Do It Yourself - Malware Removal, Part 2 of 2

Posted by Jennifer Hommel

Now that we have made a backup of the data (Do It Yourself – Malware Removal, Part 1 of 2) we can proceed with steps below and attempt to remove any malware found on your computer.

The steps below include some useful freeware and demo tools that you can find on the Internet and use on your personal computer.  It is your responsibility to accept the terms and use of the tools as they are presented by their developer or vendor.  From time to time the developer or vendor of the software may change the license including moving it from free to a paid version (however at the time of writing this all can be found and used free of charge for home use).  If you choose not to use the tools you may be able to substitute a similar tool in its place based on your own experience and use.  PCLive.com (SecurityCoverage, Inc.) doesn’t claim any rights to the software and is not responsible for any damage they may cause on your PC.  Another words, you’re on your own from this point forward…

1. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking by using F8 or F5 after restarting/turning on your computer (see tech tips for booting into safe mode if your unsure how to accomplish this task).

If safe mode is not avail - restart and run this process in Normal Mode.

2. Download to the desktop (you can use Google to search for these apps or other equivalent ones if you’d prefer):
•    SmitfraudFix.exe
•    cleanup452.exe
•    HijackThis.exe
•    SpyBotSD160.exe
•    SuperAntiSpyware.exe

If they will not run properly, right click on each and rename the files.

SmitfraudFi.exe
Cleanu.exe
HJT.exe
Spybot.exe
SAS.exe

3. Disable System Restore
Note: Vista can disable System Restore, but will not clean out the Restore Points.

Set IE Cookies Settings to medium
•    Click on Tools.
•    Click on Internet Options
•    Click on Privacy

Make sure this is set by default to Medium.

4. Update and run SmitFraudFix.exe
Note: If you run this in Normal Mode because Safe Mode is not available, stop your antivirus program before running.

5. Remove temporary Internet files to shorten scan times.

6. Install Spybot Search & Destroy.
When going through the Setup — on the Select Additional Tasks screen, uncheck the bottom Permanent Protection options. Then click Check for Problems to begin a full scan.

7. Run and clean errors with HijackThis. If needed, analyze results of log file at: http://www.hijackthis.de/en

8. Open MSConfig and uncheck any infected start up entries

•    Start > Run > type in “msconfig” then click “ok” button.
•    Navigate to the start up tab.
•    Uncheck any OBVIOUS infections you see there. If you aren’t sure – use Google – or leave it alone.

Also navigate to C:\Program Files and delete any folders associated with the infection (if any).

9. When Spybot has completed, Remove the items Spybot found.

10. Once everything has finished, restart the PC back into Normal Mode.

11. Install and update and run SuperAntiSpyware.

12. Open Add/Remove Programs to verify nothing infectious or potentially conflicting is present.

13. Restart after SuperAntiSpyware scan completes and cleans the infections.

14. Verify after restart whether PC is clean by running HijackThis and looking for obvious signs like Pop Ups or unfamiliar icons.

15.  once clean
•    remove all of the programs you’ve installed.
•    turn system restore back on
•    update and run 1 additional scan with your primary antivirus program.

Do It Yourself - Malware Removal, Part 1 of 2

Posted by Jennifer Hommel

Our technicians spend a lot time helping customers remove virus and spyware from their computers.  Although in most cases this can be a very tricky task there are times when even the novice computer user is able to accomplish this miracle.  To help perform this feat we are publishing a 2 part series that will help you walk through this removal process step by step.  Part 1 will focus on helping you backup your data before any clean-up tasks start.  Removing a virus or spyware carries a potential that some data could be lost.  Part 2 will get into the tools that we use, the process we follow, and a step-by-step guide to trying this yourself.

Before you begin cleaning up your computer you should back up the files that you care about.

It’s a good and necessary habit to start.

Determine - What on your computer needs to be backed up?  The usual items are photos, music, video, work documents, financial data, tax documents, legal documents, and email contact lists.

