How do I get rid of these computer worms and viruses?

Question

A good friend of mine has some viruses and worms on his computer. It's not surprising as he's been running it with no anti-virual protection, but we don't know what to do from here. The viruses wont let him download any sort of scans now, at least not the ones we've tried i.e. avg, McAfee, and Microsoft.
When u turn the computer on a big sign flashes in bright red "YOU ARE INFECTED."
The two we know of so far that is on the computer is a worm called NETSKY(worm.win32.netsky) and the other one is a Trojan(trojanspm/lx)
The worm apparently has it's own smtp engine.

Please keep in mind that I am basically computer illiterate but can follow directions well. Also, he is a couple of hundred miles from me so I will have to relay all of this to him.

Thanx in advanced for any and all help. It is extremely appreciated as I am about to pull my hair out over this!! :)

Answer 1

Protection follows four main security software programs:

1 a firewall (install only one)

2 anti-virus (install only one)

3 anti-spyware/malware (install two or three)

4 a secure browser



Free firewalls:

Comodo Internet Security (just the firewall and not the anti-virus)

ZoneAlarm

PC Tools Firewall Plus

Outpost

Online Armor



Free anti-virus:

avast! Home Edition 4.8

Avira AntiVir Personal 9

AVG 9 (use Threatfire with this program)

Panda Cloud Anti-Virus

Microsoft Security Essentials



Free anti-spyware/malware:

Ad-Aware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Windows Defender

SUPERAnti-Spyware

Spybot Search and Destroy

Spyware Terminator



Browser:

Firefox and load it up with McAfee Site Advisor,AVG Link Scanner,BetteryPrivacy,WOT (Web of Trust),Ghostery, TACO (Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out),KeyScrammbler



These are free for personal use and you can download them at CNET http://www.download.com

Some add-ons for the Firefox browser are available at http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

If you want, you can try the "Ultimate Boot CD for Windows," which allows you to scan your computer from a "clean" environment (in other words, the virus isn't running while you scan your computer). Here's a video that I've made about using the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows: http://screencast.com/users/rtobyr/folders/Default/media/5cad7ef2-31f1-4382-83c8-d660b09b53b0



I've been a network administrator for over 12 years now. Here's what I do about virus and spyware infections: I backup all the documents, pictures, music, etc., and then I put in the Windows CD and have it format the hard drive and start over. That's the only way to be 100% sure that all of the infections are removed. For backing up the data files, I prefer an online file host (such as http://www.drivehq.com ) instead of a USB drive because recent viruses (like Conflicker) can infect your USB drive.



What should you back up? Almost always these days, if you just back up your "My Documents" folder (and the My Documents folders for other users on the computer), you'll have saved everything. Microsoft and third party software manufacturers are becoming very good at making sure all of your stuff goes into that folder, or a subfolder (such as My Pictures).



For the future, I recommend that you use Mozy Home Free Edition to keep your documents backed up online. Then you won't have to hesitate if you want to ever reformat your computer again. Here is a YouTube video that I made about how to use Mozy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmhAoPCmOdY



I also recommend installing Site Advisor at http://www.siteadvisor.com. It will pop up a red balloon any time you go to a web site that has malicious downloads. It will also put red, yellow, and green icons next to your Google and Yahoo search results.



Lastly, here are my recommendations for anti-virus products:



All antivirus do just as well at detecting viruses. So the best antivirus is a free one. Here are three free ones that you can choose from:



AVG Free Edition: http://free.grisoft.com

Avast 4 Home: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Avira Antivir Personal: http://www.free-av.com/en/download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html

PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition: http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

Comodo Antivirus: http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/antivirus.html



To get the actual comparisons of how every anti-virus program compares with the competition, go to the following link check out their comparative tests:

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Answer 4

You can run antivirus and antispyware programs, but the sad fact is if you have found one virus on your computer, you probably have several. Cleaning the computer now requires you to follow these steps, because modern viruses and spyware entrench themselves in files that your computer needs in order to run: 1. Virus-check your data files (not application files-- you have installer CDs for those). 2. Back up the data files, getting them off your hard drive. 3. Get your original operating system CDs that came with your computer. 4. Boot your computer from the operating system CD. 5. Select the option that erases your hard drive and then reinstall your system software. 6. Turn on your software firewall that came with your operating system. 7. Reconnect to the internet, and download *all* Windows updates, no matter how long it takes. 8. Reinstall your application software, and update the applications as much as you can. 9. Reinstall your data files. 10. Create a limited user account on your system that does *not* have administrator access, and web surf only from this account. Yes, this is a pain in the butt. No, there is no other way. No, antivirus and antispyware programs cannot fix this problem on its own. So, what do you do in the future? 1. Never click on links you find in an e-mail. 2. Never open an e-mail attachment, ever. 3. Only download files from a reputable website that you know is on the up-and-up. 4. Never use bit-torrent and other file-sharing programs. 5. Never use an unsolicited drive-checking site. 6. Turn off all java and java scripting by default, and only enable java and java scripting for sites that you know you can trust. 7. Never read an unsolicited e-mail, and delete spam immediately. It is possible to be hacked by reading an e-mail alone. Please adhere to the 'dont's' I provided above, because you will have to repeat the cleaning steps that I listed first *every time you get infected.* Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are good to have, but they are a second line of defense. The best way to protect your system is you, and changing your behavior. Good luck!

Answer 5

Goto start and type "msconfig"> select "start up" tab, and you will see some options that are ticked. Just remove the ticks of all thos that you think are virus or are new to you. then press OKAY.

It will ask you to restart your system but you just click on "restart later".



And then go to the endtask manager by pressing the ALT+CTRL+DEL at the same time.



goto the process tab and "End process" (kill) all the programs that looks new or strange to you. if it end then okay, you are good but if don't then download the software given below and run it and then just go to the place where these softwares are located. and then try to delete the virus, it would say something like "the program is being running" but the software that you just installed will help you to delete such kind of files that say so, and will delete the virus.



the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ttdnz2nz3kg/Unlocker.zip

Answer 6

Boot ur comp in safe mode with administrative rights . Then install avg , now u will be able to scan with it.

Answer 7

I would try and start the computer in Safe Mode w/ networking (F8 at bootup) and install the antivirus from there.

Answer 8

To ward off any dubious activities and to combat viruses already present on a computer system, I suggest you take a look at:



http://www.pcthreat.com/removers.html



If your system has been infected, you will be informed as to which PC threat is prevalent on the system, and be provided with removal instructions accordingly.



Remember to always keep your antivirus and anti-spyware applications up to date and fully functional.

Answer 9

pretty much reinstall everything but your going to want to use a usb flash drive or a cd to save all his information first after that reinstall everything ill be more then happy to help you further if you can find out how to reinstall everything

Answer 10

download mbam, or malware bytes anti malware and install. then reboot into safe mode and run it again and again, rebooting, in complete mode. then get Avira free and install that and run a scan.

Answer 11

Re-partition and reformat. Reinstall everything.