Virus Clearing Protocols

msidea · Jul 16, 2025

Hi Geeks!

For many years, I've used this forum to clean my mom and my computers. There used to be a document called "Read me first" which outlined a set of apps to download and steps to follow to clean out viruses and the like. Then logs would be submitted for review.

Does this still exist? I know that both defense and attacks have changed a lot since then, but is there still a suggested protocol?

Any information would be appreciated.

Oh My! · Jul 16, 2025

Greetings and welcome back to the Major Geeks Malware Forum.

I moved your topic to the Specialist Forum so that I can provide instructions for the sake of consistency. Sometimes multiple helpers can muddy the waters.

The page you are looking for is here. However, you can skip that for now and just run the below.

Please do this

===================================================

Farbar Recovery Scan Tool (FRST)

--------------------

Download FRST64 and save the file on your Desktop

If your computer language is other than English right click on the FRST64 icon and rename it to FRST64english

Right click on the icon and select Run as administrator

Note: If you receive any warning about the download it is a false positive and you can ignore it. Click on More info to get the Run anyway option

Click Yes to the disclaimer

Click Scan and allow the program to run

When completed, FRST.txt and Addition.txt reports will be saved on the Desktop

Please attach the reports to your reply

===================================================

Things I would like to see in your next reply.

Attached reports

msidea · Jul 17, 2025

Thanks Gary! Here are the logs!

I love the verses! They aren't the same as are always quoted, and yet give the message clearly.

Oh My! · Jul 17, 2025

Thank you for the reports and the comments. Christ is the reason I do this, so I can serve and tell of my Savior by serving others.

Can you tell me what issues you are having?

msidea · Jul 17, 2025

Amen! We are messengers wherever we are and whatever we're doing.

So when I first posted, Excel was acting up and freezing my computer every time that I tried working on it. After I reached out to you, I realized that the spreadsheet was the problem. It seems to have become corrupted on an autorecovery. I saved that file as a csv to recuperate the information and used the formulas from an older version to fill in the blanks. So that problem was solved. I am not having any other issues, and in that sense, this ticket can be closed.

I do like to periodically - once a year or so - check my computer with the protocols that MajorGeeks suggests. I obviously haven't done it for a few years, but is that still a good idea? I do know that my antivirus is out of date. I'll be addressing that soon.

Oh My! · Jul 17, 2025

Nice work resolving the Excel issue. Your log indicated there was an issue with the program.

You are more than welcome to post and simply ask if your computer is in proper working order. I am very familiar with FRST64 so that is my main evaluation tool. You can run the MajorGeeks suite of tools but I would recommend also scanning with FRST64.

I think we are all set. Are there any remaining questions or concerns you might have before I post some tool/log clean up instructions and other information for you to consider going forward?

msidea · Jul 20, 2025

So should I rerun it?

I apologize for the delay. My AF son is being transferred to San Antonio so we've spent the last several days house hunting. I'll be able to work on this tomorrow.

Should I reinstall FRST64? I didn't get any error messages to my knowledge.

Oh My! · Jul 20, 2025

No problem on the delay. Important things first.

Running FRST64 is not like running Windows Defender, as an example. FRST64 Scan function only spits out information and does not make any modifications. Think of it like a blood test. Your doctor asks for your blood to be "scanned" then they review it and make any modifications necessary. There are times when a routine blood test would be valuable. More often than not a blood test is done because of observed symptoms and there needs to be an investigation as to why things don't seem right.

Your computer is happy so there is no need to run another scan. I would suggest you return when your computer is experiencing symptoms and if after 6 months or a year you feel like it is time for the routine "blood test" come on back and we will evaluate things.

Does this make sense?

msidea · Jul 28, 2025 at 10:25 AM

Perfect sense! Thank you so much Gary!

On my part, you can close out the ticket. Thanks for your patience!

Oh My! · Jul 28, 2025 at 10:28 AM

You are quite welcome.

You are always welcome here.

Gary

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Virus Clearing Protocols

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Attached Files:

Addition.txt

FRST.txt

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

Log in or Sign up

Virus Clearing Protocols

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Attached Files:

Addition.txt

FRST.txt

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

msidea Private First Class

Oh My! Malware Expert Staff Member

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