Heartland

Something for the Apple brigade to gloat over no doubt, but my computer seems to have become infected and has been seriously playing up since last night. When I booted up yesterday, I got a warning that my PC wasn't fully protected, but I've since been unable to access McAfee, either to run a scan or to uninstall it. Whenever I try, all that comes up is an empty box with the McAfee heading but no working links. I'm also having problems accessing web pages, as there's no response when I click on drop-down lists, calendars or (most but not all) buttons. I think this is also why the HL icons no longer work for me, which is probably no bad thing!

So, anyone got any ideas what's up with it? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure what could be wrong..maybe virus or spyware? I'm no comp geek.

You could always reformat the PC & start over...unless someone has an easier suggestion for you.
Btw, I use Norton Antivirus & haven't had any probs with it.

You could try System Restore to an earlier date.
That doesn't mess around with any files you've added or changed so could sort it out for you.

Try installing and running this tool:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Andrew S wrote:Something for the Apple brigade to gloat over no doubt, but my computer seems to have become infected and has been seriously playing up since last night. When I booted up yesterday, I got a warning that my PC wasn't fully protected, but I've since been unable to access McAfee, either to run a scan or to uninstall it. Whenever I try, all that comes up is an empty box with the McAfee heading but no working links. I'm also having problems accessing web pages, as there's no response when I click on drop-down lists, calendars or (most but not all) buttons. I think this is also why the HL icons no longer work for me, which is probably no bad thing!

So, anyone got any ideas what's up with it? Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

I had the super GAU nightmare a few months ago - a Trojan, a rootkit. But actually, flattening the whole PC was much easier than I thought. Just telling you this so that you don't panic and waste money or whatever. Whatever it is, you can fix it yourself.
Sometimes though it's just an automatic update that messes up your whole PC, and setting back to a system status a week ago or so will do the job.

edit: PS - yep, Spybot found the critter on my PC, and then I "rootfixed" it, with some very dear aid from the Kaspersky forum, so if someone like me can manage, don't panic
But as I said, most of the time my PC behaves crazy it's just an update

I had a bad experience with McAfee as well...It just quit working one day, sounds like what happened to you. I Fixed it by doing a system restore and then I changed my Antivirus/Spyware software to "Webroot Antivirus with Spysweeper" its worked well so far....knock on wood.

Yup it sounds like its one of yon trojan things that shows up as a security software telling you your security's failed and you need to get a certain piece of software for everything to be ok...

I haven't had one in age so I'm pretty much out the loop with how to get rid of them alas, but.. try opening windows task manager and have nothing running. When you've got that open have a look at the processes that are using cpu and memory that really shouldn't.. (also look for multiple processes as well and find out where they're located) then google the .exe processes to see if any are being listed as suspect (if you can't access the web from your pc then use another computer to do that..)... usually you'll find removal instructions for these kind of things but quite often you'll have to go via safe mode, delete the files belonging to it then remove them from the registry as well... McAfee and Norton quite often produce removal tools for the common ones though..

Personally, I'd get Microsoft Security Essentials (available for free from Microsoft), which is suprisingly well-rated as an anti-virus.. I use that and Comodo Firewall and I generally get zilch..

The last time I had anything it was because I hadn't updated Java, which seems to be one of the main exploits for a lot of things to get in through.. :/

All this is probably not a huge amount of help, but like I say I'm lucky in that I've remained infection free for quite some time now..

I'd second saying flattening your system isn't something to be scared of, easy once you've backed up your data (if you flatten think about partitioning OS and data when you rebuild).
And switching to Zone Alarm for your firewall and AVG for your anti-virus is a far cheaper and nicer way to take care of your security than Norton or Mcafee.

or just...

I used AVG for years and never had any problems until a couple of months ago,got a reallly bad virus,either from a naked ladies site,or myspace (I had both open at once) buggered everything up,couldn't run the antivirus,open anything,absolute nightmare.
Ended up taking it back to the shop (small business near were I live) and just paying them £40 to fix it.Came back as good as new,and I noticed that they had removed AVG (which they initially supplied it with years ago) and fitted Microsoft Security instead,which has worked fine so far....

ribbons69 wrote:I used AVG for years and never had any problems until a couple of months ago,got a reallly bad virus,either from a naked ladies site,or myspace (I had both open at once) buggered everything up,couldn't run the antivirus,open anything,absolute nightmare.

Had the same issues with AVG, minus the nekked wimmin alas.. Was what made me realise something was seriously screwy with my system.

