40 replies to this topic

[Hiro]

The problem was solved! Used Adware, Advast! (Originally had AVG), and Spybot S&D. Then used system recovery. 1/20/08

K, Im having a number of computer problems, if you can help, it is greatly appreciated.

All 3 things started happening on the same day

1. A wierd program has been installed to my computer, I did not install, it just appeared, when I try to uninstall. It keeps on coming back, its called
Spyware Guard 2009

2. The computer is also restarting on its own

3. Wierd pop ups advertising virus protection, have been poping up more then normal.

Please and thanks guys.

Edited by Hiro, 19 January 2009 - 12:49 PM.

[Merzlin]

Most likely a virus man...What Anti-Virus software do you own?

[Hiro]

I use AVG 8.0 Merzlin

Edited by Hiro, 17 January 2009 - 04:04 PM.

[analogkid]

Merzlin, on Jan 17 2009, 03:59 PM, said:

Most likely a virus man...What Anti-Virus software do you own?

More likely spyware, probably with some kind of trojan hiding behind it.

The programmers of Windows, in their infinite wisdom, set up Windows to reboot upon BSOD(blue screen of death). Try downloading and running AVG Free(http://free.avg.com/). That might be able to detect and remove whatever has made its way onto your PC. If that doesn't work, or only gets some of it, Windows Defender(http://www.microsoft...er/default.mspx) should be able to finish the job.

Otherwise, you're probably going to have to wipe the HD and reinstall.

EDIT: Nevermind, you already have AVG. Make sure you run a complete scan with it.

Edited by analogkid, 17 January 2009 - 04:07 PM.

[Spork-tar]

I recommend you scan with Spybot search and destroy. The free version of Avast Home editon is also great antivirus software.

[bogboogalars]

Well if you can, I would download Avast anti-virus, it is what I use on all of my computers. It won't slow your comp down like norton or the others... But just do a full scan with Avg if that doesn't work try spybot, then if that doesn't work try avast.

[Blacksunshine]

You are fucked.
Delete the partition and reinstall your os. Tell whoever shares your computer not to be an idiot and click those pop ups that randomly warn you that you have a virus. And when it tries to install shit to tell it no.
Seriously your OS is hosed. It is no so much a virus and that is why AVG isn't doing anything about it. Someone chose to install this. Or you are fishing around on funky websites. And still clicking things you shouldn't be.

[aetherguy881]

Spork-tar, on Jan 17 2009, 04:28 PM, said:

I recommend you scan with Spybot search and destroy. The free version of Avast Home editon is also great antivirus software.

I've used Spybot S&D ever since I've had Windows on my computer. It works wonders.

bogboogalars, on Jan 18 2009, 02:23 AM, said:

Well if you can, I would download Avast anti-virus, it is what I use on all of my computers. It won't slow your comp down like norton or the others... But just do a full scan with Avg if that doesn't work try spybot, then if that doesn't work try avast.

Avast is also what I use as my anti virus. The only issue I've had with the free version is when the free license expires. You just need to reinstall it and you're good to go. It's a much smaller and more efficient program than AVG and many other anti virus programs.

Also, there's another handy program called Adaware. It works similar to Spybot S&D, but it finds a few more things that it doesn't. With those three, you should be perfectly fine.

Blacksunshine, on Jan 18 2009, 07:25 AM, said:

You are fucked.
Delete the partition and reinstall your os. Tell whoever shares your computer not to be an idiot and click those pop ups that randomly warn you that you have a virus. And when it tries to install shit to tell it no.
Seriously your OS is hosed. It is no so much a virus and that is why AVG isn't doing anything about it. Someone chose to install this. Or you are fishing around on funky websites. And still clicking things you shouldn't be.

If you're going to go this route and delete the partition, you might as well throw the pie at Microsoft and download some distro of Linux, I recommend Ubuntu. It's much better than anything Microsoft can think of and is really easy to use. I'm personally a fan of the Gnome desktop environment, it's simple and works, but you can also use the KDE if you want more flashy stuff than what's available in Gnome. Oh, and it's free. Also you can ignore all the problems you've had with virus'.

