Virus or Spyware?

d3xt3r · Mar 31, 2004

Hello all,
I am going to take a look at my cousins Computer.
He says that he can't open or surf the net on IE.
I think he's running Windows XP Pro.
I was thinking of unistalling IE and reinstalling it.
Then running a Anti-Virus scanner and Spyware scanner.
I usually run Ad-aware 6.0 on my comp like everyday to every other day.
So I know he has spyware on his comp because he doesn't use it.

I don't know if he gets an error message when this happens....
If all of this works, and the Anti-Virus scanner does catch or find something, How do I go about removing a Virus from someone's computer???
Will the AV scanner have some kind of option to clean/remove the virus it detects?

Thanks!

d3xt3r · Mar 31, 2004

So does this sound familiar? Have you ever encountered this type of problem before?
Does it sound like a Virus or Spyware problem?
Can anyone reccomend a good [Free] AV Scanner?

DavidGP · Mar 31, 2004

I would go a bit prepared aswell.. have a few apps on a CDRW that you can install to test for spyware or virii .... if you have downloaded them then you know they are ok.

get hold of McAfee Stinger it will help with some common trojans/virii including blaster http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4063.html

Hijackthis
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155

also try Opera if he cannot get online with IE as it maybe an IE problem http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=559

and lastly... some spyware especially Dialers do tend to mess up the IE connection settings to check that Always Dial my Default connection is checked in IE > Tools > Internet Options > Connection

edit: just noticed your post

as for a good AV scanner then AVG is good and free but you will need to manually download the updated DAT files so you can install them with the main program as if he is experiencing connection issues you wont be able to get the updates from his machine.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download886.html

or Avast
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download1968.html

but if you can get online then check Trends Housecall
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

d3xt3r · Mar 31, 2004

Hey, Thanks everyone!

I'll try this out and keep ya posted.

Thanks again!!

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Virus or Spyware?

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