Computer help needed

H

huskerfan500

New member
Okay so a few weeks ago I got Antivirus XP(a virus) on my computer, while having SpySweeper and Trend Antivirus. So I took it to Geek Squad and they had to put in a new hard drive. But now I got a couple more( and no there have been no porn sites). I ran the sweeps and it said it took out 4 Trojan viruses, but I cant eject any usb ports and also cant exit out of MSN Messenger(which I can't uninstall from the new hardrive), also when I click on a google link it takes me to a random page with ads.

Any help is much appreciated thanks.

 
huskeraddict said:
Have you tried system restore? Also, what is your anti-virus?
Click to expand...
The first virus problem wouldn't let the system restore by deleting the restore points, but now when I click next after picking a date, it doesn't do anything

I have Trend Micro Antivirus along with Webroot Spy Sweeper

Also none of the searches engines work, except when there is a link underneath of the main link.

And now my flashdrive ejects but not my IPOD

 
Last edited by a moderator:
huskerfan500 said:
huskeraddict said:
Have you tried system restore? Also, what is your anti-virus?
Click to expand...
The first virus problem wouldn't let the system restore by deleting the restore points, but now when I click next after picking a date, it doesn't do anything

I have Trend Micro Antivirus along with Webroot Spy Sweeper

Also none of the searches engines work, except when there is a link underneath of the main link.

And now my flashdrive ejects but not my IPOD
Click to expand...
What kind of computer do you have?

 
HP Pavilion Slimline s7520n PC

it is one of the small tower models they came out with, it about a year and a half old, and for the most part works good, but it hasn't been really frustrating lately.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
huskerfan500 said:
Okay so a few weeks ago I got Antivirus XP(a virus) on my computer, while having SpySweeper and Trend Antivirus. So I took it to Geek Squad and they had to put in a new hard drive. But now I got a couple more( and no there have been no porn sites). I ran the sweeps and it said it took out 4 Trojan viruses, but I cant eject any usb ports and also cant exit out of MSN Messenger(which I can't uninstall from the new hardrive), also when I click on a google link it takes me to a random page with ads.

Any help is much appreciated thanks.
Click to expand...
This is pure speculation on my part, but...

Was there some mechanical issue with the hard drive? The reason I ask is that the problems you describe are not sufficient to install a new drive. You simply format it - or alternatively, destroy the partition and re-create it - and do a clean install.

I'm wondering if the "expert" didn't really know what he was doing, and simply imaged your drive, slapped in a new one, and restored the image. If he did, then all he did was transfer the problem from one drive to another; essentially, he placed back on the new drive whatever backdoor trojan was on the old drive.

Alternatively, the virus could be in your data (documents, etc.), and the guy did a clean install, but failed to check the data he restored, thus restoring the virus to the system (this is much more unlikely, as it would require that you re-execute the file that was infected).

Either way, what I would do is destroy the partition, re-create it, format the drive (a full format, not a quick format), then do a clean install of the operating system and install all updates. Check to make sure the USB ports are working as they should.

Then, reinstall your applications. Run the update for both the anti-virus and the anti-malware, and then run full scans of both - they should come back completely clean at that point.

Finally, restore your data from backups, and immediately re-run your anti-virus and anti-malware scans. I'm betting that everything will be fine after that.

 
AR Husker Fan said:
huskerfan500 said:
Okay so a few weeks ago I got Antivirus XP(a virus) on my computer, while having SpySweeper and Trend Antivirus. So I took it to Geek Squad and they had to put in a new hard drive. But now I got a couple more( and no there have been no porn sites). I ran the sweeps and it said it took out 4 Trojan viruses, but I cant eject any usb ports and also cant exit out of MSN Messenger(which I can't uninstall from the new hardrive), also when I click on a google link it takes me to a random page with ads.

Any help is much appreciated thanks.
Click to expand...
This is pure speculation on my part, but...

Was there some mechanical issue with the hard drive? The reason I ask is that the problems you describe are not sufficient to install a new drive. You simply format it - or alternatively, destroy the partition and re-create it - and do a clean install.

I'm wondering if the "expert" didn't really know what he was doing, and simply imaged your drive, slapped in a new one, and restored the image. If he did, then all he did was transfer the problem from one drive to another; essentially, he placed back on the new drive whatever backdoor trojan was on the old drive.

Alternatively, the virus could be in your data (documents, etc.), and the guy did a clean install, but failed to check the data he restored, thus restoring the virus to the system (this is much more unlikely, as it would require that you re-execute the file that was infected).

Either way, what I would do is destroy the partition, re-create it, format the drive (a full format, not a quick format), then do a clean install of the operating system and install all updates. Check to make sure the USB ports are working as they should.

Then, reinstall your applications. Run the update for both the anti-virus and the anti-malware, and then run full scans of both - they should come back completely clean at that point.

