Firstly, if you guys know any good anti-virus/spyware support forums, recommendation would be great. If you have experience with removing troublesome viruses/spyware, please read on: So, I was having some virus issues on my personal computer, and the virus had locked my McAfee up completely (it wouldn't even open). So after unsuccessfully trying to run some virus tests with various programs, I decided to scan it as a removable USB harddrive with the family computer. Found out the family computer has a completely different virus, that is also disabling McAfee (just the virus scanning this time), and hasn't run an automatic scan for the past two months. Also disabled: Spybot. And most virus/spyware I've tried to install wouldn't work. (HijackThis installed, but I haven't run it yet.) Two months for a full time college student - you can see why system restore may not be an option. One of the viruses seemed to be a suspicious mset.exe. I used the msconfig to stop it from starting up and deleted it. Reinstalled McAfee, ran a test on one folder. Restarted the computer, McAfee wouldn't scan again. "Scanning has encountered a problem from which it cannot recover. Here are the problem details: -Error starting On Demand Scanner" Suspicious mset still gone. But I do have some fear that I may have deleted a needed mset. Would running my XP disc and hit repair be a good idea, just in case? Still have firewall. Virus(es) isn't malicious, or causing slow down that I've noticed - so it/they really wouldn't technically a problem, but not having a virus scanner is scary as hell, and I've been experiencing more and more troubles with usage. Now, Google doesn't work right. When I use Google (the only good search engine, these days, if you ask me), it doesn't always take me to the links I click. In fact, it is far more likely to redirect me to one of many spam sites (including yahoo sites and ask.com sites). This almost invariably causes Firefox (3.5.3) to crash - or Internet Explorer (8.0.6001) to freeze. Major pain in the ass. Any suggestions? If any of you have experience with HijackThis - I will try to post a log.
www.techguy.org Please read the stickies about how to post your problem. You will need that hijack this log.
I'd almost just download the bitdefender and run it on everything, as one malware scanner\purger isn't going to get everything every time anyway. Kaspersky free trial is also worthwhile for a one off.
Here's what I'd try: Boot into safe mode, run Malware Bytes Anti-Malware, Spybot (if it'll run), Comodo Anti-Virus, Super Anti-Spyware, Trojan Hunter, AVG, etc. Anything legit you can find, boot into safe mode, run it. If you have to install them to a flash drive, use the individual exe files on the flash drive to run them. CCleaner may also help, as you can disable/delete startup entries and fix registry errors from there. Also, MBAM has a tool to delete locked files. So, if a file placed by malware has made itself non-removable, that might be a good bet. Good luck. I wish I could help more, but I can only do so much from a computer chair. Note: These are just basic suggestions.
Awesome Suggestions.. One thing, You might want to state the OS you are currently using. If it's XP or vista I would suggest http://www.rising-global.com/A friend showed me Rising, it just doesn't work on win7 as of yet. Oh yeah http://killbox.net/ Killbox might come in handy too. It deletes files that are in use, just be carefull that the file is a legit part of your sys cause you'd be in for some real headaches. And remember when fixing registry errors, registry backups are a lifesaver.
Well, the troubles are over. The computer basically stopped running it got so bad, so I compressed everything needed and put it on my harddrive (the bigger one) and just reformatted and reinstalled. The only reason I didn't bother to update the thread is I thought it would go away =P McAfee, Spybot, Malwarebytes, AVG, CCleaner and a few other things I tried wouldn't work in normal or safemode. Sometimes they would install, but not run, sometimes the installation wouldn't even open. I had already blocked any suspicious items from starting up, so it has me pretty stumped still - just be warned that there are some mean viruses getting out these days =P Thanks everyone.
While undoubtedly it was frustrating, it’s always a sense of relief and satisfaction when you finally figure it out and the computer is running better than ever Hotwater
Oh hell yes there are some mean viruses out there, this time last year I downloaded one that jumped through the network infecting every device. It took disconnecting all the devices and complete sanitation of each individual computer before the house got back online.