Prepare - Where are you going to back up your files to? Preferably it will be to a place not on the computer like CDs, DVDs, USB Flash drives, external hard drives, or an online back up site. Here are some steps to help.

Back Up Data to a USB Flash Drive

1. Insert the Flash drive into a USB port.

2. Click Start Button.

3. Click My Computer.

4. You should see an icon for the Flash drive in the My Computer window.

5. Resize the My Computer window so that when you open the location (window) where the files/folders you want to back up are located, the windows do not overlap each other on the desktop.

6. Open the location of the files/folders you want to back up. (There are many ways to locate your files, use the procedure you normally use.)

7. Move the mouse cursor over the file/folder you want to copy and hold down the left-side button on your mouse to select the file or folder icon.

8. Drag the icon over to the Flash drive icon.

9. When a small plus sign (+) appears over the Flash drive icon, release the mouse button.  A copy of the file or folder will now be located on the Flash drive.

10. To verify that the file or folder has been copied to the drive, double-click the Flash drive icon to open it. The file or folder that you copied should be listed.

11. Repeat steps 6-9 until you have copied all the files or folders you want to back up.

How to copy files and folders to a CD

1. Insert a blank CD into the drive on your computer that allows you to write to a CD. (The drive is usually labeled as Recordable or Rewritable).

2. If a dialog box appears that asks how to open/use the CD, click Cancel.

3. Open My Computer as you normally do.

4. Click the files or folders that you want to copy to the CD. (To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want.)

5. In the top-left dialog box labeled File and Folder Tasks, click Copy the selected items.

6. In the “Copy Items” dialog box, click the drive into which you inserted the CD.

7. Click Copy. You will see a copy progression window.

8. In the lower-right corner of the window, a pop-up balloon will appear. The balloon will read You have files waiting to be written to the CD. To see the files now, click this balloon.

9. Click the balloon.

10. A dialog box will appear that indicates the files and folders you selected to copy.  Check that the files and folders that you want to copy to the CD are displayed under Files Ready to Be Written to the CD.

11. In the top-left dialog box labeled CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD.

12. The CD Writing Wizard will open.

13. If the CD name field is blank, type a name for the CD. (Note: By default, Windows names the CD with the current date.)

14. Click Next. You will see the copy progression window. The time required to copy the files and folders you selected depends upon the amount of data they contain.

15. After the files or folders have been copied, the CD will be ejected from the drive automatically.

NOTE - After you copy files or folders to a CD, double-click the CD icon to confirm that the files were copied.

Online backup services

If you want to try an online service to backup your data here are a few to take a look at and evaluate.  Most have a free service with limited backup capacity:

www.carbonite.com
www.mozy.com
www.spideroak.com
www.idrive.com
www.ibackup.com

Do Your Regular PC Maintenance

If I were to give you any advice on keeping your computer healthy and giving it a long, productive life, that would be to perform regular computer maintenance. It’s a software thing.

Your PC has the ability to fix many of its own problems. Sometimes the fixing happens automatically: every day your computer probably runs a disk defragmentation program, plus a disk checking tool. Other routine maintenance is also scheduled, all automatically.

To really keep your computer in top shape, however, you’ll have to be an active participant. Even though tools like DeFrag and ScanDisk run automatically, you can run them manually; they’re found in the Start menu: All Programs, Accessories, System Tools. There is a clutch of them there.

You can also use other tools to keep your PC healthy. In addition to anti-virus, anti-Spyware, and Internet security tools, you can look into third party utilities. There are even programs available here on the PC Live web site to help you troubleshoot, diagnose and fix common PC ills.

When all else fails, however, there is still hope. Remember PC Live! They charge you per incident and they won’t ditch you on the phone until the problem is solved. If it can’t be solved, then you don’t pay a dime. That’s a sure-fire deal if I ever saw one!