Help with computer viruses? (Please read inside)?

Question

Okey -breath in- Long question coming your way...

I have the anti-virus program AVG Free Edition. It seems this program is good for detecting viruses and backdoor trojans but when it comes to fixing them it pretty much sucks.

I literally have about 8 trojans and viruses on my computer, yet AVG never seems to be able to heal them.

I would also appreciate it if you'd let me know what Anti-Virus program you'd reccomend. (I had Norton one time, yet it took off the System32, so I'm not particularly impressed with Norton...)

AND one more thing - if I were to uninstall AVG from my computer (with the viruses in the Virus Vault) would the viruses go with it? Or would they simply return if I were to re-install the program?

Thanks for taking the time to read this! All help appreciated!

Some additional information - the viruses that are 'healable' won't heal because of well...I'll just type out of it says:

Action failed.

Error while handling file C:\Program Files/Norton Internet Security\Norton AntiVirus\Quarantine\Incoming\AP2.ini

Answer 1

Okay, first thing you will want to note is that many of these trojan/virii infections cannot be healed/repaired regardless of the antivirus program. The heal/repair option applies to dealing with necessary/essential system files that are infected with the virii/trojan files. Therefore, if it is just a trojan/virii on your computer not affecting essential system files, programs, etc. you would probably want to move them to your virus vault/quarantine them. Leave them there for about a week or so to see if your pc is still running correctly then remove them if your pc/files are still in good working order. So infact, the antivirus is doing its job. If you remove AVG from your system you will be given the option to remove the components within your virus vault, or if you choose just go into your virus vault and delete the items from your virus vault before uninstallation. I like AVG, but honestly I would recommend Antivir Classic Edition over it. It is completely free, daily updates and excellent detection rates. You can download it completely free @ www.download.com. With any free antivirus I also recommend the use of at least one antispyware solution to clean the malware the antivirus scanner misses. Two free solutions would be A2 Squared Free and Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, both are free and are great at removing malware/spyware from your pc. Once again they are found @ www.download.com.

Hope this helps and Happy Holidays!

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Your additional information clearly shows that AVG is detecting old quarantined malware from the days when you had Norton installed. Look at the path to the trojans closely. See the Norton? They are still in quarantine and can do no further harm.

However, did you totally and completely un-install Norton before you installed AVG? Norton can be a real pain-in-the-keister to remove totally. Many people must Download and run the Norton Removal Tool from the Norton / Symantec website to remove it totally.
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

Once Norton has been totally un-installed, you AVG should no longer detect those long-ago removed malwares.

Of just leave them there, malware in quarantine can do no harm.

Good luck.

Answer 4

No antivirus or antispyware protection is perfect, not even the expensive ones but a good mixture will help you clean your system and hopefully keep it clean. It is advisable not to run two or more anti virus applications.

For starters, download, update and run a full scan using the following product:
http://www.superantispyware.com/
SuperAntiSpyware is exceptional and will remove the majority of difficult Trojans and Worms, not just the easy ones.
If possible it is recommended that you load the application in normal mode but run it in Safe Mode. Safe Mode can be started by continually pressing F8 during the boot sequence. However, if you are badly infected you might need to run SuperAntiSpyware more than once to help clean your system. If the only infections now being shown are in System Restore, once you are completely satisfied that you can boot normally, you can either delete the infected restore points manually, or temporarily turn off System Restore.

Next to get a grip of any snippets still left behind download & run SpyWareTerminator
http://www.spywareterminator.com

In addition download, update & run Avira. Unlike a lot of the free antivirus applications this will give you real time protection and is very quick to load at boot up.
http://www.avira.com

Assuming you have some real awkward infections and the suggestions above failed to totally clean your system I suggest you download a Smitfraud removal program from:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/desktop_software/desktop_security/smitfraudfix.cfm
Again if possible run in Safe Mode.
And VundoFix:
http://vundofix.atribune.org/

Be advised that some infections will corrupt or disable your resident security products so for completeness I have listed a couple of online scans that may help you get started:
Panda - http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/Ac...
Trend - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Good luck & safe surfing.

PS When you uninstall you will be asked if you wish to delete the viruses in the vault.

wdw

Answer 5

Yes, Norton is next to useless. Sophos AV is good, combining anti-spyware, anti-trojan and all other such goodies. Format and re-install works 100% of the time. Upgrading to Linux means you won't get any Windows viruses.

Answer 6

first thing i would do is ditch avg free edition, and install something like mcafee or a kerspaski.
avg free cant even heal a drunk person let alone remove trojans from your pc.
another thing i would do is install a antisypware tool; something like superantispyware free edtion, and do a full scan of your pc with the internet and antivirus switched off!

Thirdly, remove all that is found, and when prompted, reboot the system for affects to take place.

hope that helped abit.
cheers

Answer 7

Try using Spybot Search and Destroy in conjunction with your AVG, as with any anti virus removers, not all of them will get everything, but ya have say its not a bad program for free.

Answer 8

I have Webroot spy sweeper. It works amazingly! I also have Norton and things always go wrong with Norton as you said. But yes, I would recomend Webroot spy sweeper!

Answer 9

not every infected file can been healed. check to see if ur options delete infected files.

Answer 10

go to link below for help