My computer is infected

[elwoodblues1969]

I was just infected with what seems to be some sort of adware & it's completely taken over the functionality of my pc.
My desktop is all re-arranged,there are icons that have been removed from my start menu and I cannot access my program list.

I cannot remove any of the icons that have been planted on my desktop & the backround image has been replaced.

When I connect to the internet,the first thing my browser does is go directly to some sort of virus protection website.
I continuosly get hundreds of messages popping up everywhere,telling me that I am being infected by viruses & I can't stop anything that's happening!!

I cannot afford to pay a service $200 to remove this s**t & I'll get rid of my computer & my internet service before I shell out that kind of money everytime this happens.........are there any alternative solutions?If so...PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Thanks,

Thom

[offthewall]

Thom,
if you can safely get online download *adaware* from Lavasoft, and *spybot*.
http://www.lavasoft.com
http://www.spybot.info/index2.html
You should be able to clear out your enemies with these free tools.
 
James
Good luck.

[MarioD]

Thom, dance the security tango as found here: http://securitytango.com/

Do not skip any steps and be sure to follow the instructions to a tee!

I used to work at a computer store and this was always our first line of defense.  Over 90% of the time it cleaned out all of the problems.

The one thing I would add would be to DL the free Ccleaner.  Run it first then again last.  After running it last then run the registry cleaner part of the program.  It is one of the best free registry cleaners I have found.

Good luck!

[folderol]

Sorry to hear about your problems Thom. I can't help with recovery (not being a Windows person) but for future protection would ask how you are connected to the 'net?

If you have broadband do you go through a DSL modem or through a router/modem? Routers, although a little more expensive always have what is called a NAT firewall built in. These can quite easily be configured to block absolutely everything your machine hasn't directly requested. By doing this before the malware even gets to know your machine exists you have a much higher level of protection.

[elwoodblues1969]

Thanks to all for the advice-much appreciated.I'm afraid though,that's far too late for any intervention at this point,because despite all the free downloads I attmepted to download from Cnet.com,the adware was blocking the downloads....I even contacted my tech suppoort through my dsl service & they used all the software they had to try & stop the virus,but to no avail.

As things are now,I am writing this from a computer at a public library,because my computer has been decimated by the virus- I lost everything;all my photos,music & all my other keepsakes,so I have no choice but to buy a new computer.
It will probably be several months before I am able to by a new one,so whenever I can,I'll stop here at the library to touch base with everyone.

@Will -when it comes time to buy another pc,I will certainly take your advice & get a router!

Thanks to all for the support,

Thom

[Marc JX8P]

Hi Thom,

No need to buy a new computer; even assuming that this one has been infected beyond help you should still be able to reinstall everything. If you do so, I would recommend that you reformat your hard drive before reinstalling windows. It will take some more time but it's that extra level of insurance. You can to that by creating a bootable floppy containing the fdisk program.

Before that, though, there might be another trick that you may try: use Windows' Safe Mode (press the F8 key during the booting of windows to get the option to boot in Safe Mode). This should avoid loading all kinds of stuff that may be infected so you may have a better chance to remove stuff or back up files you need.

If you do reinstall your pc, be sure to first get all the updates and upgrades (including windows defender which can be downloaded from the microsoft site) and preferably install a good antispyware, antivirus and firewall program. I use Webroot Spysweeper and ZoneAlarm (which has a free version). After this, scan all the backups you made before you put the files back on your pc.

It's always crap when something like this happens, good luck restoring your pc!

One last piece of advice: find a computer you can trust and change all the passwords you have been using on your infected pc; it may be that a keylogger was installed on the infected pc too!

[Moon]

Thom, before giving up, just try 1 more thing. Go to Programs ==> ascessoirs ==> System Tools ==> system restore and restore your system to a date where you didin't had the infection.

There's a small chance this will work... but it's very easy to give this a go...

If it works, you will have to install an anti virus and scan your system entirely.

Hopes this works...

Moon

[NeoN]

Had the same problem once...
Try this man, I hope it works for you...
Just unzip and run it

[MarioD]

Thom, do you have a friend with a computer close by? 

If so you may have a couple of other options.

Option 1 – on your friend’s computer DL all of the programs listed in the Security Tango site on to a CD, then copy them to your computer and run them.  You may have to do this is safe mode.

Option 2 – take our you HD and install it on your friend’s computer as a slave drive and either back up all of your data or run the Security Tango on it from the new HD.  WARRING there is a danger of infecting his drive also

OR try option 3 - Replace your hard drive with either a new one or an old one that is in good shape (up here you can find 20-40 meg HD for next to nothing and/or  free.  Load your OS onto the new drive.  Reinstall your old HD as a slave drive and either back up all of your data or run the Security Tango on it from the new HD.

Personally I would try option 1 then option 3.

An after though – have you checked IE and OE to see if the virus(s) have check the “do not DL anything” box?  Also have you checked your winsock?  Attached is a small program that will fix Win XP winsock automatically for you.

Good luck - MarioD

[elwoodblues1969]

Moon,Marc & Mario...is it a coincidence that 3 people whose names start with M are respoding to my pc debaucle?

I had actually thought about starting from scratch with my existing pc,but really,the most important thing about the pc i have now,is all the music & photos I have stored on it-all of which I will lose anyway....plus my pc is so inadequte,that it will not even support an external hard drive.

I have someone that will loan me the money for a new one,so the plan is to buy a reasonably powerful one-one that will afford me resources to further safeguard against this from happening again.

Since all I need is a cpu,I can probably pick up a decent one for around 3 bills.I have already cancelled my dsl service,so that will be the only real headache.

All your advice would certainly serve me well & I appreciate it,but it's about time I unloaded this turd of a pc & stepped up to something far more useful....I will however take all of the safeguarding tips to the fullest,to insure that this distaster never repeats itself.

Thanks again to all,

Thom

[rharv]

If you start in safe mode, as mentioned above, you may be able to backup some of your files.
 Start the computer and keep hitting the F8 key until the option pops up to start in safe mode.  If windows starts before the safe mode option shows up, shut down and try again..
 The screen may look crappy in safe mode, and the system may act funny, but you could probably get it to burn a CD or DVD of your pictures and music files for future use..

 There are times when simply starting in safe mode allows XP to recover from things...