Think carefully, and don't let the command line scare you.

Good luck!

[boisie]

http://www.2-spyware...guard-2009.html

If you feel like trusting your computer knowledge, I'd do the manual removal. Otherwise, just use the automatic.

[Foamfoot]

Look at boise's sig, yes my awesomeness has graced it, but if you look at the point in it, it is telling you that Linux is different, and you may need some help switching to an alternative system.

I've had one of these, I just ran all the scans and everything was fine.

Edited by Foamfoot, 19 January 2009 - 10:35 PM.

[chefdave]

I too had one of these, I had to end up wiping my hardrive because I could not find an antivirus that would permenently remove it.

[aetherguy881]

chefdave, on Jan 18 2009, 01:50 PM, said:

I too had one of these, I had to end up wiping my hardrive because I could not find an antivirus that would permenently remove it.

Check the results of the scan, it should give you the location that the files are in. Go there and delete them. Of course with windows, you can't truly delete anything.

Foamfoot: I'll to ignore that. Linux isn't for everyone, however it is superior. We'll just leave it at that.

[chefdave]

I did delete them, I would restart the scan and it would reappear.

[nerfboi]

I would do what Blacksunshine says. Make sure to back up all of your important files, just not the exe. files. Those will host the virus in them. And are you using Vista or XP?

[boisie]

Foamfoot, on Jan 18 2009, 12:31 PM, said:

Look at boise's sig, yes my awesomeness has graced it, but if you look at the point in it, it is telling you not to get linux. Only get linux if you have good knowledge of your computer, and what it's made of. In my personal opinion, anything that requires that much knowledge of a user is shit. I hate linux, don't burn me.

I've had one of these, I just ran all the scans and everything was fine.

Don't hate something you specifically can't use. Maybe you wouldn't hate linux if I told you some things about it. Your router, and modem are both running Linux (You have a modem for cable, dsl, 56k, whatever). Your DVD player may be based on linux. A tivo is running linux. If linux hadn't evolved, you wouldn't be able to use these items nearly as well as you can now. You have a graphical installer, which is much more comprehensive than the windows installer on most major distros. Also, with Knoppix, the livecd era came about. I used an Ubuntu liveCD to save my windows install.

Now back to the original issue. A reformat is not going to be necessary. What you need to do is follow the instructions I gave you while you run windows in safemode.

booting to safemode

Edited by boisie, 19 January 2009 - 12:21 PM.

[Foamfoot]

boisie, on Jan 19 2009, 09:21 AM, said:

Foamfoot, on Jan 18 2009, 12:31 PM, said:

Look at boise's sig, yes my awesomeness has graced it, but if you look at the point in it, it is telling you not to get linux. Only get linux if you have good knowledge of your computer, and what it's made of. In my personal opinion, anything that requires that much knowledge of a user is shit. I hate linux, don't burn me.

I've had one of these, I just ran all the scans and everything was fine.

Don't hate something you specifically can't use. Maybe you wouldn't hate linux if I told you some things about it. Your router, and modem are both running Linux (You have a modem for cable, dsl, 56k, whatever). Your DVD player may be based on linux. A tivo is running linux. If linux hadn't evolved, you wouldn't be able to use these items nearly as well as you can now. You have a graphical installer, which is much more comprehensive than the windows installer on most major distros. Also, with Knoppix, the livecd era came about. I used an Ubuntu liveCD to save my windows install.

I can use linux, I just believe that it is somewhat undeserving of the praise that it receives. Don't get me wrong, linux is a good OS, and better than windows, it's kinda an Ocarina of Time type of thing. Yes it's great, and definantly better than windows, but it still has some flaws, it's not made by god, not even Ubuntu Christian Edition.

Linux is by far better than windows, and really, it has amazed me in many ways, but it's not as perfect as people make it out to be, at least from a users standpoint.

Edited by Foamfoot, 19 January 2009 - 10:34 PM.

