Malware issues?

[Exospeed]

First off this is an issue my mom is having with her computer. It has been an ongoing issue for a couple years now.
In the past, She kept getting some virus or malware that re-directs her to other websites that she is not interested it viewing. This was on her Dell Inspiron 530 running XP.
I reformatted her HDD around 10 times, and set her up as I have my pc set up. I have the same PC, using avast free AV, malwarebytes, and spybot SD.
I have never had any issues, and she always has issues. The last time she got pissed and decided to buy a new PC.
She bought a Dell inspiron 660 that runs windows 8.
Now her computer defiantly has malware. Her Hotmail account was hacked and taken over, paypal wont allow her to go to their site, it give her a "your pc is compromised" type of error, and she gets redirected to other sites every now and then.

I plan on reformatting her HDD on the new computer and installing windows 7 instead of the 8 it came with. I will install the programs I listed above again as well...

My question is, is there anything else I can do to prevent this from happening to her computer any more?

I think we finally narrowed down where she is being compromised from. She just admitted that she goes on google news and sometimes the news story she clicks on takes her to "some obscure website". I told her never to use google news again and on almost every news site be careful of what stories she's clicking on because some are not real stories, they are crap.


One other thing, but I don't think its possible is that my brother lives with my parents and who knows what he's downloading. could her pc be infected by something he DL's? they are not on a shared network where the PC's can talk to eachother.
The layout is like this:
wire into house to modem, modem to router, router to his pc / router to her pc / router to spare pc.
The only pc that seems to be infected (every time) is my moms pc. the spare pc is there for my daughter to use since my parents baby sit for us.

Any ideas would be helpful as I'm getting frustrated that I have to keep fixing her pc...

[Wallabing]

She or someone could be visiting the same infected website and getting infected all over agian.

[Business_Man]

install admuncher on her computer. It removes junk when surfing the internet. It gets rid of links and ads that redirect you virus,spyware,etc. I installed it on the family computer because when they use it they click on ads and always infect the computer. also you can equip her computer with spywareblaster it protects the computer from future infections.

[Dantedamean]

She or someone could be visiting the same infected website and getting infected all over agian.

This. If it's a reoccurring issue after a full reformat then it's somthing external. A infected drive or website.

[RamonSJC]

Malwarebytes + a good virus scan. Once infected always infected

[stilly]

Malwarebytes + a good virus scan. Once infected always infected

+1 and this crap is my specialty.

First though, you should let anyone that uses the comp that just clicks on whatever **** they think they need to click on know how LUCKY they are that they have not gotten hit with cryptowall yet. THAT is nasty.

Secondly, time to lock down things.
1. Make another account with hername, but with an A at the end and make THAT account an administrator, then downgrade HER normal account to be a user. That will cut down on SOME infections.
2. Install the MVP HOSTS file, grab spybot and malware bytes.
3. Wanna get real nasty? look for a program called DEEP FREEZE and install that, then once the system is setup, FREEZE it, when it gets used ANYTHING that is installed gets wiped out on next boot...

There are also several virtualization programs taht allow you to install and ALWAYS run the browser in them, so whatever **** she tracks to the comp gets wiped out on browser closing.

I just grabbed two or three the other night, ONE is called CAMEO, another is EVALAZE or something- Here is a site:

http://malwaretips.com/threads/best-free-sandbox-virtualization-software.4907/

Give it a shot, it might some those last few hairs on your head.

[Exospeed]

Awesome advice everyone!!!

I will be giving these a shot this weekend when I work on her PC. I have it sitting in my garage so she doesn't do any more damage. I think the Deep Freeze option would be very helpful with her situation.

Unfortunately her PC has windows8 installed on a separate partition, so they did not give her a windows 8 disk like the old pc's used to come with. I had her buy a new windows 7 disk at walmart, and I DL'ed the win7 drivers for her PC to my flash drive so I will be wiping the slate clean Sat. morning and starting fresh.

[SMR510]

You can DL the ISO for any version of windows you want, no need to buy another copy.

She must be going somewhere over and over that keeps infecting the computer.

