Question...

The Read & Run Me has been changed so that they can better fight the Malware that is out there now...a lot of which has evolved to block Combo Fix. They will still be utilizing it, however, it will be later in the process.

The creators of malware adjust their crap to make sure that the antimalware software out there can't fight it, therefore you have to use different tools after a while.

The rest of it...I can't speak to. Maybe someone else can.


I miss the days when you just had Norton installed on your computer and it would not only block the sad malware, but it would actually get rid of it. Sadly, pretty much all of the malware out there now requires manual removal to get rid of. I figure there are thousands of shops and repair techs out there making a lot of money on reinstalling people's OS's.

 

Ah, okay, so you do repair yourself. That'll most likely change things as you have the infected machine in hand. If the malware blocks a specific tool, you probably know how to get around that, or what to run if you can't. The problem that our forum malware techs run into is that they are counting on people who mostly only have a basic knowledge of computers in general and are reliant on the scans the people can run.

I'm sure you've seen how the more effective a removal tool is, the more likely you are to see the malware set up to block it from running.

Once in a while I'll check out the malware threads and I believe I've even seen where they've blocked people from downloading from MajorGeeks.

I do know that ComboFix will still be used as it's a great tool. I think they've just changed out the initial scans. They've had to evolve with the malware, which as you've stated, has gotten much more clever.

I did find this interesting that you said:

I guess a lot of the tools out there that are some of the best are free and not for commercial use.

 

Hi

Combofix is a tool that will kill specific malware and as such it may not be a great tool to use straight off the bat so to speak so it was removed from the initial malware removal instructions as are a few other items, as you will know if you are in the industry of security and malware removals that options change over time as the malware writers to get clever and circumvent some removal tools, not that this has happened with Combofix but its a tool left best to serve a specific purpose.

As you mentioned all in one scanners are not going to fix the harder malware as its specific to the PC, hence why Majorgeeks used custom tools as in MGTools to root out said malware, although these tools need to be reviewed by a malware expert manually as its not an automated process, as malware can uniquely change file names etc

I personally think we need to change how we attack malware and in part its not cure but prevention and this is the hardest part to get across to users as they love their free music, vidoes and software.