Help! Spyware and virus protection isn't working...need advice!?

Question

I allowed the office "IT" guy to install something on my personal laptop and I'm crawling with trojans, worms, adware, spyware, etc. Spent €90 to get it fixed -- they took off McAffee (which had been working before the "IT jerk". Now I have Kaspersky and Super AntiSpyware. Things keep coming through -- hundreds of infestations even with 2-3 times daily scans.

I'm considering backing up everything and starting from scratch, but won't I also back up the infected files?

What software should I use to protect myself?

Should I go back to the 2nd (real) IT guys to finish what I paid them for?

Would love any advice on this age-old topic! Thanks!

Also worried about my security -- we plan to do a lot of online shopping for Christmas this weekend. How do I know my details are safe? Is the padlock icon on "secure" sites enough to trust?

Kaspersky is the new virus proctection they gave me... is it any good? What do you recommend to get backdoor viruses? btw, don't do much downloading...pretty low key but do run small web apps like tetris and MS Office interactive stuff. Thanks for the input...anyone else with tips, please???

Answer 1

You have to have some kind of guarantee with the tech. that fixed your pc for Pound 90. I would call the company and complain and demand that they send over another tech. Plus you tell them you are not paying one Pound.

McAfee is not all that great. (In my spare time I am a beta tester for just about all the antivirus/antispyware software.

Kaspersky and Superantispyware is excellent. I use Superantispyware and this software will always find what all other miss. I think Kaspersky is second best in the world. And the antivirus I use I consider to be #1 in the world. As it is also used by the Govt. Of China. You pay only a one time fee for life of $29.99 and you get daily updates and all new versions for life. State of the art technology that is light years ahead of any other antivirus program on the market. You can read about Twister Trojan Antivirus on their web page.
http://filseclab.com

If you evaluate for thirty days they will give you a thirty day key. You must turn off Kaspersky, as you can run only one antiviurs program or you will have serious conflict with your system. You can run three or four antispyware without conflict. All you need is the resources. I run four.

Important that you have a firewall. Something that you don't mention. If you don't have one, download the free version of Zone Alarm. I use the free version for ten plus years. And run a daily leak test. Test passes every time. http://www.zonealarm.com Look for the free version under "home", free for personal use on their web page.

Or you can run what is known as an online house call scan from Trend Micro. (No conflict) Just follow the instruction on their webpage. Complete the entire scan as the antiviurs program will kill any virus found. Here is the link.

http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/

Minddoctor, France

PS: I would not use my credit card until I have a good firewall and all the above problems are resolved.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Something has gone radically wrong here. Kaspersky (KAV) has far better virus detection rates then McAfee:
(For a test report, go here:http://www.av-comparatives.org/
and click "Comparatives" on the left, then choose #15.)

However, KAV can be very aggressive with it's Proactive Defense Module (heuristic detection) , sometimes alerting the user to harmless, but suspicious processes. PDM is really only for the advanced user, who is able to interpret whether the alerts are harmless or malicious and take the appropriate action.

I would suggest you try and disable Proactive Defense Module and see if the alerts become less.

Like wise, SuperAntiSpyware is an excellent anti-spyware app...one of the best.

Seems like a little tweeking of settings may be needed.

