I have a virus, but my computer won't even let me run the "search and destroy" spyware program I downloaded.

Question

I have a virus, but my computer won't even let me run the "search and destroy" spyware program I downloaded.

Answer 1

2

Answer 2

XPshieldsetup is a rogue program; run free malwarebtes & free superantispyware. Then do a clean up with free ccleaner.

Answer 3

Is the scam advertising trying to sell you, one (or more) of these useless products? If it is one of these, then it is likely an infection called Smitfraud that is causing the phony warnings. It is scam advertising trying to swindle you. And a link to a free removal tool is down at the bottom.



AdwarePunisher,

AdwareSheriff,

AlphaCleaner,

Antispyware Soldier,

AntiVermeans,

AntiVermins,

AntiVerminser,

AntivirusGolden,

AVGold,

BraveSentry,

MalwareWipe,

MalwareWiped,

MalwaresWipeds,

MalwareWipePro,

MalwareWiper,

PestCapture,

PestTrap,

PSGuard,

quicknavigate.com,

Registry Cleaner,

Security iGuard,

Smitfraud,

SpyAxe,

SpyCrush,

SpyDown,

SpyFalcon

SpyGuard,

SpyHeal,

SpyHeals,

SpyLocked,

SpyMarshal,

SpySheriff,

SpySoldier,

Spyware Vanisher,

Spyware Soft Stop,

SpywareLocked,

SpywareQuake,

SpywareKnight,

SpywareSheriff,

SpywareStrike,

Startsearches.net,

TitanShield Antispyware,

Trust Cleaner,

UpdateSearches.com,

Virtual Maid,

VirusBlast,

VirusBurst,

Win32.puper,

WinAntiSpyPro

WinHound





If so, then you most likely have a serious Smitfraud infection and a free removal tool called SmitFraudFix with the removal procedure is here:

http://siri.urz.free.fr/Fix/SmitfraudFix_En.php



More infomation and another free removal tool called RogueFix can be found here:

http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/roguefix.htm



Most "All-Purpose" malware apps such as AVG, Norton, Spybot etc unfortunatly can not remove or even detect this vile pest called Smitfraud.

________________________________

BTW, You probably caught this infection by attempting to watch a video at some website. The site said you "needed" a codec so then you downloaded it to watch the video. This was actually a ruse. A scam if you will. It was not a codec at all. (The video would have played fine without that "Codec")! What you actually downloaded was a Trojan called "Zlob".



This trojan then "phoned home" and installed the popup saying "system alert" adware on your computer with out your knowledge.

__________________________________

FYI, Spybot Search and Destroy cannot remove viruses...it is an anti-spyware that removes spyware!



Good luck.

Answer 4

Hi, just do the following steps and ur computer should be 100% fine.

1.disable system restore

2.restart in safe mode.

3. visit http://onecare.live.com and run Microsoft's free safety scanner to remove all viruses, trojans, and spyware, and registry errors.

4.restart ur computer in normal mode.

5.update spybot and Norton and scan once from both of them. Also download a firewall, the best is Comodo and its free:

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com

6.restart ur computer again.

7. re enable system restore and create a new restore point.

Now ur pc should be 100% ok.

Good Luck and take care!

Answer 5

I think you will be able to Spybot Search and Destroy after you Safe Boot. Poke the F8 key while you are booting.



When you see the popup, try to close by clicking X in the top right corner. OR use the task manager ; Ctrl-Alt-Delete.



You can control which programs and SERVICES start automatically when you boot. Run > MsConfig. Uncheck any that you want to disable during boot.



I have a series of steps you should try. I'll post a link.



Good luck,

- CarlD



https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20070904044220AA2aT9l

Answer 6

The pop up is adware/spyware, spybot search and destroy is worthless 1st download this http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/ download the Stinger v3.8.0 and run it that should do the job but also download this and install it this will keep you safe http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=435BFCE7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en&mg_id=10134

Answer 7

Run it in safe mode

Answer 8

Spybot search and destroy is bad news. I would get rid of it if I were you. It is supposed to get rid of spyware anyway not viruses. If you google it most people think it itself is spyware. Get ad-aware, it is free and works really really well. it will deal with the trojan. just do a full system scan and give it about 10-20 minutes and then check all of the boxes in the menu. It takes a while to delete trojans. But it does the job. AVG is also good against viruses and it is free. Also get windows defender, it is a must have.But if you are willing to pay then windows live onecare is defiantly your best bet. It stops viruses and spyware before it downloads. Norton has also gone downhill it does not do as good a job as the earlier versions did and slows your computer down quite a bit.



