Pesky virus

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CivicFan

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Yesterday my wife's laptop got a virus. It disabled the anti-virus software and then disallowed me from opening any malware detector or antivirus software. It also does not allow me to install any other malware or anti-virus software. Apparently, I do not have privileges as an administrator to finish the installation.

The way it started was that she was concerned about anonymity in browsing the web and wanted me to go thru a proxy server. After visiting one of the proxy server list sites, Firefox prompted me that Brytva.net wanted to open a pdf.pdf file. I declined but at some point Symantec popped up warning me of quarantining a virus. Then the [censored] broke loose.

So, this weekend is going to be wasted on reinstalling XP.
 
I'll try this - not sure what the virus is because it doesn't allow the installation or running of anti-virus or malware programs. Hopefully it will work.
 
Generally one is better off re-installing Windows (or whatever OS of your choice, I'm partial to Ubuntu Linux but realize it's not for everyone) than fighting a virus.

You should keep regular backups (I keep both individual file backups and monthly full-disk images -- Acronis is great for the latter, while Mozy.com is great for the former.) so this should hopefully be easy.

Personally, I'm not impressed with Symantec. I've found that Microsoft Security Essentials, while free, is quite a bit lighter weight than other AV programs, while offering ample protection. Definitely worth checking out.

Good luck!
 
If you can pop the hard drive in another computer, Kaspersky is amazing at scanning drives you're not booted to and disinfecting them. Amazon had it yesterday for $30 for the suite with a 3-computer license.
 
I had a similar virus attack my HP laptop. I have many journalism papers that I wrote for classes and wanted to save. Here's what I did.

1. I Installed Kaspersky internet security and ended up fairly far in the install process before the virus started to run.

2. Then I booted into safe mode as many viruses and trojans can't operate in safe mode. I went to the start menu and looked for Kaspersky (or what you tried to install). I found a file with "Explicative Kaspersky" It had my Kaspersky files, and BEHOLD! the virus files. (I know no profanity). Now you can approach this method two ways. First go to the folder with all of the corrupted files and either select all and then delete (This will take time) or If you have a file wiping program then go to it find the corrupted folder and tell it to wipe all, which will destroy all files in that folder. I chose the second method, and it rebooted to a clean copy of windows, then I restored my previous restore point and Voila You're back and virus free.
 
Spent the whole afternoon trying to clean it up. While I could access the internet, bleepingcomputer.com or any other sites with advise for cleaning up viruses/malware were unavailable.

If only all the effort to come up with such a virus/malware/"or whatever this thing is" were used for good, the world would be a better place.

I am seriously thinking about switching to Mac as our next computer. Windows seems to be easy to infect and almost impossible to clean up. It's a true POS philosophy.

Will try the kaspersky route next.
 
That's a really hard infection to deal with.

I had last year's version, and it blocked all attempts to install anything to get rid of it or use system restore. I had to use my cell phone to get a list of its files and registry information because it hijacked the browser.

IIRC, I deleted it's file folder from safe mode, did a quick reboot into safe mode and opened a registry editor while it was still kind of stunned, then edited the registry, redeleted the file folder it had recreated and some .dll's down in a windows subfolder and rebooted.

Or something like that.

It took the better part of a day and in hindsight, as cheap as computers are, I should have just gone and bought a new one and saved all the aggravation.

I had McAfee AV and firewall and it blew right past that.
 
So far my attempts to fix it have been futile. I can't log on to Windows in normal mode but can do it through safe mode.

Have been rescuing my files through a USB drive but since I have about 20 gigs worth of files, it's gonna take quite a few hours - safe mode disabled the USB 2 and the transfer speeds are slow. Then I will reinstall XP.

Looks like I'm gonna be busy all weekend.
 
I got a virus last night called "antivirus live" some phony virus software that warns you that your infected and pay $29.99 and they will fix your computer. I went into safe mode. used malwarebytes. deleted it, rebooted, and have been fine ever since.
 
You got lucky. My virus disabled all the anti-virus/anti-malware software, blocked any sites containing assistance with virus removal and disabled installation of new anti-virus/anti-malware software.
 
I did have antivirus 2009 last year as well. I have an old thread about it here. I remember booting in safe mode and running avast bootscan, malware bytes, superantispyware in safe mode, eset online scanner, and it took 16 hours to scan each. I must have ran every online virus scanner in safe mode that I could think of. that virus was nasty, it bogged down my pc from scanning, and would reinstall itself after rebooting. It seems impossible but getting rid of the virus can be done. It does take alot of patience.
 
Did a brand new reinstall. Just in case, I have created a new partition where I will keep the documents so that next time a reinstall will be easier. I now have Windows Essentials and Symantec Endpoint running for real time protection.

This was the nastiest infection so far.
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan

Will try the kaspersky route next.


CivicFan - did you ever try the Kaspersky Rescue ISO CD?

I've been fighting a virus problem on my machine too, and wanted to know if it's worth trying and how it worked.
 
No, I just went ahead and reinstalled the Windows. Trying to fix it was taking too much time and reinstalling it was the more efficient route at the time.
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
No, I just went ahead and reinstalled the Windows. Trying to fix it was taking too much time and reinstalling it was the more efficient route at the time.


This is the best route IMO.
Spending days / weeks scanning,rescanning is wayy too much work,plus time consuming and then there's no way of knowing 100% everything is clean.
 
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