Both KAV and SAS are excellent "top-shelf" anti-malware programs.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Remove all of your antivirus programs fully at first, then reboot your computer. (Antivirus programs some times "quarintine" viruses that they can't delete and so they keep coming back)
Now after restarting, click 'Start'->'Run' type msconfig, hit enter.
A new window will come up, click on the Startup tab, uncheck any boxes that start programs you don't recognize and try to remember which ones are checked, that you took off.
Now install spy bot search and destroy, run a full scan and remove anything it finds, now reinstall Super Antispyware and run a full scan with it and delete anything that is found, if it asks to restart to delete some protected files select ok.
*Make sure you don't have antivirus programs other than these two installed, check your program lists, in Add/Remove programs in Control Panel, and remove any programs you don't recognize or those you installed most recently.
Now install an advanced task manager:
http://www.innovative-sol.com/taskmanager/
See what processes are running and post this in the question.
Also see if any process has a high risk value and if you don't recognize it, terminate it and see if it shows up again.
If you are getting popups from internet explorer, check what Add-ons you have installed with spy bot search and destroy and try removing them.
If it denys removal then it is very suspicious and may need removal.
Now disconnect your internet and see if any error messages show up or if your computer "speeds" up using the task manager to see what processes are in use before and after, post those.
Install HijackThis program and do a system check, and post the log file it creates here so we can see what programs are being run on your computer.
List all problems with your computer, speed, popups, internet homepage issues, etc.
Restart your computer again and do another scan with HijackThis and post that also.
With this extra information we might be able to track down the culprit(s).
If none of this resolves the issue, post the HijackThis log to www.geekstogo.com, in the forum section for virus and let an expert find the specific solution.
*Make sure you disable system Resore before running the scans
*Make sure you disable Remote Access as well

Go to 'Start'-'Run' type in msinfo32, and hit enter.
A window should come up, click 'Internet Settings'->'Internet Explorer'->'Cache'->'List of Objects' from the tree to the left.
Try to copy this information and post it, notice if there are any websites listed that you didn't authorize an install, ie) www.sun.com and java should be usually left alone but suspicious web objects installed should be removed with spybot search and destroy.

Good Luck.

Answer 5

If you paid some company to fix it and they removed the anti virus, doesn't sound like a good company to go back to.

If you keep getting infected, sounds like either there is a downloader or backdoor virus that the scans are missing. Or it could simply be your browser habits. If you download alot of stuff using P2P networks like Limewire, Kazza, Torrents etc... Then there is a very high chance that is where most of your viruses are comming from. Also alot of 'questionable content' internet sites are riddled with viruses.

Answer 6

This should hopefully help with the spyware aspect of your issue. Try some of these. This is a list I have compiled of what I feel are the best free-anti-spyware/anti-malware websites. When I use them together on my system it does an excellent job in keeping it clean.

Advanced Windows Care http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=download

Ad-Aware 2007
http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Advanced Spyware Remover
http://www.evonsoft.com/Download.htm

EMCO Malware Destroyer
http://www.tucows.com/preview/414285

Malware Sweeper
http://www.malwaresweeper.com/download.html

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Spyware Begone
http://www.spywarebegone.com/download.html

Super Anti-Spyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

Answer 7

I recommend Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. I've tried Eset NOD32, AVG and Norton but none of them detected the viruses that Kaspersky had. Good points for Kaspersky Internet Security 2009, it has virtual keyboard, parental control, and it can also scan your email and network traffic at the same time. Updates are done every hour. Also, if you often download stuff from the web, better use Kaspersky.

Answer 8

You can free download antispyware 2007
http://www.antispyware2007.info which is an essential tool to keep your system free of dangerous spywares, protecting your privacy and your PC. It is a cutting-edge anti-spyware solution. This revolutionary anti-spyware program was created by the industry's top spyware experts in order to protect your computer and your privacy, while ensuring optimal system performance. With the ability to locate, eliminate and prevent the widest range of spyware threats, it is able to offer its users a safe, spyware-free computing experience; and with it's convenient automatic update feature, It ensures continuous up-to-date protection.
It also works very well for me
http://www.antispyware2007.info

Answer 9

To remove spyware,there are many solutions exist, all of them with their own strengths and weaknesses.
You had better install at least 2 antispyware
Top 5 anti-spywares reviews,comparisons and download links on
http://www.anti-spyware-center.com
You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 10

Avast home edition free, Ad-Aware (free), Windows Defender (free).
Plus, visit free on line scan at:
http://onecare.live.com
and/or
http://www.eset.com