Category: spyware

How to Figure out if you have a Virus on your System!

Paul
Infected by Antivirus software

Series picked up!

Few years ago, I did a post called What is a Virus and why do I have one. It spawned someone wanting to find out more about the virus but I have been really busy with my personal to finish the series. I thought this would be a great place to pick it up because of my personal life has slowed down and I wanted to at least finish this excellent series that I was so determined to write about.  Even though I have an Excellent resource for Anti-virus tools and tips, I still feel I could expand on the subject just a little more!   In this series we will talk about a few things like:

  • Where does the Virus and malware usually hide!

  • How to determine if a file should be there!

  • Which anti-virus software is the best, in my opinion!

  • How to warn you friends of Family!

  • What steps you should take in the Future!

  • Windows isn’t the only system that can get infected!

As you can see there is going to be a lot to talk about in this series because I am sure most of you have these types of questions that you would love to get answered.   I won’t say I will cover the topic a 100% because there are always going to be Rogue Viruses and malware that will do something different.   This is after all going to be a generalization of a typical virus!

Where does a Virus and Malware Like to Hide on my computer?

I’m sure you’ve asked this question before and I’m going to help you out a little.  Having removed several different viruses off my own system and others, I will tell you where you should look and what you should look for!   Note: You should look but don’t hit the Delete key.   You just might crash your system and have to restore it.   Sometimes these viruses like to latch on to a system file and you will need an Antivirus software to remove it!

Most of the time they are in the Windows directories:

  • C:/Windows/  (look for names that should be there and either Google the file to see what is being said about it!)

  • C:/Windows/System32 (Do the same as above but also look for .DLL and double check)

  • Make sure there aren’t any Hidden Directories by going to Control Panel / Folder Options / View.

  • Check the Registry for Anything Suspicious!  (The quicked and easiest way for this is to just use Hijackthis and Let it make a TXT File and then let One of the Log Analyzers  check it out!)

  • Check your Windows Program Files C:/Program Files/ and C:/Program Files(x86).   Each directory has files that are going to be Essential to run Windows but that doesn’t mean you can look and search for a file or program.  You will however need to still Google the program when you want to know if it should be there or not!

As you can see there are many places where this like to hide but that doesn’t mean you can’t protect yourself.

How to know if I have a Virus or not!

This has been asked by many people on the internet.   I’m no exception because sometimes you just don’t know, and thus you will want to protect yourself.   I will however tell you some of the more common signs of virus infection and then let tell you my opinion on which is better.  For Right now, though let’s  explore some of the more common signs of an infection:

  • System seems slow — Although this isn’t always meaning a virus, it can be a good indication.

  • Network Slowness — Again, this isn’t always a virus because you could be downloading updates to Windows or other Window files.  It however should be kept an eye out for.   If your interested to see what might be hogging your connection you can always use NETSTAT to see what is being used on your computer.   Remember to make sure you Wifi is not being used by your neighbors.

  • Unusual Website Popups — This is pretty much showing something is being done without your permission.   So you can usually attribute this to Malware but not always.

  • Hard Disk is constantly on — This isn’t always about a virus but something being accessed to much and thus might mean someone Malware is using your computer to store data that they want to hide.

These are the usual tale tale signs of something that shouldn’t be there and thus you should do a system scan to make sure!

Which Software is the Best, in my opinion!

I might be a little biased when it comes to removing viruses and which Antivirus does the job.   I’ve even talked about some of them om my Antivirus page, so you can see I do know a little more than the average Joe.  This doesn’t mean I am a expert on the field but I do know which software seems to run best for removing viruses.   I’m still under the opinion that the free antivirus, which is Malwarebytes [Affiliate Link].   They are constantly updating their virus definitions and have always been there when I had a question.  I have no problems with them in any way and thus I tell people who I remove viruses from to go and buy it [Affiliate Link] because once you have it you are set for life.   No need to buy a license every year, you only have to buy once and you are set.

If your worried about having a virus, just go check out Malwarebytes [Affiliate Link] and they do have a free version that you can try before you buy.

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

SuperAntiSpyware Pro Is it Worth 29.95?

Paul

I have a couple people ask me “is SUPERAntiSpyware worth it?” when I am working on clients computers and I thought I would show you just how good SuperAntiSpyware works with removing scareware:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Thanks to Matt from www.remove-malware.com for posting these videos.

