Virus Removal

[Thanee]

In the past I would have agreed...but you can get a new PC for what these days? $300-$400?

I'm getting a new PC next week... but it costs a weeeeee bit more. *whistles innocently*

Also ordered one for my dad, because his computer was really in the state, where Windows had to be completely redone from scratch, and the time to do that wasn't really worth it anymore... that one is in the above price range (ok, slightly above, because we chose a Sandy Bridge platform instead of an old Athlon to be "future proof", but not dramatically).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Umbran]

EricNoah's solution worked well. I want to add a little bit of what I did, because it may be important...

For malware of this type, if your computer is connected to the internet, the malware can often resurrect itself if you don't get absolutely everything. However, when you download Malwarebytes Anti-Malare, it may need to be updated, which requires an internet connection. So, my process went thusly:

Boot up in safe mode, without network connectivity. Run rkill. Install Malarebytes. Run it as is.

Boot up in safe mode, with network connectivity. Update Malwarebytes. Run it again.

Boot up a third time, without network connectivity. Run Malwarebytes a third time.

(I should note, I ran Malwarebytes a fourth time, but caught nothing new, and decided to test if it was clear by booting it up normally.)

My wife's computer is now behaving normally, no signs of infection.

 

[Rhun]

Well done, Umbran! I've had those types of viruses before, and they suck to remove. Thanks for posting how you did it. It may well come in handy.

 

[mac1504]

A good insurance policy is to make an image of your system using software such as Symantec's Ghost or an open-source (and free!) version such as Clonezilla. Back the image up to a removable drive, and when your system gets hosed, just wipe it and restore with the saved image. The downside is you have to keep your image up to date, but you'll have the peace of mind of a clean system with all of your drivers, applications and data restored.

 

[Umbran]

Something that came to mind reading this thread:

Your typical windows laptop doesn't ship with media for the Windows operating system - the OS is preloaded. Folks have recommended the "fresh install" method, without seeming to note that this requires a certain amount of forethought in buying, and probably a significant expense (a couple hundred bucks, if I recall correctly) to have that media. That's assuming the CD hasn't gone missing in the years since the laptop was purchased.

 

[IronWolf]

Something that came to mind reading this thread:

Your typical windows laptop doesn't ship with media for the Windows operating system - the OS is preloaded. Folks have recommended the "fresh install" method, without seeming to note that this requires a certain amount of forethought in buying, and probably a significant expense (a couple hundred bucks, if I recall correctly) to have that media. That's assuming the CD hasn't gone missing in the years since the laptop was purchased.

Most new PCs should have a tool included with it to create your system restore disks when you receive it. Most of them nag you about creating these disks shortly after booting the system for the first time. Some machines also have a recovery partition for such things. And in some cases you can call the manufacturer and request a media kit, though they will typically charge you for this it is generally less expensive than buying a retail copy of Windows.

 

[ggroy]

My present desktop is one of those $300-$400 bottom of the line machines, which I bought around 9 months ago. The operating system was preloaded.

Once the hard drive crashes after the warranty expires, I'm not even going to bother trying to salvage or fix it. I'll just buy a new machine instead.

In general, I don't keep anything important on the hard drive. If a particular email, document, etc ... is important enough, I'll print it out. For digital photographs I want to keep, I'll get them printed out at the local photography store. (Less expensive than spending cash on several color printer ink cartridges). For other data I need to keep (such as work related stuff), I'll back it up on several flash drives.

Otherwise, I won't miss most of the stuff on my hard drive if it crashes.

 

[Thanee]

Your typical windows laptop doesn't ship with media for the Windows operating system...

I havn't seen a single one, yet, which did not have at least a system recovery partition (most have a system recovery disk or both).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Umbran]

I havn't seen a single one, yet, which did not have at least a system recovery partition (most have a system recovery disk or both).

My wife's did not come with a system recovery disk, that I can assure you.

And, since they don't do diddly-squat to educate you about how to use a system recovery partition, by the time you need it (say, when your computer keeps popping up browser windows advertising anti-virus scans), it is pretty much worthless.

It isn't like I'm a technology idiot. Just a couple years ago, I was opening up desktop machines to swap in new cpu chips and so on. Just a couple months ago, I broke down my wife's laptop, swapped out the mousepad, and reassembled it (on the Dell Inspiron line, this is not a trivial procedure). I can follow technical instructions quite well.

The difference is that Dell makes finding instructions on how to swap out hardware readily accessible. But instructions on how to recover from viruses? Not so easy to locate.

 

[IronWolf]

My wife's did not come with a system recovery disk, that I can assure you.

All the systems I have seen come through our place of business have typically nagged one to create the disk if they were not shipped with the machine. One I worked on just last week nagged me to create one and we even had he media kit sent with it. It even nagged me after I created the disks until I acknowledged it was done and to stop nagging me.

And, since they don't do diddly-squat to educate you about how to use a system recovery partition, by the time you need it (say, when your computer keeps popping up browser windows advertising anti-virus scans), it is pretty much worthless.

When I have needed to look up proper use of a system recovery partition I can usually find he info on the support site of the vendor or in their support forums.

Why would the system recovery partition be worthless once a malware issue presents itself? The system recovery partition is supposed to take you back to what the computer looked like when you purchased it.

The difference is that Dell makes finding instructions on how to swap out hardware readily accessible. But instructions on how to recover from viruses? Not so easy to locate.

It is hard to write directions for removing a virus. Th playing field changes on a daily basis. What works today, quite possibly won't work tomorrow. Malware remove advice tends to be best a support forum of the current go to cleanup tool. And even this changes over time.