Has anyone picked up a virus off the forums

[superchargemyride]

I keep geting some virus that when I google it sends me to some fake google crap. If I run a full scan it picks it up and deletes it but it comes back and I have not been surfing porn. I am using Microsft essinals and it normaly does a pretty good job. Maybe it's just me. I am running a scan now and will post the name or names of the crap that comes up.

[Synner]

I doubt its from this forum. Might want to wipe your HD and start fresh. I do it once a year unless I have a specific problem like you.

[VaderSS]

sounds like a search engine re-direct worm. download the free version of malwarebytes. run the scan and it will identify and allow you to fix/remove.

[ihaveacamaro]

wipe your hd clean before you no longer have a chance to.

[HumanWiki]

You really wipe your entire system once a year? Unless you're running w/o any protection and just surfing constant warez sites, etc.. or are doing deconstruction of virii.. then, that's a bit overkill. Most all infections can be remedied and totally reversed with the right person behind the controls. I've not had to wipe and reload a system due to infection for years now. There are several systems out there now that can remove the redirect problem you have, hell I just did this last week for a friend of mine. Just boot in to safe mode (less draw on system resources) and run through Malware bytes, etc and see what it comes up with. A lot of time, you'll see Explorer hijacks that redirect regardless of what web browser you're using. If you know where to look in the registry and how to notice file size/modification bits, you can find the problem and replace it with the correct information/file. Any A/V system can be thwarted with the right type of code and there are many out there that will actually disable them on an on going basis so you can't keep a solid protection system... so, you may have to do some manual editing of different files until you find the correct bits. Also, Process Explorer / Process Monitor are great tools to get an in depth look at what's truly going on inside your system.

Also -- let me just say this... Not all infections can be ridden by wipe/reload... Unless you're performing a full low-level wipe, then there is still data left in certain sectors by a simple fdisk and format.

[BigCarrot]

get rid of your system restore.

Log-in to Windows in Safe Mode (hit f8 while it's booting up to access the list)

Turn it off and it will remove all old restore points

Also run msconfig.exe and look in your start-up for anything odd and disable it.

If you're not computer savvy enough to tinker with that then just reinstalling windows is a safe bet.

[Synner]

Yup once a year, its not just to prevent malware but windows seems to slow down the longer I leave it. Its probably overkill but I'd rather be sure nothing is there. I also use networks in foreign countries a lot which tend to be a lot less safe than US ones.

[superchargemyride]

I did have a nasty virus and it was from going to the wrong places. I got the name of it from running my scan but the scan would not delete it. I googled the virus name and got a fix. When you download the fix and saved it to your desktop you than had to rename the file because the dam virus would know the name. The fix worked and everything has been great until the last few Days and I have only been on legit sites like this one. I will see what pops up on the scan. I deleted it last night and everything was good but got it back today and have only been on this site but I am sure i have clicked on some links from the forum. I will see what comes up.

[HumanWiki]

Originally Posted by Synner

Yup once a year, its not just to prevent malware but windows seems to slow down the longer I leave it. Its probably overkill but I'd rather be sure nothing is there. I also use networks in foreign countries a lot which tend to be a lot less safe than US ones.

Do you use a reg cleaner/compactor or other system cleaning systems?

I don't generally have the issues you're talking about and I'm fairly demanding of my systems.. Most of the time I see the progressive slowness, it's due to too much demand from too little resource, infection, malware, excessive TSR type applications, etc.

But, if it works for you, then have at it!

[2ndgenz28]

Problem is you can't wipe a HD clean, everything is still there.
After a severe HD crash where it could not be use or seen by the PC I got several hundred gigs of data off a 40gig drive.


So don't think your yearly wipe is hiding all the porn sites you visit

[HumanWiki]

Originally Posted by 2ndgenz28

Problem is you can't wipe a HD clean, everything is still there.
After a HD crash I got several hundred gigs of data off a 40gig drive.


So don't think your yearly wipe is hiding all the porn sites you visit

Yes, you can "wipe" a drive.. The problem with that term is people use it incorrectly. Format is not the same thing as a wipe. A "crash" comes from "head crash" and describes a scenario when the R/W heads that levitate inside your drive casing literally crash in to the spinning platters causing physical damage.. In modern times, it's just become synonymous with other types of failures that don't include physical drive damage.

If you run a true disk wiping software, I promise you.. You're not going to be getting data back from that drive unless you put the platters under some sort of device that can determine the variances in the drive materials and can somehow read how many times the polarity on the sectors have been changed.

The reason data is recoverable on a platter is because the only thing that's being deleted is the allocation table entry.. Pretty much the same as ripping out the Table of Contents from a book.. You don't know what page a certain bit of data is on, but it's still physically typed on the page(s). A true wiper removes allocation entries as well as all physical blocks on the drive by overwriting the data with random data, patterns of 1s and 0s, etc and doing it multiple times.

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by 2ndgenz28

Problem is you can't wipe a HD clean, everything is still there.
After a severe HD crash where it could not be use or seen by the PC I got several hundred gigs of data off a 40gig drive.


So don't think your yearly wipe is hiding all the porn sites you visit

Care to explain how you did that?

[2ndgenz28]

Originally Posted by MisterCamaro69

Care to explain how you did that?

EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard 5.0.1

after it did its scan, I had to get a 1T external drive for back up. was the best deal as I had no space for all it found, and I had the same questions as you but they said it was normal to find more data then the drive could physicaly hold per its specs.

[ibeck]

Chuck your computer out the window. Problem solved.