Infected!

[Mudderoy]

http://www.diamondcs.com.au/freeutilities/regprot.gif

Well I was looking at a link in facebook and I got one of those FAKE anti-virus warnings. I ctrl-F4'd out of each window and thought I was ok. Maybe I was and something else happened later, dunno.

Later I was in Firefox and using StumbleUpon and a popup on my taskbar showed up FAKE ANTI-VIRUS thing, and a IE window popped up simulating a anti-virus scan. When things start popping up in your taskbar, that's bad. That means something has been installed on your Windows computer and your infected. Technically this is a MALWARE program.

Anyway I closed Firefox with several ALT-F4s and left the pop up window alone that was asking me if I wanted to install the anti-virus software. I mean it had a YES/NO button, but they both could have been set to install the program.

I dug around in the taskmanager and killed off some running programs I didn't recognize. I got lucky.

I ran a MALWAREBYTES scan and it found 5 infections.

The way most, if not all, malware works is they in-bed themselves in the windows startup. This is in the windows registry. I was digging around and found this, regprot. It's a program that monitors changes to the windows registry and asks you for permission before adding anything. I don't know how well it works, but I just installed it and thought so of you might benefit from it as well, Mel.

:link: (http://www.diamondcs.com.au/freeutilities/regprot.php)

It looks like you'll need to extract it to a folder and then copy a shortcut to your startup folder.

When you first run it, it will ask you if you want to allow xxx to run at startup. If you click "NO" then it will be removed from the windows startup! Be careful with this because programs that you want to be there may not run when you reboot and you'll be wondering why.

The best thing to do is lookup, via Google for example, what each program is. You'll just need to look up the xxxxx.exe part. Like Wservice.exe.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Basically if I had this thing running I would have been asked if I wanted to let the malware program run during start up. I would have said NO and even though I would have still be infected, a reboot should have killed the running maleware and it shouldn't be able to start back up. That's my theory anyway. I'll have to wait and see if I get infected again.

I'm going to put this on all the computers in the house. Hopefully it will save me hours of fixing stuff in the future.

[Mudderoy]

http://xjtalk.com/images/special/rpadmin.jpg

Update! The zip file has a program called RPADMIN.EXE. Just run that and you can use it to install regprot to your windows startup.

[Melissa]

Thanks Muddy, I'm going to install that!!!!

[BlueXJ]

Wow just replaced a crashed hard drive and installed Norton Antivirus hope it keeps the bad stuff at bay.

[Indiana Jeep]

Been using a Mac for about 4 years now. Haven't had to worry about things like this since I switched over.

[4.3LXJ]

:D:D Another satisfied Apple customer!

[DETOURS]

I think us simple folks should just allow Mudd to take over our compukers!

[Melissa]

I think us simple folks should just allow Mudd to take over our compukers!

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rickgmi]

Go get Avast virus ware.. get rid of any nortons of mcfees you might have there junk and cost money ..Avast is the best I have found even better then AVG and its free, download it install it and download then boot in to safe mode, F8 and run the program on your hard drives, it will take care of most if not all the things out there..

[TeXJ]

Im starting to hear more and more about Avast.

[Mudderoy]

Im starting to hear more and more about Avast.

Yeah I don't like it. They have an animated icon in the task bar that drives me nuts. I see it when playing full screen online games. I couldn't find a way to disable it.

[daurwid]

I do not recommend any PAY for software for anti-virus purposes. Most utilize entirely too many resources and cause your computer to slow down.

I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (ya know the guys who wrote Windows) since it's FREE!

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

It catches more items than all the other anti-virus programs I've used in the past: Avast, McaFFee, Norton & Symantec, AVG, etc.

I do use two other programs that stop your computer from attempting to open up bad websites if you use the immunization features in them:

SpywareBlaster from Javacoolsoftware:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

SpyBot Search & Destroy:
http://www.safer-networking.org/

Also: all those toolbars you install with almost every piece of software you download, yeah those are bad too! They will open websites, monitor sites you are on and possibly render Internet Explorer inert.

I hope this helps others in need.

[TeXJ]

im using Panda right now, I've seen some really good reviews on. So we'll see how it goes.



On microsoft, there is just something not right about a company that causes the holes in their software and then has a program to avoid those holes....