[Hiro]

Thanks for the advice guys, the problem was solved, I scanned for viruses and spyware, with spybot, adware, and avast, then used a system recovery, somehow my music and pictures survived so thats a plus.
But there is one problem that I cant solve, It happened before my computer got whatever was fucking with it. Sometimes when I start up my computer, after it goes to the computer logo, compaq, it'll go to a screen kind of like the command prompt, except with no text on screen. Normally it would go the computer logo, then to Windows XP logo, then to the user selection.

Edited by Hiro, 19 January 2009 - 12:46 PM.

[nerfsharpie6]

The weird command lines appearing with no text is probably another virus or the after-effects of having spy-ware on your computer. With Windows you never really can get a clean slate after a virus has infected it. You'll always have the roots from the virus on file for as long as your HDD remains intact. Its just one of those things we Windows users need to deal with. Simple fact of life.

As for Ubuntu, when I had it I found it difficult to find programs that would support Linux distros' especially games. If you're afraid of using Linux or Ubuntu then you can find the command (gnome-terminal) codes on Google. With Linux you don't need to worry about virus's since you literally need to authorize everything that comes across your HDD, and it has its own "executable" style called tar.gz. Its a target gunzip format that only Linux uses.

EDIT: Now that I just re-read your post I think the command line stuff is just starting your programs that you have checked to start on boot. If it did this before the virus, then more likely than not thats exactly whats happening.

Edited by nerfsharpie6, 19 January 2009 - 02:18 PM.

[analogkid]

gunzip isn't an executable, its an archive. The archive of choice for GNU/Linux users, much like .zip is the archive of choice for Windows users. Linux's security comes from the fact that it actually uses file permissions and multiple users, unlike Windows. If a program wants access to system files, it has to get "root" access, which is usually given in Ubuntu by the user entering their password, or through the use of the command "sudo" at the terminal. Also, try WINE (Wine Is Not a windows Emulator) for getting Windows games and programs running on Linux.

Sounds like it could be a BIOS issue to me. Maybe its not finding your master HDD right away or something. What does it do after the black command-prompt like screen? Freeze?

Edited by analogkid, 19 January 2009 - 02:26 PM.

[boisie]

a target gunzip (tar.gz) is easily opened in winblows. Just use winRAR or something.

And the issue with winblows is the self-corrupting registry. I do agree that a clean hard drive with a clean install is best for all. And it gives you a chance to make a new startup disk with all of your programs, and no bloatware. And you can minimize it down to your PC's requirements only.

[Foamfoot]

Hey, we're still on the topic of weird computer stuff, and I didn't want to start a whole new topic.

Has anyone gotten this?

[analogkid]

That is the most ingenious virus ever. Not only does it feed off of user stupidity, but it is installed via removable media, just like the good old days, and has randomized elements that make it harder to pick up with antivirus programs. This thing is gonna run wild for quite some time.

[nerfsharpie6]

What I noticed was that the developer did a half decent job at falsifying the Windows Corporation security cert under the install option. Who ever did that is a genius. I wonder how much damage this could do to an unsecured network and if any information could be transmitted to you.

After reading the F-Secure site I noticed it pulls files from win32.dll to trick you into believing its a real install program. The new network patch will fix it right up.

Edited by nerfsharpie6, 21 January 2009 - 04:44 PM.

[Foamfoot]

How could someone get a virus from something external? Did they buy a flash drive from the black market?

Virus knowledge has never been one of my strong points...

[Aimless]

Foamfoot, on Jan 21 2009, 05:03 PM, said:

How could someone get a virus from something external? Did they buy a flash drive from the black market?

Virus knowledge has never been one of my strong points...

If an external drive/device comes into contact with an infected machine, depending on the virus present, it may become infected and become an infection vector. Most of these viri also rely on the fatally vulnerable auto-play function of Windows.

Edit: Also, disabling the auto-play functions of your OS will stop the annoying "Select an action" window and whatever else in the autorun.ini file on the media.

Edited by Aimless, 21 January 2009 - 05:21 PM.