CPU virus question

[MiamiE]

I think I may have a virus on my CPU. It only manifests itself on my wife's login and not on mine. Any ideas as to what this could be? Her IE doesnt work, when opened it says Windows Explorer is infected and gives options to buy an Antivirus software, which is obviously bogus. Why is my user fine and hers infected? I also cant open anything on her side without a security alert showing up saying the file is corrupted. Any ideas? We dont have an anti-virus software.

[Ogre]

Google AVG virus scan. It is free and does a decent job. Also empty your history file and cookies.

[Devanmc]

what version of windows are you running?

[hotreds]

She clicked on something that downloaded this. I understand it's very difficult to get rid of. Not uncommon- in fact it pops up and when you try to "x" out, it downloads itself. Someone said the only way to prevent this is to shut down your computer right then and there w/o clicking on anything having to do with the pop up. Hopefully an IT pro can help you with it. Not sure why it's just she and not you both- unless it discerns log-ons as seperate entities.

Oh- and get some anti-virus! There's free stuff out there that will protect you. Good luck!

[Bageland2000]

Originally Posted by MiamiE

We dont have an anti-virus software.

oops!

I prefer Comodo anti virus (also free) plus get ad-aware, a great anti-adware program. PM if you need more info, I'm great with computers. I'd even be willing to talk you through something over the phone if you need it brother, this was my job for a long time...

[MiamiE]

I have McAfee Security Center but I never renewed the subscription. Will buying this and running it clear the infection?

[ninjavanish]

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of different malwares out there. Many of which could cause this type of problem.

Try using adaware first. If it doesn't solve the problem you may need to attempt to isolate the process that is running and use your administrative tools to cause it to stop running and to not auto-start.

If you cannot isolate the process you can try to do msconfig scenario where only the most basic and vital processes will boot when the is does. From there you can attempt to run adaware again, as well as antivirus and such other stuff.

If you can boot in safe mode it may give you the ability to try to investigate the problem without having it pop up every 3 seconds and causing system crashes.

[Bageland2000]

Originally Posted by MiamiE

I have McAfee Security Center but I never renewed the subscription. Will buying this and running it clear the infection?

Erick, there are FREE anti-virus programs out there that are just as good (read "better" than McAfee).

http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/free-download.html

choose your operating system and then select "Download Comodo Internet Security for Windows"

and adaware:

http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Fr...bj=dl&tag=top5

[Superbad]

probably not. My advice here is to offload any files you need from her account to an external Hard drive. Delete her account. Install AVG free or another anti virus. Defrag your hard drive. Then set up a new account, connect the external hard drive, scan it, clean it, then delete that account. Defrag again, setup a new account for her and tell her to never randomly click on stuff again. For web browsing, I would setup a separate account with no admin privileges and let her use that for web surfing. Delete it occasionally and make a new account.
I am a computer engineer whose wife constantly infected her machine via myspace, facebook, etc...

It sounds like overkill, but it is the best way, I have found to deal with Windows viruses. Or buy a Mac and install anti virus from the get go.

[Devanmc]

with this kind of virus it is debatable(some of these big system viruses can be a *****!). Seeing as its only affecting 1 user though, it should be easy to get rid of.

Mcafee isnt on of my favorites but they do work, its a big system hog though, IMO. Every AV,firewall ect has its holes though none of them are perfect.

favorites have been symantic(my AKO corporate version), bitdefender and panda. that i have used.

[EricF]

You won't make it any worse if you do. And besides if it is a virus then it should find and fix it.

[MiamiE]

I just ran my Malwarebytes Anti-Ware and it didnt find any infected files. Now I am doing this from my user not hers since nothing works on that side.

[Devanmc]

It should scan the whole computer, regardless of logged in user. Try a different program
Posted via Mobile Device

[MiamiE]

Anyone know if I need to download a 32 or 64 bit program?

[MiamiE]

Nevermind found it. I am downloading the Comodo software now.

[Starz26]

I think you may be infected with one of the versions of "Antivirus 20xx"

Here is a link with instructions on removal. I took the first resuls from google so there are other options. google "Antivirus 2001 removal"

As a side note, it is very easy to get, and a pain in the ass to remove. Only antivirus program I have ever had to catch it was Kaspersky..

There was also a thread about this on here... lets see if I can find it

Here is the previous thread http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...=virus+removal and it has some good info as well

[wayner123]

When doing the malwarebytes scan are you choosing full scan or smart scan? It is very odd that it won't pick up on the trojans/malware in your other users folders.

First, make sure you update it. There is an update tab. I have had it update to a new version within an hour, so always update first before you scan. Try doing a full scan and make sure every user is chosen. That should find something. Remove what is found and let it restart.

If that doesn't work, unplug/disconnect the internet and boot up safe mode. Then run a full scan of malwarebytes from there. Again, remove any trojan/malware found and let it restart.

Also, if it finds something, I would suggest going here: http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses...?qid=208280684

Download that TDSSkiller software and run it. If it finds something, it will get rid of it 99% of the time. If it is still happening after the tdsskiller has run, post back in this thread and I'll give you some more links and help if I can.

[Bageland2000]

MiamiE make SURE you uninstall McAfee first before you install Comodo. Again, if you have questions, please PM me brother.. Viruses can be a long painful process.

[Bill86]

It would also be a good idea not to have the Internet hooked up on your wifes log in. Download everything you need on yours and install it on hers without the Internet.

Take a look at Majorgeeks 4-5 step anti virus. It's like 4-5 free programs you run. Saved me a reload before.

Don't forget Windows' built in anti-virus. It works pretty good as long as you keep it updated, which is critical in Windoze anyway. After doing an update win$ will run a scan when it reboots. Things called rootkits get around this but you probably don't have one.
I have been able to get rid of most infections by running SuperAntiSpyware followed by WinDefender followed by a security update.