Goddam viruses

[cemaphonic]

Picked up a particularly unpleasant one yesterday that started randomly shutting down vital processes, after which, just about everything would hang up *AND* it stared up a bunch of browser hijacks, on the rare occasions I could actually launch my browser.

Luckily, I was able to boot into safe mode, find out that rooting it out was going to be more trouble than it was worth (especially since the antivirus programs I could get running in safe mode couldn't find it), and back up my files. So instead of spending the day raking leaves, I got to spend the day reinstalling Windows/drivers/software. Which wouldn't be so bad, except the leaves are still there. And I still have a bunch of stuff to install.

Oh well - it would have been a lot more of a hassle if it hit me on Wednesday or Thursday. And all my hardware drivers seem to be working properly, so now it's just a matter of reinstalling software, much of which can wait until I need them again.

I'm usually pretty careful about security too - I think I might want to pick up a hardware firewall though.

[lildreamer316]

1. Just in case..

have you used Malwarebytes yet? I love it. Gets out a lot of stuff other programs miss.
Just thought I'd suggest; you may not need this.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. The "Cool Web" virus ate my machine a few months ago.

It was shutting files down faster than I could save them.Horrible beastie, really evil, freezes up even the anti-virus designed to destroy it. I learned much more than I ever wanted to learn
about viruses.
First and only time I had opened Explorer. BANG, a window popped up from no where and I got infected.
We had to wipe the hard drive and re-install.
Actually, not a bad move, got rid of a lot of junk files.

I always use Firefox and No Script, and Ad-block plus a virus checker.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. Here's a computer support thread that might be of use to you

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=242x18605

[Jamastiene]

4. I take it you don't have a Mac?

Just kidding. I use a PC too. :P

:hide:
I need to go back to bed before I get in trouble.

[cemaphonic]

6. heh - it's true that Macs are less virus-prone,

But I used to use one on a fairly regular basis at my old job, and I can tell you that they are just as capable of hair-tearing-out frustration.

I had OSX crash on me once at the wrong point in its booting-up process, and it took me the better part of a day to even coax it into a state where I could *begin* to to a system reinstall.

Actually, I do have an old Mac kicking around downstairs that mostly gets used by my wife playing Civ II.

[DS1]

5. AVG is no longer on my recommend list

It let something in that was very nasty.

Kasperky cleaned it all up in a flash. I eventually bought a copy after my 30 day trial, 100% happy with it.

[Franzia]

7. Here are some free programs that are highly regarded and work well:

Anti-malware:

Malwarebytes

a-squared

SuperAntiSpyware

Anti-virus:

Avast

AntiVir

PC Tools

[old mark]

8. Candy-O: Thanks for the list ! nt

[Franzia]

9. You're welcome!

I have used or am currently using all of the programs listed.

IMHO, Avast is the best free antivirus program I have ever used, although I am currently trying out AntiVir just for fun and am very impressed with it as well.

[Kutjara]

10. In addition to the usual virus/firewall/spyware precautions...

...you might consider "ghosting" your machine once you have a clean new install on it. Ghosting software takes an image of your installation and burns it to a DVD so that, in the event something goes wrong again, you can restore the system from the DVD with a few keystrokes. Of course, you should make sure you have a clean, virus-free install before you ghost it, or else the virus will end up on the DVD too, and you'll be back where you started.