Virus Removal.

[Jackabomb]

I'm positive it's not a virus. I ripped the installation zip from my father's system and he downloaded it from AKO. I'll try booting in safe mode, anyway. Maybe the thing won't start.

[NotoriousM4^]

I'm positive it's not a virus. I ripped the installation zip from my father's system and he downloaded it from AKO. I'll try booting in safe mode, anyway. Maybe the thing won't start.

Well, if you want to remove it from your start up simply do this (I'm assuming your running windows XP):
- Start>Run>type in "msconfig".
- Click "Startup" tab.
- Uncheck the AV (or any other programs you don't want running at start up for that matter).
- Click "OK"
- Reboot

That should probably solve the problem for you.

Edit: I managed to get rid of my virus, "Spyware Doctor" managed to remove most of it, however some of the trojans and other programs it used to attempt to re-download itself under a different name were still there, so I did some manual work in the temporary folder (where most of it was located). I managed to figure out what was a virus and not by viewing the "last modified date" and deleting whatever appeared consecutively around the time and date that the virus first appeared (I strongly do not recommended doing this). Then I used CC cleaner to remove and extra extensions/keys/unused dlls that the virus had left in my registry.

It's funny... I called dell and they insisted to try and pressure and intimidate me into purchasing a new warantee so that they could remove the virus from my computer using there "specialized tools", and claiming that "the virus would head to my MBR (that stands for Master Boot Record)" and become "very difficult and time consuming to remove". They wanted me to pay $169 plus taxes to remove it. Haha Dell... Haha.

[Scotty]

Start>Run>type in "msconfig".

Again, I don't want to rain on anybody's parade, but msconfig is another program I would never preach to someone to use, especially if I didn't know their capabilities with computers.  There's a LOT of stuff you can screw up in there that'll render your computer useless.  If you want to do it properly, instead of taking a chainsaw to it, go into your Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services.  There you can find the application, and set it to "disabled" or "manual" (likely "manual" is what you want) or "Automatic"  That way you aren't going to kill any vital services windows needs to run.

The reason I said all that earlier (and this now) Pwnage is that sure, you might be comfortable with going into the registry editor and handling problems, but it is not a good idea to just assume that everyone else here has the same know-how as you.  I feel comfortable doing it, mostly because if I FUBAR my computer, no big loss, I do all my heavy lifting with Linux anyways, and all my data is saved on a partitioned drive.  I just see so many instances on this forum (and no where else) where as soon as there is a problem, the first tech savvy guy that visits the topic feels the need to act cool by saying "Well if you go into the registry..."  when the first question SHOULD be "How comfortable do you feel with handling registry keys and...."  If their response is "Uh...."  this is definitely NOT the time to try and show them up by trying to walk them through it, ESPECIALLY when there is software out there to handle it for you.  Besides, how many times are you 100% positive (and I do mean fully knowledgeable) that you got EVERY SINGLE ENTRY deleted.  I'd venture to guess you're relying on someone else's advice on which keys to delete, and you THINK you got them all based off of what this person tells you.  Well then take M4's scenario where he couldn't find all the keys the guy said, then what?

I'm just saying, unless you know the person's capabilities, do NOT assume that everyone here knows how to properly navigate and work the registry, you're gonna end up screwing up Gramma's computer some day with that mentality, and then she IS screwed.

[NotoriousM4^]

I'm just saying, unless you know the person's capabilities, do NOT assume that everyone here knows how to properly navigate and work the registry, you're gonna end up screwing up Gramma's computer some day with that mentality, and then she IS screwed.

I Lol'd at that last part, but yeah I guess I should have been a little more careful with my suggestion, and thought it out a bit better. So take my advice at your own risk  ;).

[ARTgames]

Have 2 backups of the files you cant repace or just whant to have all the time. 1 online(Carbonite, gmail, s3, etc), 1 local(cds, dvds, external hardrive). On your harddrive have 2 partions. 1 partion for windoes and programs. 1 for other data (photo, word files, videos, music, etc). Install windoes on the first partions with all its updates and your programs with there updates. Make a copy of that partion with Clonezilla ( http://clonezilla.org/ free ) or any other disk cloning tool and keep it offline on a disk or something. Updated that clone of the partion (the one with windoes and programs) every 2 months or so just to keep up with windoes updates and your program updates. When you get a virus or your computer just action wired just format the first partition (the one with windoes and programs) and use your offline clone backup and just place that back.

It will take a while to set up the first time but after that your good to go.

I hate virus, i hate virus scanners, I hate the fixes for virus. They all slow you down, make you do work, and have a chance of not working. This way is quick and easy. The best AV is just making sure all your software is up to date and that you don't do stupid things.

big edit:
Something else you can do is install a virtual box ( http://www.vmware.com/, http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/,  http://www.virtualbox.org/, etc) and do all your browsing on the internet on there. Install windoes with it into a file. Make a backup of that file. When that vm starts action weirded just delete the file with windoes on it and place the one you copied there.

You can also sandbox programs with sandboxie. Most of the time you might whant to sandbox internet programes.