[American Samurai]

quit going to porn sites

[sarabellum]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/

[stilly]

Awesome advice everyone!!!

I will be giving these a shot this weekend when I work on her PC. I have it sitting in my garage so she doesn't do any more damage. I think the Deep Freeze option would be very helpful with her situation.

Unfortunately her PC has windows8 installed on a separate partition, so they did not give her a windows 8 disk like the old pc's used to come with. I had her buy a new windows 7 disk at walmart, and I DL'ed the win7 drivers for her PC to my flash drive so I will be wiping the slate clean Sat. morning and starting fresh.

For a while I saw several WINDOWS 8 pcs coming with a downgrade license to Win 7... You should double check yours and see if it is one like that, then you can take back your windows 7 and save some money.

Deep Freeze is only $45 online from Faronics for the standard version.

We have Enterprise at work, it is used on the library computers and judg by the list, a LOT of other public computers. I think it is similar to a program that used to be called PC armour or something like that.

[Beatone]

Some good info here.

[Exospeed]

For a while I saw several WINDOWS 8 pcs coming with a downgrade license to Win 7... You should double check yours and see if it is one like that, then you can take back your windows 7 and save some money.

Deep Freeze is only $45 online from Faronics for the standard version.

We have Enterprise at work, it is used on the library computers and judg by the list, a LOT of other public computers. I think it is similar to a program that used to be called PC armour or something like that.

There are a couple questions I have about Deep Freeze that I couldn't find on their website.
1 - Is the $45 a one time deal or is it per year?
2 - can you call and order a disk or are all installs done online only?

[carval23]

Here's how I clean the computers at work when they have been attacked with Malware/Adware:
1. Run Kaspersky Rescue Disc 10. This is a Live CD so Windows is not loaded during the clean up which makes it easier for it to find the virus. Make sure you update the database first before scanning. Here's the link: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses...disk#downloads
2. Next, download Revo Uninstaller. You can use the trial version. Uninstall the programs you think is suspicious. This is pretty much just using your common sense to know which one would be a suspicious program or not. Just use the trial version: http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_..._download.html
3. Download Hitman Pro. This will Scan, Repair and Clean your computer from Adware.
4. Download JRT(Junkware Removal Tool). This cleans your computer from Junkware including infections in your Registry keys.
5. Lastly, run Malwarebytes. This will remove all the Malware.
6. Then uninstall the crap Antivirus your mom is using and install Comodo Antivirus instead. Just download the free one. I swear by this. When you have this on your computer, it'll pretty much be protected like a tank. Nothing can infect it after unless she downloads a one day virus.

Common mistake people do is they just run one program without knowing that these viruses/Trojans/Worms/Adware/Junkware/Malware hide so best to run different programs with different purpose. Run it twice just to be on the safe side. I do.

This is a fool proof FREE way of cleaning a PC without wiping it off. Good luck!

[bg]

I've been dealing with stuff like this as well. First when loading "free"
software programs, ALWAYS choose CUSTOM INSTALL instead of
EXPRESS INSTALL. This way YOU choose what's loaded on your
pc. Next I use a number of programs from Combofix to R.KILL
to JTR.EXE as well as Malwarebytes, Super Anti Spyware, and
adwcleaner that help keep my pc's and lappy's happy.

One of the best free programs is WinPatrol. When loaded, it
will scan new software programs that may try and change your
settings and a small "dog' will bark warning you so. It gives
you the choice to allow the change or keep things as they
are. It has helped me a number of times. I use MSS for the
anti-virus program. I only use File Hippo or Major Geeks
for downloading programs if possible. If not I research
the other sites searching for hidden booby traps. I never
pay for any software. Another great site is Bleeping
Computers.com and Geeks To Go.com

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEwQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffilehippo.com%2Fen%2Fdownload_winpatrol&ei=RHQ_VPv3B8KCjALt8YCwCw&usg=AFQjCNFeIjDeSpf6aKZentjFri84fOtsPA&bvm=bv.77648437,d.cGE

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/windows/security/

1. AdwCleaner
2. ComboFix
3. Junkware Removal Tool
4. RKill
5. TDSSKiller