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Posted by Malke on November 11, 2006, 8:43 am
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Clueless blonde wrote:
> I stupidly dowloaded Drive Cleaner which popped up on my computer
> today. I am absolutely clueless when it comes to computers and need
> to know what to do
> next. I have the Shield Anti Virus and Firewall already installed on
> my
> system and have run a scan which has not detected anything. I then
> downloaded Spyware Doctor which detected the Drive Cleaner virus
> amongst 104 others threatening my system and it is saying I have to
> register to remove
> these ($29.95). I haven't done this yet and downloaded Microsoft
> Malicious Software Removal Tool which ran a full scan and it says
> there are no threats,
> no viruses. I don't know what to do now as the only scan that has
> detected
> these are with Spyware Doctor which I have to pay for. I just paid
> out for Shield anti virus 2 weeks ago which I thought would have
> protected me so I
> don't want to shell out even more money if I don't have to. I would
> really appreciate anyones help on this but please be aware I am not
> computer
> literate and any answers have to be an idiots guide. The viruses that
> Spyware Doctor detected were - Drive Cleaner at low risk, Tracking
> Cookies at low risk, Caishow at elevated risk, Seekmo at elevated risk
> and Winfixer at
> elevated risk. What do you experts think? Please please help me!!!
The Shield is malware. You need to get rid of it and get a real
antivirus installed. The DriveCleaner garbage is one of the many
variants of WinAntivirus/Winfixer which is also malware. I'll give you
links to removal steps for all of this cr*p you've got on your machine,
but I'll be frank and say that your best course of action would be to
either take the machine to a professional computer repair shop (not
your local version of BigStoreUSA) OR back up your data and
clean-install Windows. It's going to be quite the ordeal cleaning up
this machine. You know your own skill level and will have to make the
decision about what to do for yourself.
Go through the preparatory work here:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
Here are specific removal steps for The Shield and
Winfixer/Winantivirus:
Titan Shield removal how-to using Siri's smitfraudfix -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic55288.html
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Winfixer
I would also go through the rest of the general malware removal steps,
including scanning with either Sysclean or Multi_AV, plus Ewido. Do all
prep/finishing work and follow instructions to do all scans in Safe
Mode.
When all else fails, run HijackThis and post your log in one of the
specialty forums listed at the link above (not here, please).
If you decide to just bite the bullet and clean-install Windows, here
are links to help you with that:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows -
What you will need on-hand
After you get your machine cleaned up, go to at least some of the links
below to see how to practice "Safe Hex" and keep your computer clean in
the future. Don't skip MVP Eric Howes' page on rogue antispyware
programs.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971 - So How Did I Get
Infected Anyway?
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2006/02/05/82584.aspx - MVP
Harry Waldron - The Family PC - How to stay safe on the Internet
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - Eric Howes on
Rogue Antispyware Programs
http://www.getsafeonline.org/
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
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