Tired of dealing with rogue software, spyware and malware?
Spent too many hours removing unsolicited software?
Worried about clicking unfamiliar Web links?
Introducing Sandboxie
Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

http://www.sandboxie.com/

[Jackabomb]

Pwnage's solution provides a temporary respite and the ability to work. My computer is laggy, but I'm doing a system restore to before I installed the program. Scotty, is system restore one of those programs that you mean?

ART, what on earth is a partition?

[ARTgames]

ART, what on earth is a partition?

Let me make sure i spelt it right!

Edit:
ok i did.

Disk partitioning

Disk partitioning is the act or practice of dividing the storage space of a hard disk drive into separate data areas known as partitions. A partition editor program can be used to create, delete or modify these partitions. Once a disk is divided into several partitions, directories and files of different categories may be stored in different partitions......

It basically lets your split your hard drive into smaller pieces.

Partition tools:
http://www.google.com/search?q=partition+tools&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

[Scotty]

Pwnage's solution provides a temporary respite and the ability to work. My computer is laggy, but I'm doing a system restore to before I installed the program. Scotty, is system restore one of those programs that you mean?

ART, what on earth is a partition?

No, system restore is something entirely different.
Has your computer been laggy for a while, or is this recent?  What OS are you using?  You might be able to go through and weed out some of the services that startup with your computer, improving performance a slight bit.

Partitioning, as Art said, is a way of taking a single hard drive, and splitting it however you like, essentially (as far as you can tell) turning it into multiple hard drives.  For instance, my laptop has one hard drive in it, but I want to have windows and linux on it.  Instead of getting a second hard drive, I just split this one down the center so I can put windows on one half of the hard drive (one partition) and linux on the other.  BUT, I would also like to have a storage drive that I can use on either Windows OR Linux to read from.  Since windows cannot read from my linux drive, I created ANOTHER partition (3 total).  One is for windows, one is for linux, and one is for file storage between the two!

[Jackabomb]

Something went wrong with system restore anyway. I won't work. What safe mode option do I use in order to use the "install/uninstall" option in the Control Panel?

Scotty, this all started yesterday when I installed the antivirus. I'm using windows XP. How, by the way, do I set up one of these partitions?

[Scotty]

Something went wrong with system restore anyway. I won't work. What safe mode option do I use in order to use the "install/uninstall" option in the Control Panel?

Scotty, this all started yesterday when I installed the antivirus. I'm using windows XP. How, by the way, do I set up one of these partitions?

There's quite a bit of software out there to do it, be being that everyone is greedy, about every one of them will cost you.  When I want to partition, I take the slightly more complicated, yet completely free and legal way of doing it.

I download and burn an Ubuntu Linux cd.  I leave the cd in the tray, and reboot.  It starts up off the disc, which I tell to start-up using a "trial" of ubuntu (without actually installing it).  It takes some time to load since it is booting the OS off a cd, but once in, I use the partition editing tool in Ubuntu to edit the partitions.

Partitioning NTFS drives (Windows' default partition format) is a pain to do anyways.  If I remember correctly, you cannot alter and NTFS partition WHILE you are using it (hence me using Ubuntu from a CD to alter it).  Man I wish Windows would adopt the ext# format, I'd never have to de-fragment ever again!

EDIT: Also, if you do decide to partition your drives, BE VERY CAREFUL!  MAKE SURE that you defragment a couple of times (preferably while in safe-mode to ensure it is done properly) before shrinking the size of an NTFS drive.  If you cut it short, you'll lose data and likely render the drive useless.  In other words, you'll FUBAR your windows OS.

[Jackabomb]

You got to hand to military acronyms. Any other suggestions for my computer issue? System restore won't work, and I can't uninstall in safe mode. I'd rather not reinstall windows, but I can if I have to. It's a pain, it deletes my files, it takes friggin forever, and I have to sit there the whole darn time to answer the little popup questions when they happen. What's Ubuntu anyway?

[ARTgames]

What's Ubuntu anyway?

A vary popular disto of Linux. I like it myself.

[Scotty]

Jack, in your case, you likely won't need to re-install windows.  If I am reading your posts correctly, all you need to do is reboot, and go into safe mode.  Once in safe mode, go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services.  Find the service in the list.  Double click, then set it to "disabled".  You can reboot and go into Windows normally, and use Add/Remove to get rid of it from there, since it should not start up after you disable it.

[Jackabomb]

Now something else is up.When I hit the button on the welcome screen for my profile, it's taking forever to load. This is in safe mode. I haven't tried it in normal mode yet. Is that normal? I'm still trying to fix the first issue, so this is annoying. In addition, if I get my Eagle Project all planned and all required(3) merit badges finished by the end of winter break we get an XBOX360. Talk about a lot to do at once.

[Scotty]

Now something else is up.When I hit the button on the welcome screen for my profile, it's taking forever to load. This is in safe mode. I haven't tried it in normal mode yet. Is that normal? I'm still trying to fix the first issue, so this is annoying. In addition, if I get my Eagle Project all planned and all required(3) merit badges finished by the end of winter break we get an XBOX360. Talk about a lot to do at once.

Not sure about the slow loading, could be a lot of things.  Try getting the program removed via my previous method, and see if it is slow to load on normal boot-up.  Do you have all your plans for your Eagle Project on your computer then?