Re: Trojan lots of questions

Hi Barry, the start up list was from bleeping computer which seems very comprehensive and legitamate. The only problem I had was identifying some of the differences between correct programs and nasties as they refer to file paths, which I had great difficulty in finding as XP on it's start up list doesn't give path details.
Her computer does have some problems: immediate internet connection on start up, although a dialog box says cannot find......... also a couple of programs clamour to have access to the internet (which is blocked thanks to Zone Alarm) odd programs that don't seem to be actually on the computer..............
Also it is forever saying someone is using the internet
And many strange messages keep appearing. It is a two year old Dell Inspiron running XP but apparently Vista ready.
I did run 2 a squared (or whatever it is called (VBG) ) and it found 511 objects that were of risk. I don't know enough about computers to know whether these were nasties; I do know more than my friend but it is a bit like the blind leading the blind!
I don't think she does keep her AVG up to date and has a problem with scheduling it. I did set it up to automatically update each day and scan, but it doesn't obey. I do not know why.
I shall suggest an online Housecall scan anyway.
I hope I haven't left out any important info. Thanks for your help and advice.

Tigger bouncing happily

[Moderator]
Warning! To keep Tigger bouncing happily, back up your data and/or set a restore point before installing new programs or running any cleaners, as deleting necessary files will disable your computer.
[/Moderator]

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Hello Tigger,

Saturday, March 29, 2008, 8:42:40 PM, you wrote:

Th> Hi Barry, the start up list was from bleeping computer which seems
Th> very comprehensive and legitamate.

Yep, that's an OK site to look these thing up.

Th> The only problem I had was identifying some of the differences
Th> between correct programs and nasties as they refer to file paths,
Th> which I had great difficulty in finding as XP on it's start up
Th>; list doesn't give path details.

One of the ways that malware hides is by using a legitimate file name
but running from the wrong location - these can take some tracking
down and it's as easy to do a search for the file and see where it's
located then check on the list where it *should* be.

Th> Her computer does have some problems: immediate internet
Th> connection on start up, although a dialog box says cannot
Th> find......... also a couple of programs clamour to have access to
Th>; the internet (which is blocked thanks to Zone Alarm) odd programs
Th> that don't seem to be actually on the computer.............. Also
Th> it is forever saying someone is using the internet And many
Th> strange messages keep appearing.

Hmmm... it does look like there's a lot of stuff going on there and in
such cases a locally run scan doesn't always work as viruses have
learned how to hide themselves from detection once they get in :-(

What I'd recommend is that in the long run it would probably be better
erasing the whole shooting match and starting again from scratch. It
will mean saving all the data from the PC onto other media such as
external Hard Drive etc and then making sure the new installation is
fully patched and fully protected before copying any of it back ( in
case one or more of those files contains an unwanted guest !! ).

Th> I shall suggest an online Housecall scan anyway.

Will be interesting to see if this works - once a PC is so badly
infected even things like on-line scans can be compromised :-(

The test will be if Housecall runs and then after it has done what it
can whether the PC behaves any better.

--
Best regards,
Barry [ Moderator ] mailto: barry%40yobunny.co.uk">barryyobunny.co.uk
MicroSoft Free Zone running Xandros 4.0 Home Premium

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