virus

[Kerplow]

So I seem to have contracted some sort of computer virus today. I did a system restore and that seemed to fix it for a couple hours but now its haywire again. I've run free AVG in safe mode and still no dice. System restore no longer works. It seems like any exe I try to run says its infected and cannot be run. The stupid windows security alert thing tells me I have a bunch of malware and trojans but refuses to do anything about it unless I buy the license.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[NSR500]

Mount your computer with a Linux live disk and move your files to an external hdd. Then format and reimage your machine.
That's the best way to ensure you have a 100% secure PC afterwards.

[NSR500]

BTW... Stop going to VHMG porn sites and you won't get viruses.

[Kerplow]

That's the worst part! I was on your cowboy love site that you swore was safe! actually it was some stupid pop up to play frogger that I should knew better than to click.

Okay, I have no idea wtf mounting to a linux live cd entails. I tried to get an external hard drive today but frys was closed by the time I got there.

Can I not just back up the files I want to the ehd and the reformat the hd and reload windows?

I'm down to try the linux thing if A: the software doesn't cost an arm of a leg, and B: someone can splain to me how to work it without a bs in puter science.

[NSR500]

Linux is free...

You can just backup to the external HDD with Windows, but I advise against it. Sometimes the virus is set to infect drives that attach to the computer. If you plug the drive in while running your infected OS, you can infect the external HDD too. Then when you reimage your machine and plug the external HDD back, it'll re-infect the machine.
Just download Ubuntu, burn it to disk, boot it up in your machine, and plug in the external HDD. It'll pretty much be straightforward in the way it operates. Linux is no longer that complicated.

BTW... No refunds on the Cowboy Love site.

[Ricky-Ray]

Sounds like you've been infected with some type of Malware. On a different computer go to www.malwarebytes.org and download malwarebytes and save it to something like a CD or usb drive. Boot up the infected computer into safe mode and then install malwarebytes. Run a scan and remove any malware it detects. Hopefully that will fix it.

[JDay]

So I seem to have contracted some sort of computer virus today. I did a system restore and that seemed to fix it for a couple hours but now its haywire again. I've run free AVG in safe mode and still no dice. System restore no longer works. It seems like any exe I try to run says its infected and cannot be run. The stupid windows security alert thing tells me I have a bunch of malware and trojans but refuses to do anything about it unless I buy the license.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

That's because it's not the right one (might even be the virus). In any case you probably should backup your important documents and reinstall.

You want this one. http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

[JDay]

Get an Ubuntu Live CD, boot it, copy your files to the external when you get it and then boot the Windows DVD and do a format/reinstall.

http://www.ubuntu.com

[Kerplow]

Thanks for the input guys, gonna go get an external HD after work get her done.

[Corbin Dallas]

You don't need to wipe your PC, you need to clean it.

Malware bytes is a great one to download and run as a bootable CD.

Another good one is Avira rescue CD - Download here

Burn to CD then boot from it. Follow the on screen instructions and it will find a good amount of viruses for you without actually booting your system.

[Gallows]

I had this same problem. Actually I think you got the same virus I did. All I did was open up AVG and ran an update. Fixed the problem right then.

[Kerplow]

Thanks for the input guys, gonna go get an external HD after work get her done.

[NSR500]

You don't need to wipe your PC, you need to clean it.

Malware bytes is a great one to download and run as a bootable CD.

Another good one is Avira rescue CD - Download here

Burn to CD then boot from it. Follow the on screen instructions and it will find a good amount of viruses for you without actually booting your system.

This approach will work. The issue I have with it is "Trust". There is no guarantee the system is no longer compromised which is why I just re-image a machine.

[Kerplow]

so i had my roommate DL Ubuntu but i only have dvd-r cds. my puter has a dvd drive, will that work?

also, i assume i need to access the boot menu and run the Ubuntu cd before the OS has a chance to load?

[cpt_majestic]

This approach will work. The issue I have with it is "Trust". There is no guarantee the system is no longer compromised which is why I just re-image a machine.

Yep I couldn't agree more. I deal with these all the time, and the time you spend trying to clean it up you could just back up the data and reformat the drive and then reinstall applications. This way you know for a fact the problem is fixed.

Virus creators (scumbags) are getting more cleaver by the day. I had an audio virus on a machine the other day, the first one I've ever seen. As you're using the machine low volume ads were playing in the background, porn, rental cars, real estate, you name it. I ended up formatting it and it was back up in operation within hours. The female user was very happy.