As you can see SuperAntiSpyware with the Real time Blocking can help block and remove malware on your system. Some of the key differences from free to Pro are easy to see. Now I can’t make the decision for you but I hope these videos help your decide if it is worth it. I do know I recommend Pro to all my clients and customers who want to have the cheapest possible Antivirus And Spyware. You can visit my [intlink id=”4305″ type=”post”]Review of AVG 8.5 Free[/intlink] and [intlink id=”3884″ type=”post”]SuperAntispyware Pro[/intlink] for further details. This is what I recommend to my clients and customers who want to keep it cheap. I hope this helps you decide when it comes to buying it. The nice part of about Buying SuperAntispyware is that it is 29.95 and if you buy it with the Lifetime Subscription you get it for $39.90 and you don’t have to pay for it anymore.

[ad#SUPERAntiSpyware]

Fake Security Adviser from explorersecurityhelper.com

Paul

I saw this come in my way and I thought I would share it:

fakeexplorersecurityhelper

Here is a site that is another scareware attempt from the makers of [intlink id=”3607″ type=”post”]Personal Antivirus[/intlink].   They do this to get money from unsuspecting users who think this will protect there system but the truth of the matter, they are either trying to get you to install even more Malware or buy a program that doesn’t do what it claims.   You should never buy from a site you do not know anything about and you should never install software from a site you have no knowledge of

Threat to System : Critical

[rating:5/5]

Advice : Do a Complete system scan and make sure you don’t have any more hidden malware. This has altered your browser and can be monitoring your system and should be taken off your system. You should consider your system compromised until you clean your system.

I recommend :

[ad#SUPERAntiSpyware]

SUPERAntiSpyware My Review

Paul

Ok I have been using SUPERAntiSpyware for quite some time, I used the free version for about a year now.  Ever since I found a link on Computer America website.   Now let’s face it, in Anti-Virus software there are many different ones.   I talked about [intlink id=”3851″ type=”post”]Malwarebytes[/intlink] a few days ago now I want to talk about why you Should Buy SUPERAntiSpyware Pro.

Now let’s be fair about this, I was given a free lifetime version of the Pro version from Mike Duncan the Director of Business Development.  So I might be a little Biased but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t suggest to anyone who isn’t looking for a cheap alternative to buy a Anti-virus Software.

So with that said now we can talk about it a little more.  The Free Version is great don’t get me wrong but there are some key differences from the Free to the Pro Version.  Some of the things that I think are the most crucial points  for buying SUPERAntivirus Pro are:

  • System Diagnostics — Lets face it there are more and more virus, Trojans, and Malware being created each day and being used.  This is a great way to explore your system in even more details and find those really hidden viruses.

  • Auto Scanning — Very Important instead of just scanning when you think you have a virus.  You can schedule on a weekly or nightly basis when to do the scan and make sure your system keeps clean from infection.

  • Automatic Updates — With the free Version you can only update manually but with the Pro version, you can have it check for updates  every 8 hours.  After all there are viruses being discovered every hour in one part of the world!!

  • Registry Blocking and Real Time Protection — These two Go hand in  hand.  I have seen viruses come in many shapes and forms that will install without your knowledge these to help prevent this.   Although other Anti-Virus software does this to they cost more and have to pay on a yearly basis.

  • Supported Languages —  Danish, English, Spanish, Estonian, German, Hungarian,  Italian, Macedonian,  Norwegian, Polish,  Portuguese,  and Swedish.

My review :

[rating:5/5]

Ease of Use

No Technical experience needed to use this software

No Long term Commitment by buying a lifetime subscription.

Here are what some peoples are saying about SuperAntispyware:

I think SuperAntiSpyware is a excellent program better then other AntiSpyware programs out there, gets rid of the nasties that other programs can’t get rid of, so having a Pro version would add a nice addition to my tool kit. [Scott]

For the most part, I subscribe to the MajorGeeks.com methodology of malware removal for my Windows-using clients (including my wife). This is one very awesome program. I recommend it to all using Windows, even those who aren’t in immediate need.   [Technoslick]

A LIFETIME license of SUPERAntiSpyware Professional would be an invaluable asset for any serious PC technician’s toolkit!  [C6Gunner]

[They seem to think this is a great tool and I do too]

