Okay, so I noticed Sunday that when I started up my computer, the firewall wasn’t on. I thought the Butcher had turned it off, so I turned it back on. Yesterday, though, same thing. Started the computer, it took forever to start, and the firewall was off. Turned it back on. Tried to run spy sweeper, which they give us for free at work, and it keeps crashing.
So, here’s the even scarier deal. Today, I’m attempting to write a brilliant, insightful post about the stock market tanking, which is difficult enough because I don’t know anything about finances, when I’m all like “Wasn’t it Atrios who said something about how much less your retirement fund is worth today?” So, I go to google Atrios, and the google results all show up right, but when I click on any link, I’m taken wherever the fuck and not to the actual link. Then just now, the whole browser appears to shut down and I get an offer to scan my disk for viruses, but I am not stupid, or that stupid anyway, and so I just quit out of it.
Clearly, something is very wrong. My question for you, dear internets, is what can I do to make it right? I already have the stupid spyware sweeper from work. I have always run McAfee, also provided to me from work, and I use the newest Firefox.
How did this happen and what can I do to fix this and protect myself better in the future?
Filed under: Things I Hate
I don’t know, but my computer has also been hit with 2 Trojan viruses this week and my normal anti-spy and malware protections are NOT cleaning them off.
Good luck!
Yeah, I just cleaned “MS Anti-Virus” off my son’s computer.
Try downloading Spybot S&D and see if that catches anything.
I hope you find a fix.
No computer is bug-free, but next time you buy a computer you may want to consider a less bug-prone Mac. You won’t even have to run spy sweeper.
I had that same MS Anti-Virus pop up on my computer as well. The normal scan wasn’t working, so I ran a deep scan and it found 3 viruses, one of which I had to manually delete because Norton wouldn’t do it! It’s the one with the window that kept popping up to offer its services. If you go to your tasks, you can see what it is that’s running. Send me an email if you need me to explain any more. I cleaned it off manually and it’s been fine. Though I’m still nervous about it. That was a couple of weeks ago.
In a minute, NM will come in here and tell you to install an anti-virus program. ;)
If worse comes to worse, you can wipe your harddrive and reinstall Windows (if you’ve been backing up like you should). It’s good to do that every so often anyways because the Windows registry slowly get filled with garbage during normal use. Back when I used Windows, I’d do a clean install about once a year.
John Lamb, I was rocking a Mac back when you were still in diapers, and I’ve always loved them, but they’re expensive and you can’t play Civilization II on them (though I suppose they’ve finally gotten around to writing a Mac version of that new). So, don’t start with me or I’ll taunt you a second time.
Lesley, thanks.
Dolphin, argh. No, no, no, no!
Whew okay, I’ve calmed down.
My question for you, dear internets, is what can I do to make it right?
Buy a Mac.
you can’t play Civilization II on them
Since you can run Windows on any of the new Intel Macs, you can in fact run anything on a Mac that you can run on Windows. Just a thought.
But you just bought a house so I assumed you wouldn’t be in the market for running out and bying a new computer (though Macs aren’t “expensive” per se. They are just high-end computers. A pre-assembled comparably equipped PC wouldn’t be much less and if you bought a reputable brand it may even be more than it’s Mac counterpart. The problem with Mac is there isn’t a low-end option.)
Not necessarily as a right-now fix (though perhaps), but every user should get an Ubuntu CD. This CD lets you boot your computer from the CDROM drive (assuming that you have a CDROM drive), and run a full-featured desktop, *without* touching your hard-drive.
Put in the CD, boot it up, use it, eject the CD, reboot, and you are back in Windows (if your Windows boots, of course).
An emergency Ubuntu disk is great if:
* Your physical hard-drive flat-out dies
* Your Windows refuses to boot
* Your Windows boots but fails to work in any of a thousand ways (including viruses)
* etc.
When you boot Ubuntu (linux), you will have a machine with Firefox, OpenOffice (Microsoft Office clone, that reads and writes Microsoft Office files), and hundreds of other apps on a very nice looking desktop (very easy to navigate). For most network set-ups, it will automatically configure itself, and you can browse the web (no fuss or knowledge required).
As with most emergency fallback solutions, you ought to test drive it a few times before you need it*, just so your first experience with different icons is not while you are in a panic, and blowing a deadline.
You can download Ubuntu here (free and legal):
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu
Or you can fill out a form on that web page, and they will mail you an Ubuntu CD for free.