The Microsoft AV is quite good as it wasn't orginally an MS program but one they bought out (as usual)..

James Blast wrote:or just...

...don't check out dodgy looking porn sites

well, that would make life less interesting

BTW, I ken there's gonna be a flood of Mac viruses sometime in the near future, I'm no that daft

MAC Viruses - aren't these called Apps?

DocSommer wrote:MAC Viruses - aren't these called Apps?

Eggi has had something similar on his pc, tried to fix it, failed, lost his patience and installed Linux Ubuntu instead. And we lived happily ever after...

I've totally come away from the macs and mac vs. pc discussion, because both just want your money and limit your choices. Macs are very expensive for mediocre hardware, and the hype around ipod, ipad, iphone makes me spit. PCs are affordable but try to force you into using MS' crap software. So if my ibookG4 ever dies, I'll get whatever pc I fancy at the time (probably a HP), uninstall Windows and install Linux instead: Tons of free software available, loads of geeks around who can help, and no malware to fear. Besides, every Linux system software has an antivirus and similar protection automatically built in.

James: Linux is the new mac - mark my words...

Eva wrote:Eggi has had something similar on his pc, tried to fix it, failed, lost his patience and installed Linux Ubuntu instead. And we lived happily ever after...

I've totally come away from the macs and mac vs. pc discussion, because both just want your money and limit your choices. Macs are very expensive for mediocre hardware, and the hype around ipod, ipad, iphone makes me spit. PCs are affordable but try to force you into using MS' crap software. So if my ibookG4 ever dies, I'll get whatever pc I fancy at the time (probably a HP), uninstall Windows and install Linux instead: Tons of free software available, loads of geeks around who can help, and no malware to fear. Besides, every Linux system software has an antivirus and similar protection automatically built in.

James: Linux is the new mac - mark my words...

It GNU/Linux! Get it right!

linux=treehuggers

IZ.

Izzy HaveMercy wrote: It GNU/Linux! Get it right!
linux=treehuggers
IZ.

In fact, behind every tree there's a geek lurking who's more than happy to help...

Who needs a computer when you've got Magners

Eva wrote:

Izzy HaveMercy wrote: It GNU/Linux! Get it right!
linux=treehuggers
IZ.

In fact, behind every tree there's a geek lurking who's more than happy to help...

LOL!

IZ.

Cheers for all the suggestions people Unfortunately, whatever continues to lurk in my PC is blocking access to System Restore and McAfee, as well as search facilities on booking sites. I ran Stinger, which found and deleted a trojan in my printer folder but the problems persist. So, it's looking more and more likely that Ill have to re-install Windows or, as Eva suggests, defect to open source software - something that I've been considering on and off for a while but have always been put off by my general ignorance. A colleague has suggested downloading Microsoft Onecare Scanner, so I'll try that tonight - if my computer allows!

P.S. It didn't:-(( Back to square one then...

Hi,

a work mate gave me his notebook with kinda the same problem last friday. After loading windows I can't really do a lot because the system reacts terribly slow and generates strange error messages. It also infects USB memory sticks with strange files so all in all this system seems wasted.

Right now I'm trying this bootable virus scanner cd:

http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk

You'll need to burn this iso on a healthy machine and put it in the infected PC and select "boot from cd" within BIOS (or boot screen). Once loaded you should update the virus scanner that's why the infected computer should be connected with the internet.

Or try an online scanner like this one:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Helped me out a couple of times already when AVG failed its job...

IZ.

If all else fails run Combofix. It is very good at getting rid of Trojans, but can damage Windows installs. If you've tried everything else then this is the one to use. THIS WILL ONLY RUN ON 32bit SYSTEMS. And I'm not sure it runs on Win7 32bit.

You can get it HERE

Malwarebytes Anti-malware is always a favourite as well, but doesn't always get rid of the rootkits.

Best thing, boot into safe mode, back up your data, full reinstall. It's the only way to be sure.
A good free AV is Comodo Internet Security and I also use Spyware Blaster, Firefox with the Adblock plugin. I have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware installed as well. I've not had an issue with my PC virus-wise for years.

After the system is clean, make sure you do :

All the Windows/Microsoft Updates
Update Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, Adobe Shockwave and Java to the latest versions.

Thanks again everyone So far, I've tried Malwarebytes, Super Anti Spyware and a couple of others. A trojan was found and deleted, but as problems persist, I'm looking at a full re-install, which I've not attempted before and will need to wait till after Thursday (coursework deadline).