PLEASE HELP!!

[HowardS]

I have a problem with programs either running very slowly or not running at all. I can use Firefox but IE won't run. I have run spyware and antivirus scans but they come up clean. I have tried a couple of online antivirus scans, Housecall and Panda, but gave up when they still hadn't finished after 24 hours. If you need a hijack this log you will have to guide me through it, sorry. Hope someone can help. Thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

You can

1) download HijackThis from http://www.majorgeeks.com/Tren..._HijackThis_d5554.html and save this download on your hard drive somewhere

2) run it, and accept the license terms

3) next, click the button to have it scan and save a logfile

4) post the text out of the logfile in the thread if you want someone to look it over and make suggestions. Don't have HijackThis delete anything until you're sure it's actually bad stuff instead of normal stuff.

Also run a rootkit detection utility such as this one: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Panda_Anti-Rootkit_d5457.html Rootkits hide stuff from you.



Other info that may help:

1) exact type of Windows you have (example: Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, you can find this out by Start > Run > winver).

2) antivirus and antispyware that you have installed right now

3) the names of any viruses or spyware you remember the online scanners finding before you stopped them

4) any possible causes of infection that you could point towards, such as opening a suspicious email attachment, visiting a website that made your system do weird stuff, downloading and running something (if so, what exactly), or whatever.

 

[VinDSL]

A would install Avast! and allow it to run through the initial scanning process (on first reboot).

DOWNLOAD AVAST!

This initial scanning can take several hours, so you might want to install Avast! before going to work, bed, whatever... 😉

 

[VinDSL]

BTW, for Vista users that are already running Avast!

CHECK OUT THE AVIST SKIN ON MY INSTALL

Gets rid of the embarrassingly kludgey default theme... 😉

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
A would install Avast! and allow it to run through the initial scanning process (on first reboot).

DOWNLOAD AVAST!

This initial scanning can take several hours, so you might want to install Avast! before going to work, bed, whatever... 😉

Why do you suggest Avast instead of, say, AntiVir? Avast's detection rates aren't very good, yet it seems quite popular, so I'm just curious 😕 It didn't even detect the last couple Storm trojans I've downloaded, one of the only mainstream AVs to fail.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Why do you suggest Avast instead of, say, AntiVir?

Avast's detection rates aren't very good, yet it seems quite popular, so I'm just curious 😕

A few reasons:

Avast! includes eMail scanning in their *FREE* version - AntiVir doesn't.

Avast! includes 64-bit support in their *FREE* version - AntiVir doesn't.

The *FREE* version of AntiVir is very officious - Avast! isn't.

And, the biggest reason...

Avast! scares the crap out of my wife!

Every time I hear "Your virus database has been updated" I smile... 😀

 

[mechBgon]

Actually, AntiVir does have 64-bit support now :thumbsup: and I think AntiVir's real-time scanning would suffice to cover the email vector, it just waits 'til after the stuff has actually arrived and someone tries to open it (I will test that, if you'd like). Also, I feel the value of Avast's POP3 scanning is somewhat questionable when it doesn't detect major threats like Storm consistently 🙁

As an aside, you might find this interesting: you can force Windows to run attachments through the resident antivirus scanner as a prerequisite for opening them, provided you have a version which has local group policy. Start > Run > gpedit.msc > User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Attachment Manager. If you enable the setting, then if the AV scanner is disabled or fails, Windows won't let the attachment be opened, period. Wonderful thing, Group Policy 😀


As for scary antiviruses, Kaspersky's pig-squeal alert noise is hard to beat :evil: Alas that there's no freebie version anymore.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Actually, AntiVir does have 64-bit support now :thumbsup: and... et cetera, et cetera

~Cool

Maybe I'll give it another try. Or not... 🙂

Do you still have to continually jump through hoops, to keep it registered?

Originally posted by: mechBgon
As for scary antiviruses, Kaspersky's pig-squeal alert noise is hard to beat :evil: Alas that there's no freebie version anymore.

I've been a F-PROT user for years, but they quit supporting my ancient version last month, soooo I'm mulling over purchasing an update.

In the meantime, I'm running Avast! on all my machines.

In anticipation... Why?

I started installing Avast! on friends n' family machines a couple of years ago, that I've deloused (sometimes with 100s of infected files) - and I've NEVER had one come back yet!

No kidding! Everyone loves Avast! and it's kept their machines virus-free. Amazing!!!

Other than it's demonstrated effectiveness (your objection aside) I have no love for Avast!

Back on topic, that's why I'm (still) recommending it to the OP... 😉

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Actually, AntiVir does have 64-bit support now :thumbsup: and... et cetera, et cetera

~Cool

Maybe I'll give it another try. Or not... 🙂

Do you still have to continually jump through hoops, to keep it registered?

Not that I've seen. The free-for-home-use version has the daily splash screen suggesting an upgrade to the Premium version, which could be a turn-off for some users (it also occasionally mentions that the free version is not for commercial/business use). They charge a very modest price for the premium version, so it's worth considering.

Also worth noting: the security climate isn't what it used to be, and what worked in the past, may not work so well in the future. F-Secure on the exponentially-increasing number of new detections. I find AntiVir's heuristics fairly impressive at nailing down new variants of threats, e.g. the HTML exploits used by certain attack systems.