Software (Virus-esc)

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 26 Jan 2007, 09:57

I'm having a bit of a problem here. I have an expired Malware/Virus cleaner that only holds programs and another anti-virus program (McAfee) that world pretty well but doesn't detect deeper problems. I have things like Mediaplex and Zlob trojans and something to do with register keys on here and I'm wondering how much should I worry about them. ( The first one though tracks my internet browsing

)

Is there a place where I can get a good remover without having to sign up and pay? At the moment I can't pay for anything and I'm really being careful now that I scanned through numerous times today and saw quite a few infected files. I'm a noobish when it comes to viruses and all so any help is good.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 26 Jan 2007, 17:17

Avast! is good but I think that the only way that you could get a good cleaner without paying is by unmentionable means that I can't talk about on the forums

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 26 Jan 2007, 21:39

S2000_Skyline12 wrote:Avast! is good but I think that the only way that you could get a good cleaner without paying is by unmentionable means that I can't talk about on the forums

I see where you are probably leading to, is there any way I can go and manually clean some of this stuff? I have already gotten rid of some malware but this mediaplex is the one I'm worried about the most. My computer seems to be running fine and really isn't that much slower or faster than before.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 26 Jan 2007, 22:18

Well if you can scan and find the directory where the virus/malware files are are then you could delete it but you could also try System Restore. I used it to fix my cousin's computer and it worked like a charm but you should (if you can) find and delete the files manually and then try system restore

Dragster · Post by **Dragster** » 26 Jan 2007, 22:33

Stinger
Ad-Aware
Spybot

Google them up

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 26 Jan 2007, 23:07

Spybot is a good malware and spyware cleaner, but it doesn't do jack about viruses. Viruses are the true bad boys that can kill your computer in a heartbeat. I would suggest go with something cheap like AVG (free), and later upgrading it to a full fledged firewall/antivirus suite. Symantec's Norton is pretty good, and so is McAffee.

Bottom line is, if you have a PC connected to the Internet, antivirus and firewall software are absolute musts in today's world. Without them, you expose yourself to unnecessary attacks from the Internet.

vellu · Post by **vellu** » 27 Jan 2007, 01:00

True, one cannot live without them today.

But I'd consider getting a "real" security package with real money, Norton Internet Security or F-Secure Internet Security both offer excellent features in one neat package (firewall, antivirus, antispyware/malware, junk mail filters, rootkit scanning, parental control) and really their cost is well worth it in my opinion (50-60â‚¬ for one year license). There are other similar products out there for about the same price...

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 27 Jan 2007, 01:15

Mcafee Securitycenter is good too it comes with

-Antivirus (Trojans, Adware ,Malware)
-Firewall
-Anti-Abuse
-Spam Killer
-and Siteadvisor (gives an indication on which sites have "red sites and downloads" and which don't)

Jmac- · Post by **Jmac-** » 28 Jan 2007, 05:01

Well, if you just need a virus scanner and remover, but not active protection, Bitdefender 8 works great.

http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-e ... ition.html

My recommendations for security software:

Free:
Anti-Virus - Avira Antivir or AOL Active Virus Shield. Avast! is also good, but it doesn't protect as well as the other 2 I listed, in my experience.
Anti-Spyware - Ad-Aware Personal + Spybot
Firewall - Zone Alarm Free

If you're going to pay, the best value is usually in a security suite. While these suites are usually a "jack of all trades but master of none," they do provide good protection in all areas at a reasonable cost.

My recommendations for paid suites are:

Kaspersky - Low resource consumption, excellent anti-virus, decent firewall, mediocre anti-spyware
NOD32 - Low resource consumption, excellent anti-virus, mediocre anti-spyware, no firewall, false positives
Zone Alarm - Good firewall, good anti-spyware, mediocre anti-virus, relatively high resource consumption
PC-Cillin - Decent anti-virus, decent firewall, decent anti-spyware, excellent anti-spam, decent resource consumption, free 24/7 phone support
F-Secure - Decent anti-virus, decent firewall, good anti-spyware, horrendous resource consumption
Norton - Decent anti-virus, mediocre firewall, mediocre anti-spyware, high resource consumption ... Better than in previous years.
Spysweeper w/ Antivirus - Decent anti-virus, excellent anti-spyware, no firewall

My personal choice is Kaspersky because of its low resource consumption, excellent anti-virus, and low cost (~$30 USD/year).

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 28 Jan 2007, 22:20

Thanks alot of the suggestions everyone, I'm going to start looking over some things pretty soon.

(Oh yeah, I did use to have the Norton Virus program on my old computer but it was installed by a school)

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 29 Jan 2007, 01:26

anyone try spyware doctor ? it seems to work very well

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 01 Feb 2007, 20:17

Oh great, I think I might have something to worry about now. I have something called "Js/Wonka" being detected. I actually went and deleted internet explorer since thats what it came from, I use firefox. Also, I can't access my internet options either in the control panel.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 02 Feb 2007, 01:29

lol... download a Norton trial online...

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 02 Feb 2007, 04:11

Thanks for the attitude.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 02 Feb 2007, 04:42

I was just trying to be helpful.. I wasn't being mean.

S2000_Skyline12 · Post by **S2000_Skyline12** » 02 Feb 2007, 04:42

I think you'll have to hurry up and at least get something before it gets really bad

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 02 Feb 2007, 05:11

I have spybot and it's pretty good for deeper problems so you might want to google for it.

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 04 Feb 2007, 22:16

S2000_Skyline12 wrote:I think you'll have to hurry up and at least get something before it gets really bad

I have been out for a few days so I have had my computer shut down, but I plan to back up all my files to a disc just for safety.

Edit: That Spybot did work pretty well, it deleted alot of the problems. I think I'm going to scan my files later on tonight with my other programs and looks into other suggestions. Although, I have noticed a change in my computers speed.. it was a bit faster before.

darknight788 · Post by **darknight788** » 05 Feb 2007, 06:02

it sounds as if your computer is being bogged down with lots of useless apps. try doing ctrl + alt + delete and see how much commit charge is being used w/o any visible programs running . usually i see anywhere from 160M-250M when there is nothing running and im on desktop.

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 06 Feb 2007, 06:05

Commit Charge: 565M / 2311M.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 06 Feb 2007, 06:07

Wow, thats alot of crap programs...

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 06 Feb 2007, 06:15

Carcrazy wrote:Wow, thats alot of crap programs...

Well ok, I'm guessing I should end them but I don't want to end up doing something even more harmful.

Anything I should take into consideration?

TheNoobofFerraris · Post by **TheNoobofFerraris** » 06 Feb 2007, 20:13

Delete this please.

Carcrazy · Post by **Carcrazy** » 07 Feb 2007, 00:01

Trace their root programs and if you did not install them delete them.

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 07 Feb 2007, 01:29

NO!

A lot of times Windows runs it's services multiple times (I still don't know why). The laptop I'm writing this from is a pure XP Tablet PC edition, with no modifications. I have a commit charge of 500M on it, with a few redundant core processes.

I use a process scanner on my desktop, and I've found that these duplicate instances are not run under the same username. Sometimes it's Local Service, sometimes it's System.

Point is, you should NEVER judge whether a process is a spyware process by looking in the task manager and looking for the program executable. You may be unadvertently deleting system files.