* Does not apply to fire extinguishers, self-destruct scuttling charges, or reserve parachutes.
I second the Ubuntu suggestion. Keep a copy around and with a little bit of annoyance, it’ll allow you to rescue your data in the case that Windows further deteriorates.
But what to do right now? Run BitDefender’s online scan (http://www.bitdefender.com/ scroll down to “online scan”). It’s an online virus scanning tool that sometimes works in the case where your virus scanner is being affected by the virus.
Depending on how nasty things are, you may want to start by running it from safe mode or something like that.
B, now that you have a home, just get a home equity loan and use the money to buy a Mac.
You might try and see if your version of Macfee has a firewall and that is why the Microsoft firewall is off. You cannot usually have two firewalls on at the same time. I hope this helps.
Mike
Man, I just don’t understand the Mac Army. Yeah, they’re alright, but they’re also a total pain in the ass. I’ve used both, but only owned PCs. My computersaurus is working just fine and going on six years old. Never been in the shop, never had a problem. Few Mac owners can say that (if any).
However, I would not turn down an Air. Because my laptop (different from the computersaurus) is heavy as hell and it drives me nuts.
Few Mac owners can say that (if any).
I’d be curious to know the percentage of PC users who can say that versus the percentage of Mac users who can say that. I know someone still using a PowerBook (circa 1998 at the latest, because that is when they stopped being made) with no problems yet.
I don’t personally see how anybody still uses a computer that is 6-10 years old. By the time my old PC reached age 6 it’d had been so heavily upgraded that the only thing still original on it was the case and the floppy disk drive. I suspect that my normal computer usage could probably bring any 6 year old computer (Mac or PC) to it’s knees.
I play Civ 2, 3 and 4 (although 3 and 4 kinda suck) on my Mac. I also play Alpha Centauri, Alien Encounter and Age of Mythology on it as well. The fact that there is no Titans expansion pack for AOM sucks out loud–but I cheerfully blame that on the smegma at Microsoft. I find that most computer problems can be blamed squarely on Microsoft without much twisting and turning.
I’ve had Macs for 20 years now. I’ve only ever had one Mac (this one) in the shop for anything.
That one shop call cost?
$99.
So averaged out over 20 years (or “amortised” if you’re into financing) that puts my Mac Owner’s Repair cost at One Point Three Cents Per Day.
I’ll rock that.
Oh, speaking of being into Financing, I’ve been playing the market since I was 18. With the help of my mom–who’s an econ savant of sorts–I started watching the market when I was 14. I’ve always kept phantom stocks regardless of how much actual money I have.
My phantom stock portfolio–begun in 1984–is now worth over $16mil. That’s with a beginning phantom investment of $100K.
You can NEVER ever judge the market on a one day snapshot, just as you can never judge the efficacy of your diet on a one day meal plan and weigh in. (I’ve recently started comparing the market to dieting–don’t know how that happened, but there it is.)
I will say that I was quite happy this morning to wake up and find the markets lower. I moved some stuff around in my fantasy portfolio to take advantage of the lower prices.
Yes, both of my portfolios took small hits yesterday–when you diversify, big drops in one sector don’t take as large a bite out of your gambling money–but I have no doubt they’ll bounce back over time.
After being misused pretty badly by the previous employee it was assigned to, the harddrive in my work MacBook gave out. We sent it in under the AppleCare policy. They replaced the hardrive which is what we asked them to do. While it was there, they also replaced case where it had been cracked when the previous employee had DROPPED it. Total cost for the whole repair (which was a direct result of misuse): $0.00.
But in fairness, any computer can have something go wrong. I switched to Mac after using Windows all my life, because they put me on one at work and, after a week of getting used to using OS X, I was getting things done twice as fast on it. Decided that I HAD to get one at home.
I’m by far the least qualified around here, but I’ve got a few suggestions.
1. Run Spybot like Rustmeister said. Spybot detects and deletes spyware, which is a file that can track your surfing habits or “hijack” your browser.
2. If that doesn’t work, run AVG or Nod32. AVG is free, Nod32 isn’t. AVG is an anti-spyware and anti-virus scan that’s pretty good for being a freebie.
3. Now, if it keeps going, you might not be able to run the scans. Then you’ll have to boot in safe mode and run the scans there. Also, while you’re in safe mode, you might want to grab anything you want to save and store it on a USB or other hard drive.
If none of that works or you can’t get it to work, then you might have to do a format and reload your operating system.
