help with viruses

[matadorpoeta]

i have a bunch of viruses on my computer and they all have th term "sdbot" in them. is there any software i can download to elminate the viruses.

i know very little about computers so deleting them manually is not an option.

someone told me the viruses would somehow reappear after start up, they are 'embedded', so it will be very difficult to get rid of them.

any advice?

 

[Renault78law]

i'll defer to the resident computer experts, but if you're in need of a free virus-scan, i hear that this is the best. good luck.

 

[jharrison]

Aside from buying a Mac (they're virus-free), here's what you can do: 1. Download Ad-Aware here. It will detect and delete spyware/adware better than anything else. 2. As Renault suggested, download Grisoft's free anti-virus software (use his link). It's free AND effective. 3. Download ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm firewall. Window's firewall is pathetic. You can get ZoneAlarm here. 4. You might also consider using an alternative browser. Internet Explorer is full of flaws. I'd strongly recommend Firefox. 5. If you prefer IE, at least use Google's toolbar to block pop-up ads. Depending on how computer literate you are, this may seem overwhelming. The first 3 things I mentioned really are mandatory if you want to protect your computer. The free options I mentioned work great, but you must manually update them, at least weekly. You could always stop by CompUSA and pay for a McAfee or Norton security suite. They upgrade automatically and generally come with support. But you'll pay for it . If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me. Good luck.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

There ARE viruses for Macintosh computers. Do not be fooled by advertizing propaganda.

This is why I hate Mac. Apple breeds ignorance.

Saying Macs are virus free is like saying that you can't get herpes from a redhead. Just because there are fewer redheads in the world doesn't make them immune to herpes.

 

[j]

... You could always stop by CompUSA and pay for a McAfee or Norton security suite. They upgrade automatically and generally come with support. But you'll pay for it . If you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me. Good luck.

I'd get Norton; it is working very well for me and clients, and doesn't cost that much. You can find it on sale. The 2004 edition is perfectly good and it will auto update. Go here; I'd recommend here except it seems to be down at the moment. Go to their forums, read their FAQs, etc. They will tell you to get Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware, both free, and recommend some free virus scanners and firewalls, which you can use if you wish (instead of Norton AV & Internet Security). If SBS&D and AA don't fix your problem you will be told to get Hijackthis which is a semi manual method of removing spyware and crap. They will have you run it, save the log and post it into their forum for their experts to look over. I don't know who these people are that want to sit and do this for free, but they are very good and helpful. Follow their instructions and you should be good. With Norton running from then on you should be safe, as long as it updates itself or you keep it updated. Good luck.

 

[matadorpoeta]

thank you for the advice. i already have spybot and ad-aware on my computer but i think they only take care of spyware, not viruses.

i also have systemsuite which is the program that is telling me about all these viruses. it is unable to clean them however.

i'm downloading avg right now. hopefully this will help.

i think i tried hijackthis before, and found it too complicated a process for me.

 

[DSKent]

What operating system are you running? What you're going to want to do is restart your computer in safe mode and then run virus scan. The problem is that a virus scan running in normal mode cannot delete a running process. If you're running Windows XP, you'll have to restart your computer and press F8 before Windows starts to load. For more information on how to boot into safe mode (in XP or any other version of Windows), check this site.

 

[matadorpoeta]

thanks for the advice. avg seems to have helped but i'm still getting pop-ups that spybot and ad-aware can't get rid of. is it a virus that causes pop-ups?

i'm going to see if i can run avg in safe mode right now.

i have windows 2000.

 

[esquire.]

I tried to download all the programs suggested, but I don't think I was succesful. I still got a pop-up saying that 'spyware is infected. someone has planted a spybot in your pc.' I tried to download spybot sd again, and I realized that I never saw a wizard to help set it up. So, I think I might have downloaded the programs, but they're not running? I saved them, instead of just opening the files. As you can tell, I'm pretty incompetent with computers.

Same with the google toolbar. I don't see it anywhere, and I'm still getting pop-ups.

How do you know if these pop-ups are just normal pop-ups, or more serious. Sometimes, I get these pop ups that take forever to complete. Or, I get these pop-ups that don't show on the screen even though the bottom toolbar says there's a
new window opening up.

I really, really don't want to try to go through the hijackthis method. I tried to read some of it, and it gave me a headache.

 

[j]

You do have to run the installer programs. The easiest way to find them (if you don't know where they went, very common) is to right click on something online and go to "Save target as" then note what directory it is saving things into. Typically all the stuff you have saved lately will be in that directory. Open the directory and run the executables of all the programs.

That popup you describe sounds a lot like an ad that pops up from websites, trying to get you to buy software. Next time you see that popup note if it says "Microsoft Internet Explorer" in the title bar. If so, it's an ad, and you don't necessarily need to be too worried by it.

