Computer problem, Malware, Virus...

[Sirius Lee]

I downloaded some silly random program a couple weeks ago on my Windows 10 machine, and it had a serious virus. -- I should have known better. but I thought it was a key generator for a program I wanted to get free.

You're nuts. From what I've heard, most of those keygens are backdoor trojans.

I have another laptop that I only use to search items.......it's a backup and the one I had before this one.

I downloaded a trojan I could not eliminate. It takes forever to open a page, it is incredibly slow. I was leery of using it again for personal items like banking etc... I called HP, Kapersky and Best Buy and they wanted $199 to run a virus check etc...and monitor it for a year.

I said no thanks........I only paid $350 or so for it. It was cheaper to the one I have now.

Do you know how to "clean install" windows? That's the only way to completely get rid of virus/trojan.

After you clean-installed windows, I suggest you use a sandbox apps like Reboot Restore (free) or DeepFreeze ($45)--there are many on the market beside these) that instantly reverts your system back to the previous snapshot after reboot. So, if you ever accidentally installed a virus, simply reboot the computer and the virus will be gone.

 

[NoBias]

You're nuts. From what I've heard, most of those keygens are backdoor trojans.

Do you know how to "clean install" windows? That's the only way to completely get rid of virus/trojan.

After you clean-installed windows, I suggest you use a sandbox apps like Reboot Restore (free) or DeepFreeze ($45)--there are many on the market beside these) that instantly reverts your system back to the previous snapshot after reboot. So, if you ever accidentally installed a virus, simply reboot the computer and the virus wi
ll be gone.

+1
Just refornat and modify your internet behavior - no porn, torrents and downloading from non trusted sites

 

[Leosawyer]

Ugh. You could easily have a rootkit on there. If you have it's extremely hard (often impossible) to remove.

Try Kaspersky (TDDR Killer?) ESET , Malwarebytes...but specifically anti-rootkit solutions

If you have a rootkit, the best solution is to wipe your hardrive with dban, and start from scratch.

7 years now since I divorced Windows...

 

[DallasCowboysFan]

Ugh. You could easily have a rootkit on there. If you have it's extremely hard (often impossible) to remove.

Try Kaspersky (TDDR Killer?) ESET , Malwarebytes...but specifically anti-rootkit solutions

If you have a rootkit, the best solution is to wipe your hardrive with dban, and start from scratch.

7 years now since I divorced Windows...

Yeah, I threw everything at it....

I tried restarting in safe mode and I did not see a difference.
So......last night I reinstalled Windows10. I never did that before.

There were 3 options and I used the one that says 'save all my shortcuts' etc....

It took 2.5 hours to cycle through everything but it finished. Don't do this if you are in a hurry.

All my shortcuts were in the same place as they were before .
But the drivers for my printer have to be reloaded.
I lost my Kapersky and Windows Office subscription....I have not found the old disks I used to reload them yet....

I reloaded MBAM and Spybot.

I'll find a rootkit program and try that as well.

I had to reset Google as my browser and eliminate a few of the things MSFT had pinned to the startup windows. There were several little things I had to do to personalize it again. It was like getting a new computer out of the box again.

But......it seems to be running much better now. Much faster.
Before, it would take a full minute just to load a page I clicked on...it's not an exaggeration.

It was okay for a backup laptop, but I may have extended its life. It only has 4GB RAM and 500GB HD, but it will get the job done.

It's good for a backup.


Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

 

[NoBias]

Yeah, I threw everything at it....

I tried restarting in safe mode and I did not see a difference.
So......last night I reinstalled Windows10. I never did that before.

There were 3 options and I used the one that says 'save all my shortcuts' etc....

It took 2.5 hours to cycle through everything but it finished. Don't do this if you are in a hurry.

All my shortcuts were in the same place as they were before .
But the drivers for my printer have to be reloaded.
I lost my Kapersky and Windows Office subscription....I have not found the old disks I used to reload them yet....

I reloaded MBAM and Spybot.

I'll find a rootkit program and try that as well.

