Need advice on Cleaning a PC of Malware

jdelrio22

Member
Feb 14, 2006
172
0
0
Today I found out someone was trying to log in to one of my accounts. I am fairly certain this happened because of a PC at home.

I will be running Malware bytes and AvG tonight but I would like some input on other security flaws and things I should be looking for. The other people that use this PC have previously installed software from shady sites like Firstrow.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,558
248
106
If it's really bad, just back up personal data and re-install the OS. How do you think the data got from their PC to yours? If through the network, you may want to do a fresh install of the firmware on the router, to wipe whatever allowed it to come over. But hopefully it was just a flash drive or email. But if you can, I highly recommend finding where it came from. It could very well end up coming right back if you don't.

If wiping the drive is not an option, at least delete the user account it is most likely coming from. I would do this second thing (after necessary backups). It will make the rest of the process go alot faster.

Something like Kaspersky rescue disk can be good if it is really bad, since it runs outside the infected OS. You may want to remove the hard drive and run some antivirus from another computer. You will still want to run antimalware from within the OS, but this is another step that should make the entire process much faster.

Some of the things I listed are for a worst case scenario. Maybe you won't need to go that far. But I will just say that the latest Malware removals I have done have been pretty bad, much worse than I remember from years gone by, so I thought I would go ahead and share it all in one post.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,295
1,040
136
Malwarebytes Chameleon and Anti-Rootkit Beta are also two very good utilities to try as well. Running Chameleon installs a protected driver which prevents malware from terminating your Malwarebytes scan session.
 

Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
6,292
62
91
As an aside, I would run whatever AV you use multiple times. I worked on an infected computer (older folks who click on every popup box...) and ran a rotation of MBAM, SAS, and SpyBot about 5 times each... each pass pulled more stuff out. I ran them until it came clean.

You may want to remove the hard drive and run some antivirus from another computer.

Interesting... hadn't thought of that.
 

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
617
121
Bleepingcomputer.com has all sorts of stuff. I would use ADwcleaner, Junkware Removal Tool and TDSSkileer. Then I would boot a live disk of Bitdefeder rescue disk. Just be sure your computer is connected to the Internet so that Bitdefender can get its signatures.

Why people say Ccleaner removes malware on every computer forum on the Internet I'll never know. But if you use Ccleaner, SystemNinja is a good temp file cleaner companion. It will find stuff Ccleaner can't.

Once the machine is clean, I would have everyone use Sandboxie. Check it out. They have a forum.
 

Ettitt

Member
Jan 18, 2016
47
2
21
I suggest you to reinstall your operating system. It would be the best and safe option. In few days ago I faced same kind of problem. I had tried with my antivirus but it was not so much effective.
 
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AronRaynott

Junior Member
Feb 27, 2017
1
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1
yes, i am facing the same problem and i am doing the sane thing to solve this problem. but the problem is doing it often is very tiring. on the other hand, installation of antivirus program slow down the pc's overall performance. is there any effective and efficient way to solve this problem instead of improving the memory capacity of the PC?
 

TechWiz365

Member
Feb 11, 2015
26
0
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If you are sharing PCs with other people, make sure to login using separate Windows accounts.

Always use a secure password, maintain antivirus software, I recommend Avast. And encrypt the data on your hard drive.
 

MontoyaP

Junior Member
Jan 24, 2013
5
0
61
I recommend you BitDefender. You can use it as a trial for 30 days, enough time to cleanup your computer. You can have a look at this top of you need additional ideas.

Another underrated antimalware product is HitMan Pro. You can use it for free for two weeks if I correctly remember. I had a very pleasant experience with that product.

After multiple cleanup attempts with Malwarebytes, I was forced to try another tool. I used HitManPro (trial) and I found about 10 different malware, undetected until that moment.

Malwarebytes tried multiple times to delete the dangerous files, then reported the computer as a clean one. In a day or two, after a rescan with Malwarebytes the threats appear again. So, the main problem was in another location, a malware (undetected by Malwarebytes) which generates new threats. As I told you, I solved my problems with HitManPro.

Please, add your solution here, once you cleanup your computer. Your solution could be helpful for others. Thanks!