Hope I helped.



P.S. if none of these work then go into a computer store and they will deal with it.

Answer 9

When computer is restarting hit F8 and then pick safe mode. Run scan then.



I would also try Superantispyware or A-Squared 3.0 for scanning.



If these do not work look up SmitFraud or Vundo in a Google serach as you might have to use the special programs that remove those infections.

Answer 10

A lot of viruses, spyware & adware sit in RAM, the registry and System Restore. This is especially true for Trojan Horses and Spyware that are just waiting to spring into life depending on you or your computer’s actions. Any pop-up that appears on your screen telling you that your computer is at risk or something similar should be totally ignored. Clicking ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or by just closing the pop-up by clicking on the close ‘X’ can turn the beast into a monster. Just drag the pop-up(s) out of your way.



There are many web sites offering help on the removal of different gremlins but by attempting a solution yourself it will give you a better understanding of system security and hopefully you won’t be zapped in the future.



You must make sure that you have current anti virus AND anti spyware protection. If at all possible download the latest update files for these protection systems right now.



If you do not have any anti malware protection on your computer or the subscription has expired, for your convenience I have listed a few that are available for download and are completely free: I will not get involved with the rights and wrongs of each package or its effectiveness or indeed “This is best” or “This is crap” statements. Whatever you do, just make sure you have one of each type installed, updated and fully working before you start:



Anti Virus

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

http://free.grisoft.com

http://www.free-av.com



Anti Spyware

http://www.spybot.info/

http://www.spywareterminator.com

http://free.grisoft.com



Here we go:



Turn off System Restore. This can be achieved by going to ‘Start’ > ‘My Computer’ > ‘Properties’ > Open the ‘System Restore’ tab then enable “Turn off system restore on all drives” > click apply > click ok.



Now re-boot your computer in Safe Mode – (achieved by pressing F8 continually during boot up) this will prevent the beasts from kicking off and disabling your protection as we go about the house cleaning.



First of all run your anti spyware protection from start to finish and delete/quarantine any beasts found. Depending on your system this process may take several hours to complete but stick with it.



Now run your anti virus protection from start to finish and again delete/quarantine any beasts found.



IMPORTANT: As a final check, please disable your connection to the internet either by switching off your modem/router or unplugging your wireless adapter.



Re-boot your computer in normal mode and complete another spyware and another virus check. If your system is now reported as being clean - don’t forget to turn on System Restore.



Open your browser, okay I know you are off line but the idea is to check that your browser goes to your default page and it has not been hijacked. If your browser does NOT attempt to connect to your default page try resetting it and attempt another off line connection. If unsuccessful it is highly likely that you have been hijacked and you may also receive pop-ups but of course this time you are not connected to the outside world so you are quite safe.



If you consider that your browser has been hijacked please get a friend to visit these sites to download a browser recovery tool: http://www.tucows.com/preview/378682 and/or

http://majorgeeks.com/Browser_Hijack_Recover_d4349.html .

Likewise as an added precaution visit these sites and print off the manual correction instructions: http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/hijacked/ and/or http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/browserhijack.mspx

If it is not possible for a friend to help you out re-establish your internet connection and reboot in ‘Safe Mode with Networking’ and visit the same sites.



Good luck with your quest.



Who cares who dares?

Answer 11

First of all.. your friend is an idiot... a) spybot is not an antivirus program .. it's just another program slowing down your computer. and b) the only reason norton would not pick up a virus on its radar is if you do not have it properly configured and updated.



If you do not have antivirus / firewall installed from a reliable vendor like mcafee, properly configured, and automatically updating and good browsing habits.. then you're in for trouble.



