecurityinfo.com site. I know that's not the right site because anything XP-related is at the Microsoft site. So I went there and it had a link to download a malicious malware scan. After doing it, it presented me with a note telling me that Renos, Netsky, and Mydoom were all on my computer. It only partially removed the latter two. Then, after I downloaded an important security update, it had my restart my computer. By this time, the red X had gone, but Spybot and Norton were still not popping up. After I restarted my computer, the red X returned. I downloaded the Microsoft scan again and it partially removed Netsky and Mydoom again and fully removed Renos. I did some reading on Mydoom and Netsky and read that they disable other virus protection software and keep them from coming up. No wonder my Spybot and Norton aren't working, I thought. At this time, I knew Mydoom and Netsky were partially removed, but not all the way. So I went back to Microsoft and downloaded removal tools for both and they both showed that neither virus is on the computer. But I know they are!! I'm scared to even restart my computer because I know that damn red X will come back up. Basically, I have no money and WAY too much on this computer to be donwloading to discs. I'm a part time photographer and I have AT LEAST 20 folders full of nothing but pictures. To burn them all to CD's would take DAYS and I'm afraid the viruses are going to come back soon. I need something FREE, a virus protection program that's immune to Mydoom and Nestky. My Spybot and Norton are useless because these viruses/worms/whatever keep them from popping up. Something that can COMPLETELY remove ALL viruses. I would take my computer somewhere, but I live in the middle of nowhere. Nobody withina 50 mile radius is going to be able to fix this thing. LOL. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ............................Anybody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Well... Spybot isn't really a good solution. It is an excellent software, but simply not enough. There's AVG Anti-Virus, which is free, so you should try that. Also download Ad-Aware and scan the computer. Keep updating the definition files - you need the latest. You should really consider ESET's NOD32 or some other specialised anti-virus and firewall software, which is not free. Where do you keep your photos? On the same partition Windows is installed on? P. S. Maybe you could try NOD32 as a trial - I don't know how much it lasts, probably 30 days - scan the computer and then uninstall it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TC Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 AVAST! is another cheap solution. Give it a try. We "uses" our laptops for work but this old PC picks up viruses from everywhere. AVAST! is free for home users. And , NO, I'm not a Dem giving a Repub a boondoggle. I would not do that, much as I might deplore you and everything your party stands for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveFrame Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Off topic first - why would you deplore someone just because they are republican? I can understand you deploring the party but not someone just because they are a republican? That is why I can't stand the party system and won't identify with either party. The die hards attitudes in each party make me not want to identify with them at all. And another reason I have no idea who I will even vote for this year. The way the democrats have acted through the whole thing with Hillary & Obama totally disgusts me but I don't like McCain either - so I just feel totally screwed in this election. ************************************** Anyway Dusty - I am only speaking from experience here. I have used Norton, McAfee, AVG and others before and always got viruses when I used them. My computer tech guy says AVG is one of the worst anti-virus programs ever made IN HIS OPINION. Notice that is his opinion. I got viruses while I had it but I didn't think it was that bad. Our cable company started offering F Secure internet securtiy to all of it's users a few years ago and I went from Norton to F Secure. I remember the day I uninstalled Norton and went to F Secure. The very first scan it found 16 viruses that I had gotten while running Norton on my computer. I have used F Secure ever since and I have not had 1 virus that the F Secure has not caught. I run it on all 4 computers in my house and the only one that I get viruses on are my daughter's lap top and she gets them all the time from My Space but there have not been any bad ones yet that F Secure was not able to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Drew Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 you're probably going to have to make some registry edits to keep the program from repopulating itself after you're removing it with the scanners. Id look these viruses up on google, or the symantic site, you'll usually find step by step instructions. But seriously .... before doing anything, you must backup your vital data, especially your pictures. It may take days (do you have a DVD burner? much faster than burning to CD), but you'll be kicking yourself if you lose everything trying to fix the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 I know you said you have no money but since you're looking for a fast way to backup your folders, it sounds like an external hard drive would be the best solution since you could copy your folders directly to it. You might even consider compressing the folders to make them a bit smaller and faster to transfer (you could zip them). I would transfer everything I could and make note of anything with special settings and then start from scratch since whatever it is exists in your registry and might be hard to get rid of completely. I reformatted one of my computers three different times and it was a hassle but it turned out to be the best solution. I literally spent days trying to find a problem in my registry when some software I installed caused my pc to go haywire and after all that frustration nothing worked quite the same so I caved and started from scratch. System restore has never really worked for me but some people have had a lot better luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Or compress them with WinRAR. Anyway, I think this is the best solution for you - you must back-up your data, uninstall Windows and then reformat the drives and install it again. Your computer might even work faster. But after that, you absolutely must install some kind of anti-virus software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lucid Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 I can't say enough good things about AVAST and for a stand alone try McAfee Stinger, it targets all the big viruses http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ 1. Download v3.9.9 [1,973,255 bytes] (5/06/2008) NOTE: The file has been renamed to circumvent anti-stinger tactics used by Sober.r This version of Stinger includes detection for all known variants, as of September 10, 2007 and if you use Firefox, this is a good add on it tells you which sites are safe and which are harmful https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3456 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wales2004 Posted July 8, 2008 Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 You shouldn't try to uninstall Windows since you need it to reformat your pc. Depending on the version of Windows you use, it should be located on a hidden partition on your hard drive if Windows was pre-installed on your pc. Normally you are prompted to create recovery disks. The manufacturer of your pc may have included a recovery option which can usually be found under Control Panel. If you have that option then once you've backed up your files, you should go to that option and follow the prompts for a full recovery of your system which should restore it to its original factory settings. Besides backing up files, you should make sure that you make note of any special settings you have for your internet connection and any other applications you use since you'll be starting from scratch once you reformat. You might want to download whatever setup file you need for that anti virus software you intend to use and save that to a cd or the external hard drive if you go that route, as well or if not make that the first thing you do after you reformat and get your pc going again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Actor87 Posted July 8, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 8, 2008 Downloaded ESET. Found 42 infiltrations. Computer went black. Now, I can move my mouse but it won't let me click ANYTHING. Be back soon yall. Gotta get my computer doctored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.