I had to reset Google as my browser and eliminate a few of the things MSFT had pinned to the startup windows. There were several little things I had to do to personalize it again. It was like getting a new computer out of the box again.

But......it seems to be running much better now. Much faster.
Before, it would take a full minute just to load a page I clicked on...it's not an exaggeration.

It was okay for a backup laptop, but I may have extended its life. It only has 4GB RAM and 500GB HD, but it will get the job done.

It's good for a backup.


Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

In the future use belarc advisor, it will display all software installed and the associated licenses and product keys for future reference.

TIP: Uninstall all browser extensions,

Then run basic virus scan : delete all threats,

Then run the following: (deleting all threats as detected)

#1, Malwarebytes - anti malware
#2, Malwarebytes - rootkit scanner/remover (in beta)
#3, adwcleaner - auto adware cleaner

optional

kaspersky - TDS killer

When system adware free, then add only one extension back at a time, and go through the list again... to eliminate extensions with packaged Malware/adware...

if No adware detected - Note to self that extension clean
if adware detected, uninstall, clean go to next extension

Browser extensions are a major source of adware/malware...

I am down to only using (chrome)
#1, AdBlock
#2, Gmelius for Gmail
#3, Google Keep
#4, Google Translate

Most everything else adds malware, alternate search engines, re-directs, promoted ad's, etc...

Took a long time to narrow down the list, but worth the effort...

Good luck

 

[userque]

In the future use belarc advisor, it will display all software installed and the associated licenses and product keys for future reference.

TIP: Uninstall all browser extensions,

Then run basic virus scan : delete all threats,

Then run the following: (deleting all threats as detected)

#1, Malwarebytes - anti malware
#2, Malwarebytes - rootkit scanner/remover (in beta)
#3, adwcleaner - auto adware cleaner

optional

kaspersky - TDS killer

When system adware free, then add only one extension back at a time, and go through the list again... to eliminate extensions with packaged Malware/adware...

if No adware detected - Note to self that extension clean
if adware detected, uninstall, clean go to next extension

Browser extensions are a major source of adware/malware...

I am down to only using (chrome)
#1, AdBlock
#2, Gmelius for Gmail
#3, Google Keep
#4, Google Translate

Most everything else adds malware, alternate search engines, re-directs, promoted ad's, etc...

Took a long time to narrow down the list, but worth the effort...

Good luck

You can also use uMatrix (firefox, chrome, opera) extension (from the makers of uBlock) to monitor/block the behind-the-scenes traffic of browser extensions. IOW, you can more quickly/easily spot a rogue extension this way, imo.

 

[NoBias]

You can also use uMatrix (firefox, chrome, opera) extension (from the makers of uBlock) to monitor/block the behind-the-scenes traffic of browser extensions. IOW, you can more quickly/easily spot a rogue extension this way, imo.

Thanks for the tip, will test it out...

 

[Leosawyer]

nice tips.. hmmm, umatrix is excellent. thanks userque and NoBias for the ideas.
Once you have umatrix, what else do you feel you need in the way of adblockers etc?

 

[userque]

nice tips.. hmmm, umatrix is excellent. thanks userque and NoBias for the ideas.
Once you have umatrix, what else do you feel you need in the way of adblockers etc?

I also use ghostery. Only because it helps (and makes it easier) with determining which items to block in uMatrix (after a while, you develop a knack for which items to set/unset in the matrix).

I used to use uBlock, but I think uMatrix does everything it does (not sure about the element picker yet though--a very nice feature of uBlock).

 

[stevegee58]

At the very least it's good practice to have 2 computers: 1 for general web surfing (and porn and illegal downloading) and 1 for business (i.e. trading)

Something I've been experimenting with just over the last couple of weeks is Qubes which gives the same protections on a single computer by using virtual machines. It differs significantly from the familiar VM products like VirtualBox and VMware and is *much* more secure. Bottom line is if 1 of your VMs gets poisoned it doesn't affect the other VMs. You simply delete it and make a new one.

All this is for naught if you don't have the discipline to separate your activities.