Topic: my computer has an effen virus!!

[kneedownnate]

So it's been officially sick since my last move and I've been running daily virus scans(adaware) but last night I picked up a doozie and it's officially done.  I have popups that inform me that microsoft has detected some viruses and I need to get rid of them, but I can tell it's not from microsoft.  I tried downloading spybot but when I went to install it a little bar came up and said the program has done an illegal action and needs to be shut down.  After some frustration with this happening on several different pages/programs I realized that the window will not pop up until I'm attempting to do something that might eliminate the program.  I tried going in to my computer settings, but the little "illegal action" deal pops up no matter what I try to check or adjust, so I see no way out.  So now I know who keeps popping up the windows tellin me I have viruses, it's the a-holes that installed them!  I have some stuff to finish off on a couple of sites, after which I'll probably take a little hiatus(sp?) from the internet before popping for another computer.  My friend is the computer tech for probation and said he'd set me up with linux when I get the new computer and I won't have these problems.  Aggrevating nonetheless.......

[BigMike]

Hey man,

Sure Linux and Unix are more stable, but you dont have to get rid of your win machine..

Search on google for matching symptoms from other people, and you should be able to find info on how to remove it. Man I wish I was there, I've never ever lost a battle with a virius, and I've fixed countless systems from family and friends who "just had to open that email attachment...."

Have you tried something like http://www.lavasoftusa.com Ad-Aware? It's a great free program that gets rid of a ton of crap on your computer, it might help, who knows

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Yea, ad-aware is what I run every day, but there's stuff on there it says it can't remove.  It's not so much an opened email thing as it was a goin places I don't need to be.  Stupid boredom.  And trust me, this computer is not worth saving, it's old and decrepid.  The worst kick in the nuts is it won't allow me to access my pictures, so all the pics from my first crash are gonna be lost.

[Wermz84]

Sounds like it might be multiple Instances of browser hijackers they can be a real pain in the A$# to get rid of.  Usually have to go into safe mode and scrape them out of the registry by hand, sometimes this is more trouble than its worth  , especially if you say the computers not worth saving.

On the bright side Kneedownnate, save your old hard drive and slave it to another machine to access your pictures and anything else that is important enough to make backups of.

Just my  hope it helps!

[Rocksurfer]

If you have a Download folder in My Documents open it and create a new folder called s-t-i-n-g-e-r, if you don't have a Dowload folder create one in My Documents and then open it and create the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder inside that folder. Now close those folders and go to http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ Now click on Download stinger.exe v2.5.6 save it to the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder you created in My Downloads but do not open it. By not opening it while online you may get lucky and get it without the virus interfering with the download. Now close all open windows and get offline. Go to the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder you put the download into and now open the download and follow the instructions. It will scan your intire system and hopefully rid you of that nasty little virus. You will note that it doesn't really tell you what it is doing or what it did, this is normal.

Just leave s-t-i-n-g-e-r in that folder until you need it again it will update everytime you use it.

[Rocksurfer]

Oh, try downloading spybot that way too.

[Rocksurfer]

Oh, and  another thing right click on one of the popups and click on properties. Now open your control panel, open add or remove programs and windows components, scroll down and see if you can find that program in there and remove it. You should always keep a list of what you put in there also, that way you can find illegal downloads that you don't want. Just remember to update that list every time you download something you do want.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Cool, I'll hafta give that a try later tonight. 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Tried the thing with the pop-ups and nothing opened, and also when I tried adding/removing programs before it pops up the illegal action window, and no matter what I try to open it pops up. 

[Rocksurfer]

Next time the popup "popsup" click control alt delete at the same and that will open the system manager and it will tell you what programs are currently running jot all the stuff down and then do a virus search on the web and see if any are on the list

[toynorcal]

This has every characteristic of a virus. Try rebooting your PC in "SAFE MODE" and running your anti-virus software from there followed by the AdAware program to remove the Registry changes and tracking cookies the virus probably left on your PC. If you are still having trouble running your cleaning software it will be because the virus corrupted the accessability of them and you will have to burd the program to a CD or Floppy from a non infected computer and run them from one of your disk drives in "SAFE MODE". Hope you get it fixed.

[Rocksurfer]

If you have a Download folder in My Documents open it and create a new folder called s-t-i-n-g-e-r, if you don't have a Dowload folder create one in My Documents and then open it and create the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder inside that folder. Now close those folders and go to http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ Now click on Download stinger.exe v2.5.6 save it to the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder you created in My Downloads but do not open it. By not opening it while online you may get lucky and get it without the virus interfering with the download. Now close all open windows and get offline. Go to the s-t-i-n-g-e-r folder you put the download into and now open the download and follow the instructions. It will scan your intire system and hopefully rid you of that nasty little virus. You will note that it doesn't really tell you what it is doing or what it did, this is normal.

Just leave s-t-i-n-g-e-r in that folder until you need it again it will update everytime you use it.

Oh, try downloading spybot that way too.

Something else I thought to do if the popups won't let you download this stuff, turn your computer on and as it is starting to boot up start tapping on the F8 key. This will bring up Safe Mode as toynorcal said, try to download Spybot and S-T-I-N-G-E-R while in Safe Mode. Then run these programs in Safe Mode in this order, scan disc, disc cleanup, AdAware, Spybot, S-T-I-N-G-E-R and if it let you download and run those programs throw in a disc defragment while you are still in Safe Mode, reboot and see if it snagged the little critter.

[Prismo]

I hear that effen virus is a bad one.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

you must use your imagination on the title.....and I'm still tryin stuff, but nothing is working.

[toynorcal]

Alright man, got another idea for you if you want to try it.

Go to majorgeeks.com and look for spyware tools. They should host a tool called "hijack this".

Download that and here is the important part.... DO A SCAN ONLY.
Do not select any boxes and remove anything yet unless you are certain of what you are deleting...the program will permantly delete anything you select from your computer.

Do a screen shot or copy the results of the scan and post it here. It will display all the processes running on your computer and I can point out a few if not all that bad programs you have running on your system. I will post back with what you want to delete and it would be up to you to delete it or not from there.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

I'll give it a try, but not to be pessimistic, but it will lock up whenever I try and do any scans or anything like that. 

[Rocktoy2]

As Wermz84 said you can add the hard drive to another system as a slave to access the files. You can also use the antivirus and spyware programs on the boot drive to scan the slave drive.

Just one more option.

[wa4x4]

Your computer + .45 = Problem solved! Worked for my last computer

[kneedownnate [OP]]

oh yea, it's gonna go target practicing with me when I get my .357. 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

The illegal action thing pops up when I tried to download hijack this.  I can't download or run anything because that message will pop up.  I've tried everything everybody said to do and still no progress.  When I ran in safe mode the scan worked better but I couldn't get on the internet to try running or downloading any programs.  Last resort I think I'll have my friend load some programs onto a disk and see if I can run them in safe mode.  Either way the dinosaur must die soon as it can't evolve.

[toynorcal]

Ok, install your Hard drive in a comp. that has norton or mcafee anti-virus. Burn all your pictures to a disk, then load that hard drive in a clay pigeon thrower and go empty on it.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

just ordered a new one today, should have it in 10 days

[wa4x4]

What did'ya order? I got a Dell Inspiron 6000 and I love it. Haven't tried out the WiFi yet, and here the centrino mobile technology is slow on WiFi. Cool laptop though.