If this type of thing happens frequently, you might want to invest in Norton Ghost so you can make a Ghost image of your computer.
All right. I know opinions are like assholes, but here goes, and this is tried and true and tested and I have acquired exactly all of TWO virii in probably 12-13 years and they were two of the biggest boogers of all time in virii worldwide.
1. Get rid of McAfee (and Norton is even worse). AVG (grisoft.com) and Avast are the best there is these days and they’re both free. Most of the techies prefer Avast but I am having loads of luck with AVG finding things immediately on the web.
2. My routine (which I don’t update & scan as often as I should but it still works) is the above plus Spybot S&D (as mentioned by others), AdAware, and Spyware Blaster – all free. You don’t really NEED Spybot & AdAware both but I run them both anyway.
3. PS If you have everything networked with a router at home you really don’t need a firewall. The router basically IS your firewall (as long as you have it passworded). You can use Windows’ firewall stuff, but you really don’t have to.
As for getting rid of it:
Go to this link and see post #8 and disable Windows system restore first (at the top of that post)
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Winfixer-Removal-t72843.html
This thread is about removing Winfixer but it’s the post #8 that is so important and that I have hung onto for years.
Next, start off with a virus scan with AVG or Avast. Screw McAfee (or Norton).
Now the bad news is that a full scan with AVG could take up to 8 hours or more. AdAware also takes forever to scan, when you use it later in your routine. They’re both worth it. Just set it to scan with AVG or Avast before you go to bed and it should be done when you get up.
Once you are virus free, go back to that link above at Geeks to Go and post #8. Download all that stuff (Spybot, AdAware, and Spyware Blaster) and run those. AdAware will, again, take a long time for a full scan – couple of hours anyway – but worth it.
Use AVG or Avast (whichever you choose to use for virus scanning) and those three in a regular routine. AdAware and Spybot are scanners, Spyware Blaster runs in your background all the time. If you will update Spyware Blaster once every week or two, let AVG or Avast update at least weekly, and run a full system scan of AVG or Avast + Spybot + AdAware + update Spyware Blaster again at least once a month…. you will probably stay clean for life.
Also, I don’t even do a full scan that often and I STILL stay clean. I should do it once a month at least (once a week or two weeks would be even better but I’m lucky to remember it when I do), but even as infrequently as I do it, I still stay fine. I do let AVG update about weekly and I keep Spyware Blaster moderately updated, I should do it weekly too tho.
If you follow that routine in that Geeks to Go thread (more or less, that’s an old thread and it could probably use some updating but you get the general idea) – no worries.
One more “helpful” hint –
If you are using Outlook Express for mail – DON’T.
Gmail or something would be preferable but if you still want to use a stand alone, non-Web mail program, Eudora has done me right for nearly 15 years and it’s free. I have NEVER gotten a virus or trojan thru the mail using Eudora, and most of the time it has told ME when other people are infected and I get to be the one to tell them they’re infected.
AVG also has a mail scanner application that is not a pain in the butt like many, so I’m double protected with email now.
One more quick note about AVG (and I would assume this is true of Avast too) – it does NOT hog up resources like most antivirus (cough Norton cough) programs do. I barely know it’s running. I switch off the weblink scanner sometimes when I’m working because it slows me down a little, but it’s definitely the most non-invasive antivirus I have ever used. I used TrendMicro’s PC-Cillin for a while and it was okay, but AVG totally rocks. Again I would assume Avast does too as it’s really the #1 pick of tech folks these days.
I would also recommend adding CCleaner to your regular routine too (ccleaner dot com). It gets rid of a lot of crap you don’t need and regularly, I actually run it several times a day but someone more “normal” could probably just once a day or every few days and it keep you in good shape, not really for virus purposes but just to make your system run better.
It’s going to be a little time consuming to get that crap off your computer to begin with – I didn’t have a virus but I had so much gunk on mine a while back, I took a day off to do all of the above and spent about 12-15 hours updating everything, letting all the scanners run, and cleaning my system, but it was well worth it.
For you with a probable virus/trojan, it would be much more well worth it to you than forking out however much money (at least $50, probably more) someone’s going to charge you to do pretty much all that I just told you and what’s in post #8 of that Geeks to Go forum thread.
Good luck!
man, i am SO damn glad i went all-Linux all those years ago.
(Ubuntu 8.04 does everything i want it to. haven’t tried running windows programs on it under Wine, but that’s supposedly possible for at least some of them.)