[Mikentucky72]

I would just like to learn how to remove these pop ups that say"ads by google" from this forum. My pop up blocker is running fine on all other websites I have been to. What gives? I understand that advertising is a source of revenue for the host but that thing is so damn annoying when scrolling thru posts and such. I still love this site though. Jeepin' on down! Mike Kenney

[Mudderoy]

I would just like to learn how to remove these pop ups that say"ads by google" from this forum. My pop up blocker is running fine on all other websites I have been to. What gives? I understand that advertising is a source of revenue for the host but that thing is so damn annoying when scrolling thru posts and such. I still love this site though. Jeepin' on down! Mike Kenney

Thanks for the feedback Mike. Only guest and new members with 10, or less, posts see it. After your 10th post it should go away. I'm really sorry we have to advertise at all. I hope you stick with us. :thumbsup:

[BlueXJ]

:D:D Another satisfied Apple customer!

Apples are for pies and applesauce.:rotfl2:

[Mikentucky72]

Okay Roy, will do sir. Does this count as a post?

[4.3LXJ]

Apples are for pies and applesauce.:rotfl2:

And trouble free net surfing:D

[Mudderoy]

Okay Roy, will do sir. Does this count as a post?

Yes sir it does. Most all the sections will count. I see you are at 6 right now.

[msmoorenburg]

One of my favorite spam/virus removal tools is called stinger http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ it will help you get back the task manager and the registry :thumbsup:

[BlueXJ]

Anyone know anything about Mac Airbooks. Wife wants to try one as her next laptop. Since we are talking about viruses and they are supposed to be virus free.

[4.3LXJ]

Blue

She might be happier with the regular lap top. The air book was designed to be light and carried around easier. It is thinner and more travel friendly. But it does not do as much or have the capability of the lap top. For instance, I can plug in an external monitor up to 24" and have the proper resolution. Also, if you want to play a CD or DVD you will need the MacBook or the Pro. I have the Pro that I take traveling with me. It has everything. Blue Tooth, Air Port, Camera, it will run external speakers etc. It is quite powerful and does it all. The MacBook Air is more of a working persons computer designed to be used on air planes or in a class room.

[toebee97]

Anyone know anything about Mac Airbooks. Wife wants to try one as her next laptop. Since we are talking about viruses and they are supposed to be virus free.
Macs aren't virus free, but there are almost no viruses being made for the OSX platform, mostly because 85% of the market share is Windows. If more people could actually afford Apple products (they generally cost twice as much as a hardware comparable Windows machine), I guarantee there would be a rise in OSX viruses that would directly correlate with the rise in ownership. Not saying Macs are bad computers, but they aren't virus-proof either.

As far as AV programs go, I have been using Avast free version for years, and have not had a single virus or malware infection. It's set to do a boot-time scan everytime the PC turns on, but it never finds anything because the real-time scanner catches everything. I don't even notice the animated icon in the system tray anymore, and even if I did it's a small price to pay for a top-shelf AV program that's free.

[4.3LXJ]

Macs aren't virus free, but there are almost no viruses being made for the OSX platform, mostly because 85% of the market share is Windows. If more people could actually afford Apple products (they generally cost twice as much as a hardware comparable Windows machine), I guarantee there would be a rise in OSX viruses that would directly correlate with the rise in ownership. Not saying Macs are bad computers, but they aren't virus-proof either.

There is another huge factor with Windose that makes them attract hackers. All the major apps are made to be hacked while operating. This is a marketing ploy so that just about anyone can start a computer business, purchase database creation software and start making custom apps for business, walk in and just install it while everything is running. The Mac OS can be hacked, but it is much more difficult since everything runs off memory instead of a hard drive and it has to be shut down to change the operating system. So it is not just a popularity, it is a design feature that makes Windose such a target.

[toebee97]

...mostly because 85% of the market share is Windows.
I stand corrected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows

As of October 2009, Windows had approximately 91% of the market share of the client operating systems for usage on the Internet.

[bluedragon436]

Well I just got done running a virus scan on an updated Nortons... and then did some Windows updates... and something conflicted with Nortons..... so I uninstalled Nortons and installed the new AVG 2011... and it was amazing.... did a full system scan on it, and it found some virus' and other items that have been sitting for a while... like before I uninstalled the Nortons.... and even before I did the full system scan through Nortons... so I am guessing that the new version of AVG might actually be picking up in quality compared to earlier versions... and one day I should stop being cheap and actually get a purchased full blown version....

[toebee97]

You can use both norton and avg to do scans if you want to be double covered. You just can't have them both enabled at the same time obviously, otherwise they'll conflict.

Sent via Perception by DesignGears

[bluedragon436]

oh I know... but it was a way old version of Nortons... had just been keeping it updated so I had some coverage.... but figured I would go ahead and go with what I know which is AVG...