Minor Geek here

OK, my non-tech friends are convinced that I am the God of Computers. I guess that's what I get for offering to help. Anyways, I don't usually sign up for forums, but when I absolutely can NOT solve a problem for myself....well, it's good to know when you are licked.

And I am.:banghead

I'm not an IT person, but I've been tinkering with computers since my 8086, and Dos 2.0, back in the 80's. So, I'm not an expert, but I do have some basic understandings of the crap that goes on inside that "black box".:crap

Once I get a chance to follow all the instructions, I'll be posting (attaching) logs and asking questions about such wonderful things as SmitFraud-c.coreservice, vundo, and some other lovely pains in the backside that my friend let onto their computer, when they disabled AVG, Spybot, and Winpatrol, because they thought they could improve performance.:cry

They really did a great job, before they gave it to me - it took almost 5 hours to boot, the first time I powered it up. It took several more days to get Spybot and AVG re-installed, because they were trashed. Now that I have those installed, I've got the boot time down to a few minutes, but those pesky trojans just won't pack their bags, and go back where they came from.

You just can't protect people from themselves, no matter how hard you try.

I am about to leave town for the weekend, but I'll be back Monday, to ask for help working through these joyous challenges, once I pound through the instruction set, as outlined.

Finally, THANK YOU FOR THIS WEBSITE. .I have been coming here for years, to learn, and download the great stuff you offer to those who are not registered. That long-standing experience has built a great deal of trust for you, in my mind - and while there are dozens of sites that offer help with Malware removal, yours is the only one I have seen fit to register for.

Keep up the GREAT work - We're all better off for your efforts.

~ Blank Stare

 

Not yet, but I won't post anything asking for help, until I have.

See you Monday.

 

:wave and welcome to MG's..

 

Welcome to Major Geeks :major

 

This may be off the topic but wanted to thankyou for the help you gave me on the down load, I felt quite silly but when I saw three different places to connect with the down load I realized what I had done wrong. thankx again.

 

Those of you who pay attention to such things may notice that I have NOT posted in the malware forum, asking for help. This is, of course, because the instructions in the malware forum for helping ourselves are so complete, and so accurate, that I seem to have eliminated about 80 varieties of spyware and malware, including Smitfraud-c.coreservice, and every variety of Vundo known to man.

Bravo to MajorGeeks.com, for once again proving that the internet can be a friendly place, for computer geeks and users of all levels. There was no way I could have accomplished this task, were it not for the step-by-step directions, and links to the tools to make it possible.

I do still have one little snag. It's not a virus, spyware, or malware problem, but rather a minor configuration issue, with Spybot.

On my own computers, Spybot comes up when I reboot, runs, and stays resident, after the scan. (Teatimer, I think.) On my friend's computer, I don't seem to be able to accomplish this - Teatimer just does not show up in the task manager of windows security. My friend's computer is XP, (mine is 2k pro) so I am not sure if there is a difference in application, or perhaps configuration, that I am not knowledgeable about. I have gone into the advanced settings, and tried everything I know, but there are only a few relevant boxes and radio buttons in that list.

I have tried to uninstall the various softwares that I installed during the course of this ordeal, because it seems like something along the way restricts this kind of thing.

But I must be missing something.

I know this must be the wrong place to ask for this kind of help, but it wasn't clear to me where on this site would be the appropriate place to start a new thread.


Thanks again,

Blank_Stare

 

Oh Boy...

I hate to bump a thread, after only a few moments, but I wanted to add addition information.

It appears that SpyBot is running an infinite loop - restarting as soon as it finishes. I guess I have more than a minor configuration issue....

 

Thank you for your speedy response.

None of the anti-malware or anti-spyware software show any traces of Vundo anymore. I am convinced that the system has been disinfected. Should I still start a thread in Malware?

I will have a look at the software forum, thank you.

I THINK I downloaded Spybot from MG, but I am not 100% certain. I am certain that TeaTimer is enabled in the settings within SpyBot, as I have checked, just to make sure. I have setup SpyBot on numerous computers over the last several years, so, until now, I thought I knew exactly what I was doing. That's what has me puzzled - well, that, and the apparent infinite loop - that's just strange.

Maybe I will uninstall SpyBot, run CCleaner to get rid of any residue, and then see what happens on a reinstall. If that doesn't solve it, I will definitely make a post in Software.

Thank you for your kind patience and understanding.

~ Blank_Stare

 

Problem solved with an uninstall, CCleaning, manual search and delete...:clap

It now comes up as a single instance, and acts exactly as it is supposed to. Teatimer is now running in the system tray like it is supposed to. All scans coming up clean.

There were three entries in a search of the hard drive that I could not delete - all three were in a folder called "Qoo" - which I understand is something that Combofix creates when it is used. Quarantine, as I understand it. I'm ok with that, and I don't intend to muss with it.

I am going to consider my case closed, before it was actually made into a case. In the unlikely event that it turns out that I am mistaken, you'll see me in either the Malware or Software forums - or both.

You're the best!:celebrate

~ Blank_Stare