Download the 15 day trial

As you can see by looking at those pictures you can have SUPERAntiSpyware work side by side other free Antivirus.   I suggest if you have the free versions of Antivirus to invest in the SuperAntiSpyware Pro.   It is a Cheaper Alternative then to buying one one those Major Brands and yet It helps protect your system from those nasty viruses, Spyware, or Trojans.   With SuperAntiSpyware Pro, You get real time protection and the ability to automatically update your definitions and program and Real-Time Blocking.  If your like me and have AVG or Some other Free Antivirus software.   As you know some Antivirus Software doesn’t pick up a virus but others do.   This will add another layer of protect and help protect your System.  All in all, SUPERAntiSpyware Pro is the cheapest Alternative to buying one from the Major Brands.  If you buy it right now, you can get a Lifetime Membership for a limited time  and pay only $39.90.  You would never have to pay for another yearly subscription.

SUPERAntiSpyware also has a great tool you can download to submit a file you have a question about.   If it is a virus or Trojan,  it will help them identify and send out an update to get rid of that Virus.  You can help them find and eliminate even more Malware by using this Submit tool.

Why you can’t run Antivirus or Taskmanager!

Paul

Photo by : Kristi Evans Photo by : Kristi Evans

As you know there has been more and more virus writers and scammers who don’t want you to interfere with the ultimate plan.   You see the two major plans these people have are:

  1. [intlink id=”2811″ type=”post”]To use your computer as a Botnet[/intlink] —  This is most common because the Command and Control server is where they tell these other computers what to do weather send spam or do a denial of Service attack on a website.  Although this is the most common it isn’t however the easiest to get rid of rid.   Far be it from being easy these virus writers want to keep a foot hold on your system.   This is like the SG-1 the “Foothold” Situation, they try to look like there is nothing wrong.

  2. [intlink id=”3805″ type=”post”]Fake Antivirus software[/intlink] — This is the other common reason why you can’t load up Taskmanager or SUPERantispyware/Malwarebytes.   It could even prevent AVG,  Norton Antivirus, and Other Antivirus software from being loaded at boot up.  Because most Antivirus software can detect this type of scareware.   The scammers want to make as much money as they can so they don’t want the End user to be able to stop the program from scaring you into buying the fake product.  It could also have a [intlink id=”3872″ type=”post”]Scareware Adviser[/intlink] trying to get you to buy the fake product!

As you can see these are what I call the Prime “2” reasons why you can’t run your Antivirus software, although there is a way around this.   I have found loading up in Safe Mode to be the easiest way to run antivirus scans on an infected system.   Although this can be difficult to do it, however it helps prevent these programs from loading up in more ways then one.  If you can go download the Antivirus programs from another computer and have them to install once you load up in safe mode.   You should also think about installing other software like a [intlink id=”2205″ type=”page”]Firewall even the Free firewalls[/intlink] are the better than Microsoft’s Firewall.

[ad]The other options for those tech savy people who know what a hard drive is and how to remove it, is to mount it onto another system as a slave and then run your antivirus software on the hard drive in question.   This however shouldn’t be done unless two conditions are met:

  1. You Know what you doing —  Again if you don’t know what your doing please don’t try this.  It could hurt your system far more than you can know.   If you don’t know how to do this you should take it to a professional and let them do the work for you.

  2. Out of Warranty — Yep that is right if this has a 2 year or longer warranty and you open up the hardware you automatically void the warranty on anything to do with your system.  So it is best to have someone who is qualified warranty specialist to open it up.  This way you still have your warranty on the system and if something does go wrong in the shop, they can fix it easier than a novice.

If you know what your doing this can be an easy process or it can be a hard process it only depends on how knowledgeable you are and how far you are willing to go.   Although there are [intlink id=”2955″ type=”post”]some viruses that require you to just start over[/intlink].  This is because they have embedded so deeplyinto the system that removing them will ruin your Windows system and prevent it from booting in the first place.  This is the last option, if you have a system who has been overrun with virus and spyware it might be time to reinstall the Operating system.  This is what I call the end all way to get rid of the Virus, Trojan, Or spyware on your system.   If you do this you will need to make sure to install all the Microsoft updates before you do anything else.  Also you will need to [intlink id=”2205″ type=”page”]re-install any Firewalls and Antivirus[/intlink] software to better protect your system from having the virus in the first place.