Finally, restore your data from backups, and immediately re-run your anti-virus and anti-malware scans. I'm betting that everything will be fine after that.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I would've said. The reason I asked for the brand of the computer is because on Dell's, Dell puts a complete Dell System Restore partition on the drive that is nearly uncrackable. It's a lot simpler than reformating the hard drive because there are no drivers to re-install. It literally makes the computer behave like it's the first time you turned it on.

 
Your issue with the random webpage is a 'browser hijacker". Anti-virus and most spyware cleaners wont touch those. There is a program called 'hijack-this' which will do it however.

To prevent most virus and malware, I recommend making a change to Firefox over Internet Explorer. You can also gget more stuff removed if you start up in safe mode, as nothing but the basic system drivers should run, and the .exe that is keeping you from removing software should not be running.

Or, if you do not have anything you are really attached to file wise, or can not replace easily, you could reformat your own drives, but you will need the windows CD

 
strigori said:
Your issue with the random webpage is a 'browser hijacker". Anti-virus and most spyware cleaners wont touch those. There is a program called 'hijack-this' which will do it however.
Click to expand...
this is the link to the program he mentioned....

http://hijackthis.de

Click on direct download

Download and run the program.

Scan your system and Save a log file...this creates a TXT document.

Select everything in this TXT document and Copy it.

Go back to Hijackthis.de and paste the log into the box, and press analyze.

Be careful which process you "fix" as some are necessary for your computer to run. The user ratings on the processes can sometimes accurately tell you if it's a trojan/virus or not.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
AR Husker Fan said:
huskerfan500 said:
Okay so a few weeks ago I got Antivirus XP(a virus) on my computer, while having SpySweeper and Trend Antivirus. So I took it to Geek Squad and they had to put in a new hard drive. But now I got a couple more( and no there have been no porn sites). I ran the sweeps and it said it took out 4 Trojan viruses, but I cant eject any usb ports and also cant exit out of MSN Messenger(which I can't uninstall from the new hardrive), also when I click on a google link it takes me to a random page with ads.

Any help is much appreciated thanks.
Click to expand...
This is pure speculation on my part, but...

Was there some mechanical issue with the hard drive? The reason I ask is that the problems you describe are not sufficient to install a new drive. You simply format it - or alternatively, destroy the partition and re-create it - and do a clean install.

I'm wondering if the "expert" didn't really know what he was doing, and simply imaged your drive, slapped in a new one, and restored the image. If he did, then all he did was transfer the problem from one drive to another; essentially, he placed back on the new drive whatever backdoor trojan was on the old drive.

Alternatively, the virus could be in your data (documents, etc.), and the guy did a clean install, but failed to check the data he restored, thus restoring the virus to the system (this is much more unlikely, as it would require that you re-execute the file that was infected).

Either way, what I would do is destroy the partition, re-create it, format the drive (a full format, not a quick format), then do a clean install of the operating system and install all updates. Check to make sure the USB ports are working as they should.

Then, reinstall your applications. Run the update for both the anti-virus and the anti-malware, and then run full scans of both - they should come back completely clean at that point.

Finally, restore your data from backups, and immediately re-run your anti-virus and anti-malware scans. I'm betting that everything will be fine after that.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I would do. Sounds like another great job by the idiots..er experts at Geek Squad.

 
thanks everyone

about the putting the same hard drive in(which is what I think you were talking about AR), I don't think they did that because there was nothing except the basic stuff like when you get a new computer, I had to re-download everything and lost all of my memory. But at first they said there was no physical problems with the hard drive, but when we picked the computer up they said there had been so they replaced it.

Also I do use firefox(allow I am not sure what the safemode is)

I am not sure what you mean about the partition but I will see if run the Hijack This will work and then run the virus scan again before trying anything else.

On the hijack analysis it said " C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\svchost.exe" was nasty but then it is not in the list to fix so what does that mean

edit- I ran it a second time and it wasn't on the list

Although when I tried to google, it didn't work again so I guess I will fix some of the neutral ones next

Again thanks you have really helped :clap

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Safe mode is a way to boot up the computer. During boot, when you get the very first splash screen(before the windows logo) you press one of the F keys, which one varies by computer type.

www.answersthatwork.com has a listing of most things that show up in your taskmanager lists. Better than googling for what they are.

 
huskerfan500 said:
***SNIP***
On the hijack analysis it said "C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\svchost.exe" was nasty but then it is not in the list to fix so what does that mean

edit- I ran it a second time and it wasn't on the list

Although when I tried to google, it didn't work again so I guess I will fix some of the neutral ones next

Again thanks you have really helped :clap
Click to expand...
That's a trojan. Svchost.exe is the generic host process for Win32 Services, and it is necessary. However, it is located in C:\Windows\System32. The version located in C:\Windows\System32\drivers is the trojan. Most of the anti-virus programs should remove it, or offer a removal tool on their web site.

 
Back
Top