Get virus = get new computer

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G-MAN

G-MAN

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I picked up a nasty malware virus a couple days ago on my desktop. The anti-virus program nabbed it, but not before it infected my explorer.exe file and disabled system restore. I usually replace my desktop about every 5 years anyway, so this has given me the excuse to go ahead and do it. I've been dealing directly with Dell for over ten years so I ordered a new Inspiron 660 yesterday with the Core i5 processor, 8GB of ram, and a 1TB disc drive. It's got Windows 8 on it, so I'll be going from Vista to 8 (Windows 7 is on my Inspiron laptop).

Anyone using Windows 8? If so, how does it compare to Vista and Windows 7?
 
Yup, I have been using Win8 for a long time as Beta and up to the present, now I installed the $39.99 Windows 8 Pro from Microsoft. What do I think about it?, it is awesome, there is a little learning curve but once past that it is excellent, huge improvement over anything else. That being said there will be those who will belittle it but that is their problem.
 
Wow, that's pretty lousy. I can't say I've ever gotten a virus, though I've wasted a lot of time running scans.

Not sure what kinds of websites are loading such virii.
 
I've been playing with Windows 8 for a little while, and it looks pretty nice but there's a few things I find annoying. First off, it takes too many button clicks to shut down. Second, unless I use a third party program, I can't seem to find a way to bypass the whole Metro UI mess and go straight to my desktop. Third, as with the last one, unless I use a third party program, I can't seem to find a way to get a start menu on my desktop. ViStart seems to fix the last 2 problems I listed, but I wish Microsoft had included a way to do this without relying on a third-party program. Other than that, it seems to be much like good ol' Windows 7
 
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Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
G Man, What anti virus program were you running?


Avira.
 
Download malwarebytes

when I was teenager , it saved my [censored] hundreds of times over AVG/norton and since than it has gotten better.

You will find it for 5-10 bucks for live protection ( although scanning and removing is free ) in next couple days. BUY!!!

as long as you have system restore, you shouldnt need to reformat or anything. all viruses are removable
 
I know everybody has their fav anti virus program but I have to tell you that I just bought Norton Internet Security 2013 from Amazon for $24 today, good for 3 computers. You can buy it as a download (130 Megs) straight from Amazon or have it shipped via a CD.

I do like all the free stuff out there but when it comes to my computers security I like to pay for the best rated software that is out there since I do taxes, buy stuff with my credit card, banking, etc. on my PC
 
I switched to Mac 3 years ago and just let it upgrade itself as necessary, no viruses, no worries.
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
I picked up a nasty malware virus a couple days ago on my desktop. The anti-virus program nabbed it, but not before it infected my explorer.exe file and disabled system restore. I usually replace my desktop about every 5 years anyway, so this has given me the excuse to go ahead and do it. I've been dealing directly with Dell for over ten years so I ordered a new Inspiron 660 yesterday with the Core i5 processor, 8GB of ram, and a 1TB disc drive. It's got Windows 8 on it, so I'll be going from Vista to 8 (Windows 7 is on my Inspiron laptop).Anyone using Windows 8? If so, how does it compare to Vista and Windows 7?
you selling your old laptop?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Voltmaster
Download malwarebytes

when I was teenager , it saved my [censored] hundreds of times over AVG/norton and since than it has gotten better.

You will find it for 5-10 bucks for live protection ( although scanning and removing is free ) in next couple days. BUY!!!

as long as you have system restore, you shouldnt need to reformat or anything. all viruses are removable


I downloaded it, but since I've already ordered a new computer, running it on the infected computer will just be an academic exercise to see if it will clean it.

Also, installed the PRO version on my laptop and will install it on my new desktop when it gets here.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Can I have your old computer ?? .......


No.
grin2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: BobsArmory
I know everybody has their fav anti virus program but I have to tell you that I just bought Norton Internet Security 2013 from Amazon for $24 today, good for 3 computers. You can buy it as a download (130 Megs) straight from Amazon or have it shipped via a CD.

I do like all the free stuff out there but when it comes to my computers security I like to pay for the best rated software that is out there since I do taxes, buy stuff with my credit card, banking, etc. on my PC


While Norton is a good product it has too big of a footprint. ESET is much smaller and just as good at finding viruses.
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
I picked up a nasty malware virus a couple days ago on my desktop. The anti-virus program nabbed it, but not before it infected my explorer.exe file and disabled system restore. I usually replace my desktop about every 5 years anyway, so this has given me the excuse to go ahead and do it. I've been dealing directly with Dell for over ten years so I ordered a new Inspiron 660 yesterday with the Core i5 processor, 8GB of ram, and a 1TB disc drive. It's got Windows 8 on it, so I'll be going from Vista to 8 (Windows 7 is on my Inspiron laptop).

Anyone using Windows 8? If so, how does it compare to Vista and Windows 7?


While few do it, having a full backup of Windows on an external and a CD/DVD to get it going is the only foolproof way to backup your system. Depending on your antivirus program or System Restore to get you out of a jam may not always work. Windows 7 has the backup program included. An external is cheap.

I work my day job with mainframe computers so my normal thought is to just backup everything and restore what you need.

My external HD is RAID 1, so it has a backup of itself also.

I find the best way of dealing with a virus is to pull the hardrive and connect it as an external drive to a working computer and use the AV and malware products to scrub the infected HD.
 
I have Malwarebytes loaded...haven't had an "infection" since (had a nasty virus that almost took me down awhile back). I agree...and think it provides superior protection than the anti-virus programs (have Kaspersky on mine).
 
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
I downloaded it, but since I've already ordered a new computer, running it on the infected computer will just be an academic exercise to see if it will clean it.

That usually doesn't work. Modern malware is usually smart enough to evade anti-malware programs while the malware is in memory. I find it most effective to run two scans:
1) with the infected drive installed as a slave on a known-clean machine, then
2) another scan with the infected drive as boot drive on the original machine.
This means two separate anti-malware installs, of course.

Scan #1 is done to locate infected files while they are NOT loaded into memory, and are thus deletable.
Scan #2 is used to locate bad registry-entries once the infection has been disabled and cannot prevent the act of changing the registry.
Additionally, the second scan can remove other infected files that may have been missed on the first scan.

However, I've found it surprisingly easy to disable most infections manually. Infections usually drop files in specific places on the C: drive (such as system32 and its subdirectories), so I normally look for files there with anachronistic date-stamps. Infected files are always much newer than most of the files in those specific places, and they usually have the same date stamp if they are from the same infection.
 
Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: G-MAN
I downloaded it, but since I've already ordered a new computer, running it on the infected computer will just be an academic exercise to see if it will clean it.

That usually doesn't work. Modern malware is usually smart enough to evade anti-malware programs while the malware is in memory.


Yes, this is what has happened. I've run the program four times on the infected computer. The first run it found two executables and two registry entries. It deleted them with the mandatory reboot and then I ran another scan. No more executables, but still a trojan registry entry. Set to delete on reboot, run scan again, same registry entry shows up. Ran again, same result.
 
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