Malware question? (Virus, trojans, spyware, etc)

Discussion in 'Majorgeeks Welcome Center' started by Major Attitude, Jan 7, 2008.

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  1. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    You have a few options.

    If you have an issue with malware, and would like to have Major Geeks specialist help you and go through your logs you will be asked to complete our removal guide. Here is that guide:Read & Run Me First Malware Removal Guide (incl. Spyware, Virus, Trojan, Hijacker)
    After completing it, please start a new thread, with your logs in this forum:
    Malware Help - MG (A Specialist Will Reply)

    If you would like to ask a question about a problem with Malware but do not want to proceed with the MG Removal Guide, you can post a new thread in this forum (this is open to the public and anyone can respond):
    Malware Help - Public (Anyone Can Post & Respond)

    Please note that a slow PC does not necessarily mean you have malware:


    For some General housekeeping tips:

    Before you start the full cleaning procedure, if you already know the name of which virus (trojan, worm, or other malware) is infecting your computer, you may want to first check to see if your problem is covered in the below link:

    If it is then try that procedure first and come back here to the READ & RUN ME if necessary afterwards.

    *** IMPORTANT NOTES - READ THESE ***
    • Do not use Multiple Antivirus Applications or Software Firewalls
      • Antivirus: If you have multiple antivirus applications installed on your PC, please choose the one you prefer and uninstall all others. Do this now before continuing because you will only be asked to do it later if not done now. This does not mean online scanners. It is only referring to full antivirus applications like McAfee, Symantec, AVG, Avast, AntiVir, Kaspersky, etc.
      • Firewall: Only use one software firewall. Running multiple software firewalls is unnecessary and using more than one software firewall on the same connection could cause issues with connectivity to the Internet or other unexpected behavior including excessive use of system resources which will slow down overall PC performance.
    • Please DO NOT post HJT logs before running these standard cleaning procedures. This is not a HijackThis log reading forum. It is a Malware Removal forum.
    • Also please DO NOT post any logs directly inline with your message.
    • Please do not cheat by skipping any steps.You are only hurting yourself and you will waste more time in the long run.
    • Do not send private messages to any of the helpers! These private messages will be ignored and deleted.
    1: House Cleaning & Setup
    • Uninstalling malware programs - Work thru the below link to uninstall any bad stuff that should not be installed on your PC. This may in some instances even resolve your problems. It takes a small amount of time (based on your exerience level) to do this comparison, but it well worth the effort. ;)
    • Msconfig must be set for Normal Startup mode - You MUST be sure that MSconfig is not being used to control Startups. Note: That some Window's OSs (like Win 2K, 2003) do not have MSconfig! Run the procedure in the below link for your Windows version:
    • Empty ALL Quarantine type folders for antivirus and antispyware applications.
      • This step of house cleaning may save a load of time later (reduced scanning time) and can significantly reduce the size of logs being posted later. Here is just one example for doing this with Norton/Symantec:
    • Empty your Recycle Bin
    • Download and install CCleaner
      • Now run Ccleaner with the default options (that means don’t change anything) to clean out temporary files.
      • Only use the default settings on the Windows Tab and select Run Cleaner. Do not run any other options from other tabs.
      • Also it is highly recommended to login to all other User Accounts on the PC including the Administrator account (on Win2K,XP and Vista) which will only show when you boot in safe mode.
        • Run CCleaner on each account. This can greatly reduce scan time and log sizes from the later scanning you will do below.
        • If you don’t see Ccleaner’s link when logging into the other accounts, just goto the C:\Program Files\Ccleaner folder and double click on the ccleaner.exe file to run it. You can also create a shortcut to the file on the Desktop of your other user accounts to make it easier to run in the future.
    2: Enable viewing of hidden files, system files and file extensions
    • Some programs hide themselves by making their files invisible in normal Windows settings. Run the steps in the below link (has steps for ALL Win OS's) to make them easier to find.
    • Not doing this would allow file extensions commonly used by trojans and spyware to be hidden, for example a file ending in .exe or dll making manually finding it, if needed, difficult to impossible.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 31, 2016
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