Virus Removal

[Lazerblade]

So, about 4 months ago my fiance was using my computer and somehow gave it a virus. So I formatted. Reinstalled everything I knew I'd need or want in the first month and gradually began installing other things as time and need arose.

Last week, she did it again. Spybot says I have the Virtumonde (Vundo) virus. AVG has given me plenty of warnings about threats. Oh, and I get some lovely pop-ups saying my computer is infected. I'm guessing those are malware/spyware.

So, where would I go to find a solution to my problem that won't require an immediate format? What software do I need to track down and eliminate this F-ing thing? I currently have Spybot (updated), AVG (updated), AdAware (updated), HiJackThis (current version)...

Any suggestions?

[MaddGIJoe]

http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_127690.htm

Might help? There's a manual removal section at the bottom... I dunno if this is what you need... but eh?

You might have already seen it... but eh...

[Lazerblade]

Ended up formatting, after wasting several hours jumping through hoops trying to remove infection(s) as described by Major Geeks (www.majorgeeks.com). Couldn't get one of the programs running.

So, the new question is, what is the best way to protect yourself from infection? I don't visit porn sites, don't download from unknown or peer to peer services (downloading games of the FREE variety only, such as Call to Arms, AIX (expansion mod for Battlefield 2), and occasionally play online Flash games), and I run Spybot and AVG currently. Are there better programs to run, or other means of making my online experiences safer?

[Mutt_Dog]

Tell you fiance whatever site she is going too...quit going there.

I don't know if you're running Firefox with No Script add on, but if you run that...you're gold.

I don't run a AV on my computer, they are resource hogs. Also I use a add on for firefox called Web of Trust, and lets you know if a site is bad or whatever.

Don't use AVG, it's a decent program, but if you're going to go with a AV, use something like Bitdefender, or something from this List

[farmboy]

hm, i rather like avg.
anyway, for what its worth, spybot has consistently come in last in detecting spyware and trojans, etc when tested.

[farmboy]

hm, i rather like avg.
anyway, for what its worth, spybot has consistently come in last in detecting spyware and trojans, etc when tested.

edit:ps, that's a really old list, there mutt.  macaffee, as much as i like it, has gotten hammered in their last couple iterations.  basically, AV software has changed quite a bit since '06, but macaffee hasn't.

[Fixxxer]

I don't run a AV on my computer, they are resource hogs.

Ehhh, this used to be true but we're not living in the same era we were 5 years ago. Dual and Quad core processing with 2GB+ RAM(just that 2GB seems to be the standard, but having 8GB+ is not unheard of). System slowdowns due to a programs running in the background is just not the case anymore. At least, I don't notice it.

I mean with ZoneAlarm and Avast! (amongst many ofther apps) running in the background my CPU usage barely hits 1%.

[Mutt_Dog]

Me a poor man I don't have one of them there fancy Dual or Quad cores yet...I still have a single core P4..

[Mutt_Dog]

hm, i rather like avg.
anyway, for what its worth, spybot has consistently come in last in detecting spyware and trojans, etc when tested.

edit:ps, that's a really old list, there mutt.  macaffee, as much as i like it, has gotten hammered in their last couple iterations.  basically, AV software has changed quite a bit since '06, but macaffee hasn't.

Damn it I thought it said 2009....my bad....I have dyslexia (no really I do)...must of kicked in.

[Lazerblade]

I'd rather avoid McAfee, Norton, and any other program released by a company I've been burned or disappointed by in the past. Norton failed to detect viruses in the past for me, and McAfee has given me numerous headaches in the past.

Any other AV suggestions? Is Avira any good? What about spyware removal/blocking? Scanners? I'm already running Noscript and a few other Firefox plugins.

[achilles118]

I use symantic and it works pretty well

[farmboy]

norton = symantec, so he probably won't want that.  and i'm not that happy with it (freakin' university requires me to use it)

[Aramis]

AVG seems to do a solid job. Small footprint, low on resources, auti-updates on startup/wake-up. I haven't really had to put it to the test since I've had no viruses, but I would recommend it despite what Mutt said.

[Fixxxer]

I still say check out Avast. Free for home use, auto updates and has been remarkable ever since Java pointed me in it's direction.

http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

[Aramis]

I still say check out Avast. Free for home use, auto updates and has been remarkable ever since Java pointed me in it's direction.

http://avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

I actually use Avast now. I've used AVG in the past as well. Both are pretty good. Overall I think Avast is less hassle because of the way it auto-updates rather than having to mess with it like AVG. I kind of got them confused.

I use Comodo for those folks looking for a decently-featured firewall. My only complaint with it is that it popups a bit too much- doesn't seem to learn very well. But being able to open certain ports/etc works well. I like the older version of it- I'm using 2.4.184.