Did this clean off the virus from my computer?

Question

I had some sort of Google redirect virus for the last week, and nothing cleaned it. I have an EEE Pc netbook running windows xp. My computer totally crashed today and wouldn't start at all (it just kept giving me the black screen asking what configuration I wanted to use because Windows did not start up successfully). So the tech support people had me press F9 repeatedly, and it did some sort of reboot or reinstall thing. I had to go through the whole setup like when you first get it. Also, all of my files and programs are deleted. Now it is no longer redirecting me on the internet. I have two questions:

1) What did I do? A system repair? A reformat?
2) Whatever I did, does that clean off any viruses/spyware/malware? Also, if someone actually HACKED into my computer and was remotely accessing it, would that be cleared off too?

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'll pick a best answer TODAY!

Answer 1

you did a recovery to factory settings>and yes you got rid of your viruses/spyware/malware and no one hacked your computer except the viruses or malware>download an anti-viruse program or you will have the problem again and again

Answer 2

The best way is to download Ccleaner here http://bitly.com/UrALrK



Or you can go on Windows operating system locate the command prompt and go there to do the following:

Create a Recovery file of system and date it today.



Then begin by;

delete the 'Temp' folders..they have hidden subfolders so you need to set the attributes in order to bypass this. For each subfolder delete all cookies and rubbish left behnd after install-uninstalled programs. Do a 'dir' command to check your progress. Make sure the 'Temp' file is empty.



goto c:\windows\prefetch and delete everything in there..no exceptions



goto c:\windows folder and delete all the '$' files that have been installed by updates. They can all be succesfully deleted and just take up disk space.



Locate the Internet Temporary Files..Check to see how high the saving level is..some have it set at 30 days..but that stores faaaar tooo much data..though it slows down the system overal. Keep this to a minimum..suggest 2 or 5 at most.



Delete all 'cookies' all those you don't need.



Locate the windows directory and go through the folders you know and those you don't need. Check this once a week at least. Some programs will install under XP as NT and older systems where there is no check of systems weight.



Check to see that system files have not changed since last booting. Things like .ini files or .bat are important items.





Check for 'Hidden Directories' all over the disk...do this at the command prompt:



dir *.* /ah wil show these hidden directories



Check the 'dir' command for all parameters

Answer 3

You usually do not need to reformat your machine to remove a virus. Reformatting will also delete all of your data, music, email software etc. from the machine, and is a last resort. Always make a complete backup of your data before you consider reformatting.



You often have to take a multi-pronged approach to eradicate all the malware. One product usually doesn't do it alone.



First download the following (if the virus is blocking your internet, you may have to download these on another machine and burn to CD or copy to a USB memory stick)



Malwarebytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php



Superantispyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html



CCleaner (cleans out caches) http://www.ccleaner.com



Avast! 4 Home: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html



Now, start the machine in Safe Mode (hit the F8 function key as the machine boots up, and choose Safe mode)



Turn off System Restore on your machine, but only until you get this fixed - many of these trojans get copied into the System Restore files, which anti-virus programs aren't allowed to touch and the viruses could reinstall themselves from there. My Computer > Properties > System Restore.



Then run CCleaner (it'll make scanning faster because it will delete a bunch of temp files and save you from having to scan those.)



Then run Malwarebytes, and clean everything it says.



Then install and run Avast - tell Avast to do a boot-scan - click on "schedule boot-scan" - and restart the computer



Let it start and do the Avast boot scan



Then install and run Superantispyware



Then turn System Restore back on.



Now install the antivirus program and antispyware program of your choice to do continuous scanning, and make sure you keep it up to date.



Always keep your Windows, web browser and Java software up to date - frequent patches are released to plug security holes.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/149298/10_quick_fixes_for_the_worst_security_nightmares.html

Answer 4

and please don't put avg on ur pc it is junk

use avira (which is the # 1 rated free anti virus program for 2009/2010 ) or avast

and the next time u have a problem go here and follow the malware reoval video

http://youtube.com/mrizos

Answer 5

you reformated pc. so you have a fresh copy of windows now you need down free version of AVG anti virus program http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage and free version of spyware remover http://www.malwarebytes.org/