 

[Brian SD]

There ARE viruses for Macintosh computers. Do not be fooled by advertizing propaganda. This is why I hate Mac. Apple breeds ignorance. Saying Macs are virus free is like saying that you can't get herpes from a redhead. Just because there are fewer redheads in the world doesn't make them immune to herpes.

I'd say the chance of a modern internet user somehow acquiring a virus is 99.6% for a PC, and 25% or less for a Mac. Because there are less Macs, there is less virus-writing for Macs, etc. Sure they aren't virus-free but they are much better off than Windows. To respond to the first post... I always use Housecall

 

[esquire.]

You do have to run the installer programs. The easiest way to find them (if you don't know where they went, very common) is to right click on something online and go to "Save target as" then note what directory it is saving things into. Typically all the stuff you have saved lately will be in that directory. Open the directory and run the executables of all the programs.

J,

I tried doing the save target as, and it takes to Yahoo files. But, the programs I downloaded aren't here. I'm pretty sure that's where they were initially sent. Next time, I want to make sure I save them to the computer, instead of just opening it up? And, what happens when I delete my files, including offline, will this erase these programs?

Assuming that I can find them, or more likely, redownload again, how do I 'open up directory and run the exectuables.' Do I just right click, and select open.

And, would any potential viruses explain why my computer is so super-slow?

Its funny, colleges have all these pre-reqs to graduate where you have to complete all these silly, stupid classes- yet there's no req for any computer class. I really tried to enroll in one, but they were already full.

 

[chorse123]

Here's a useful article from Slate on virus proofing your computer: http://www.slate.com/id/2102230

 

[j]

J,

I tried doing the save target as, and it takes to Yahoo files. But, the programs I downloaded aren't here. I'm pretty sure that's where they were initially sent. Next time, I want to make sure I save them to the computer, instead of just opening it up? And, what happens when I delete my files, including offline, will this erase these programs?

Assuming that I can find them, or more likely, redownload again, how do I 'open up directory and run the exectuables.' Do I just right click, and select open.

And, would any potential viruses explain why my computer is so super-slow?

Its funny, colleges have all these pre-reqs to graduate where you have to complete all these silly, stupid classes- yet there's no req for any computer class. I really tried to enroll in one, but they were already full.

Sorry, I guess I forgot a step. You need to select "All files" under "save as type" in the method I described earlier. Nevermind that method though.

In any case it will be much easier for you to simply redownload the files. When it asks what directory, navigate to your Desktop. Save them, and they will appear as icons on your desktop.

You will double click each one to run it, and it will install. Install one at a time, and allow it to complete its initial scans or whatever (and possible reboots) before installing the next one. Once installed, you can delete the installer programs (the files you saved to the desktop in the earlier step). As for configuration etc., I can't help you there as I don't know those programs well enough, but following the wizard or instructions on the site I posted earlier should help you get through that.

It is not exactly viruses but spyware/adware/crapware will definitely make your computer ultra slow. The most common are what are called Browser Helper Objects (BHO) like those damn toolbars that seem to come out of nowhere and install themselves in your browser. They monitor what you do online and send information back to their home server to be sold to evil companies as demographic marketing data. This consumes your bandwidth (affecting Internet speed), your system's memory (affecting how much and how fast your computer can get things done) and your CPU cycles (affecting speed at which programs can run).

Removing these is where Hijackthis comes in handy, although Spybot and Ad Aware should do a lot of it.

If you want a major boost without all this trouble, and you have a bit of money to spend, take your computer (just the main box) down to a computer store and get them to put in some more RAM (memory). This will almost invariably help to speed things up significantly, although it doesn't remove the source of the problem. Though it's easy for those of us with 1GB of RAM to forget, the typical computer out there in the world is running on maybe 64-128MB. Adding 256-512MB for a cost of ~$100 will make your computer practically feel like new again.

 

[esquire.]

Once installed, you can delete the installer programs (the files you saved to the desktop in the earlier step).

J,

I'm confused about this step. If I do this step, would I no longer have these programs scanning for spyware, etc... And, to delete, I should right click, and select delete?

Thanks everybody. I hadn't even thought about these poblems. Once I was able to run them, I found that I had 159 viruses and lots of spyware as well. Although, for some reason, Adware didn't detect any such problems but Spyware S&D did even though I ran Spyware after I had used Adware. I wonder if Adware didn't find them because I still had my browser open while doing that?

Whenever I open up my computer, the Grisoft's program scans for viruses. How do I select so that it doesn't run every time I open up my computer?

My computer seems to be a little faster, but it still seems abnormally slow. Should I change my MTU. Right now, the MTU is 1400 but I read that for a dial-up it should be 576. I don't know if 1400 means its more than enough, or if the MTU has to be exactly 576?