If you suspect your antivirus has been disabled then you can do a web based scan from here:

http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/



If you have something OTHER than a virus then prey tell what it is and I will attempt to tell you how to remove it... or you can google the answer from a reliable antivirus vendors website...



good luck

Answer 12

You are going to have to go buy a disk that you insert, becuse i got the same thing one time and it would not even let me go to the start menu. I say your computer is gone, you might as well go get a new one.

Answer 13

The FIRST thing to do is DISABLE System Restore.

If enabled, this allows malware to hide in the computer and re-install itself. To disable it, RIGHT-click on "My Computer." Select "Properties" then under the 'System Restore' tab, check 'Turn off system restore' IF not already checked.

The next most helpful things that would help you are to use ONLINE scanners from websites to remove any malware on your PC. The current best online scanners I prefer are from Kaspersky antivirus and Bitdefender antivirus. Together, these 2 scanners will find ALL the bad stuff on your PC because they have the BEST detection rate.

First, use Kaspersky's. (FYI: ALL these scans require you to agree to a EULA and install an activex control which is needed to perform the scan, so agree to them all.)



*NOTE: Some scanners ONLY work with IE or may not fully remove malware



http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner......



Then scan with:

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html...





There are MANY other good online scanners which you may choose to also use (which will take longer but ensure safety):



http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/defau... (Windows Live Onecare)



http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/.... (A-squared scanner)



http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/...... (ewido)



http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/pes... (Spyware scan)



http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/vir... (Virus scan)



http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/s... (Panda Antivirus)



http://www.housecall.trendmicro.com/...... (TrendMicro)



http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/...... (Nod32)



http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols... (F-secure)





After using these, it's ESSENTIAL to install at least 3 antispywares. Do NOT use more than 1 antiVIRUS or firewall as they conflict.



The best things in life are FREE, and great free software can be found @:



Superantispyware.com (Superantispyware FREE)

lavasoft.com (Ad-aware SE)

emsisoft.com (A-squared FREE)

safer-networking.org (Spybot S&D)

javacoolsoftware.com (SpywareBlaster)

microsoft.com (Windows Defender)

free-av.com (Avira AV)

siteadvisor.com (Tells you how safe websites are)

phoenixlabs.org (Blocks malware, government, anti-p2p org's)

zonealarm.com (Top Notch Firewall)

comodo.com (Another Top Notch firewall)

iobit.com (Advanced Windows Care)

Eusing.com (Registry cleaner)

ccleaner.com (Junk file cleaner)





Now if you can afford it, the best software to BUY are:



Spy Sweeper (VERY much worth the $$$)

Security Task Manager

Norton Internet Security

Kaspersky (BEST! =D )

Bitdefender (2nd BEst!)

F-secure (Same as Kaspersky)

Linkscanner (Blocks exploits in real time)

Advanced Uninstaller



If there's ever ONE file you suspect is infected, you can try some single file scanners which use MULTIPLE engines to scan ONE file.

They are @ virusscan.jotti.org or virustotal.com



If you're PC is squeaky clean, re-enable system restore because it IS good to have but we needed to shut it off to wipe out the malware.

Just RIGHT-click on "My Computer." Select "Properties" then under the 'System Restore' tab, UN-check "Turn off system restore."





*Another thing to consider is using another browser besides Internet Explorer. It has a lot of security holes,

making it less safe. I prefer Firefox from mozilla.org.

It's easy to use, FAST, and has a lot of neat little add-ons you can toy around with. It is also safer from exploits than IE.*





As always, things will vary. I just hope the best for everybody. I'm bound to get some jealous thumbs-down but there's only one way to find things out---try it!

Keep an UPDATED Antivirus, Antispyware, & firewall and things will be fine. And always browse wisely.

As a side note, please email me any/all websites you got the infection from or if any are popping up or hijacking you so I can help further security software's measures.

Sometimes you may get a NEW and Unknown malware and I can submit it to be blacklisted/investigated to security companies.

Hope I was able to help. If I have, please consider returning & leaving a nice comment and

"Best Answer" to whomever you thinks deserves it...

Answer 14

ok download the free version of avg it may be able to help if that doesn't work i dunno what to tell u but to go back to factory details and reinstall everything