How do I get rid of this nuisance programme ?

Question

I have a nuisance programme that keeps re-appearing on my computer. I subscribe to Norton anti virus but it got through that. I have tried Spy-Bot and Ad Aware which will get rid of it, but it re-installs itself onto my desktop every time I start up and then throws a big pop-up onto my screen. It seems that if I could somehow lock it out of the start up sequence, that would possibly do the trick? If anyone can help, I would most appreciate it as this bloody programme is giving my feet the headache!

Answer 1

If you managed to get infected then at some stage you attempted to download a program which contained a fake program (trojan). You agreed to this because you pressed a button called ACCEPT. You then continued the process by pressing a button called RUN, which installed the fake program.

After the program was installed Norton probably flashed up a message box telling you that you had a virus installed but it could not be removed.

The reason Norton cannot remove it is because it is a program. Norton cannot stop a live process. This may have to be done in Safe Mode. If you open Windows Task Manager and try to kill the process but it will not die then you will defintely have to remove it in Safe Mode.

You should get HijackThis and also get some specialist information about how to remoe every trace of this program. Even if you manage to get rid of the main components there could be 90-120 entries in your registry that will remain there forever. They could look like this:

{19293746251101}

and you would never know what they were. So I suggest you go to a forum and try and find a specific registry cleaner that knows what to look for in order to get rid of the registry entries.

Answer 2

You have to switch off system restore and run your anti spyware in safe mode to get rid of it. It has back up files installed, and they re-install it. Safe mode stops it doing that so all the files can be removed.
Go to Start - programs - accessories - system tools - system restore. Click the link on the left, follow the instructions.
To get into Safe Mode repeatedly press the F8 key after the bios screen loads but before Windows loads. You'll know if you made it because the screen will be at 800 x 600 and your pc will be slow.

You need all these anti spyware programs;
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5 - AVG anti spyware
http://www.safer-networking.org - Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware. Use the Teatimer settings to protect Internet Explorer, and the Immuniser to stop malware getting on your pc.
Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won't uninstall spyware that is already on your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com
Plus;
http://www.lavasoft.com - Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware

Answer 3

Have you tried booting into safe mode then running anti virus? Then re-starting the machine normally. This will give Norton access to files that it normally cant get at because Windows uses them in normal mode. Some viruses use these files.

Answer 4

Go to Start, click Run, type msconfig, click on the startup tab and untick the program that looks like the causing program. Warning, don't untick the system ones...

Get an Anti-Spyware such as Windows Defender or AVG Anti-Spyware.

AVG Anti - Spyware can be downloaded from http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5 and click on "avgas-setup-7.5.0.50.exe" or "avg75free_467a1008.exe" for a Anti-Virus. Windows Defender can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en

Answer 5

First turn off System Restore. Next, boot into Safe Mode (repeatedly tap F8 while it boots), then run your anti-virus scan & Ad-Aware etc in there. Reboot normally & don't forget to turn restore back on. I'd make a restore point too.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

try running the following two menus of ccleaner
cleaner > Analyze > Run Cleaner
issues > Scan For Issues > Fix Selected Issues

Read Howto of CCleaner on the link below
http://bestofrest.blogspot.com/2006/11/ccleaner.html

Answer 7

You can go into the registry to have a look at the programs that start up when you turn your computer on.

click start > run and type "regedit"

then browse to:
hkey_local_machine > software > microsoft > windows > currentversion > run

then this has a list of all the programs that startup when its turned on. just delete any that look suspicious

hope this helps

Answer 8

Hi hedgeybear

I would reboot into safe mode (reboot and press F8 during startup) when into safe mode run each of your virus and spyware programmes again - that usually does it

God Luck

AJ

Answer 9

it is noted as nagware. It pretends to be an anti-virus application and comments which you have a virulent disease once you do not (apart from it). Boot from a restoration CD with anti-virus and eliminate the nagware devoid of beginning it because of the fact the CD would not run abode windows.

Answer 10

Do your scans in safe mode. that way any start-up items do not run and can be readily removed. Try HijackThis to see what is running, and also you need to use several cleaning utilities as they don't all catch the same bugs