Virus Removal

[Umbran]

So, inspired by the fact that my wife's computer has gotten infected (with something of the "my web browsers now keep popping up alters telling me my computer is infected, trying to get me to run scans" variety)...

What are your favorite virus detection and removal tools?

 

[Rhun]

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is my favorite.

I also use AVG anti-virus on my PC at home (since it is free), and we use Kaspersky anti-virus here at work.

 

[EricNoah]

I have to do this a lot at my job. Assuming we're talking Windows here...

First, I like to start in Safe Mode. Different computers do it differently, try pressing F8, F10, F12 or F2 at startup.

Second, I run rkill.com from a flash drive to stop any suspicious running processes. http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com

Third, I install and run Malwarebytes AntiMalware from a flash drive. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

This procedure usually takes care of the problems of this variety.

Occasionally I still need to go into IE Internet Options and look for a leftover bit of browser hijacking stuff, usually under Connections / LAN Settings/ Proxy Server and uncheck "use a proxy server."

 

[IronWolf]

Yeah - start with Malware Bytes. It does pretty good.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Sounds like one of those "false antivirus program" viruses. This procedure basically replicates Eric's, above, but has links to the software as well.

How To Remove Antivirus Live and Other Rogue/Fake Antivirus Malware - How-To Geek

 

[ggroy]

I've done what Eric outlined several times in the recent past.

As a preventative measure I also run an ad blocker on Firefox, such AdBlock.

I also turn off the java scripting on Firefox by default, unless a particular web page really requires it to be on. For example, I temporarily turn on the scripting whenever I'm posting on ENWorld. Posting on ENWorld with the scripting turned off, is somewhat awkward.

Since I'm not using IE for my regular web browsing, I turn off the scripting by default and all the proxy stuff Eric mentioned.

 

[ggroy]

On my machine at home when I'm websurfing, I'm in the habit of running a "quick scan" on the "Microsoft Security Essentials" (MSE) program usually around once or twice every hour. (It takes around two minutes to finish on my machine running Windows 7). I also run MSE on the "Users" directory on my machine around once an hour. (It takes around 5-6 minutes to finish).

I'm also in the habit of running CCleaner after I'm finished using any web browser program. It deletes all the temporary data the browsers and several other programs leave behind on the disk (ie. cache, cookies, etc ...).

 

[Thunderfoot]

AVG and CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) - also, I use Spybot as a back-up to the above two if I feel something is amiss. So far, so good. Also, I run Firefox instead of Internet Exploiter. Since Microborg has exploited Firefox, it isn't as safe as it used to be, but it's still better than IE.

 

[Janx]

Yeah - start with Malware Bytes. It does pretty good.

Except malwarebytes googles up as malware. Ive had to fix machines with that product on it. I dont trust it.

The fastest way to fix an infected box is to reformat the drive and reinstall. Copy off the data and scan it on another pc. Much less work and far more trustworthy.

AVG Is another product known to cause issues. At this point i dont trust any product that isnt backed by a major corp i can sue.

 

[IronWolf]

Except malwarebytes googles up as malware. Ive had to fix machines with that product on it. I dont trust it.

Hhmmm, it is pretty mainstream:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

It is possible someone at times has poisoned some search results though.

The fastest way to fix an infected box is to reformat the drive and reinstall. Copy off the data and scan it on another pc. Much less work and far more trustworthy.

Not sure about fastest, but definitely the most certain way.

AVG Is another product known to cause issues. At this point i dont trust any product that isnt backed by a major corp i can sue.

AVG seems to be hit or miss. I ran it for a good long while with no real issues. I do believe they have had some odd false positives here and there that cause a few issues.

Relly, no malware scanner or AV scanner is 100% accurate. It can take a couple of tools sometimes to get a clean machine. I have another tool in my back pocket that hasn't failed me yet, but I tend to not recommend it until last resort before formatting as it is pretty aggressive in clean up.