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ric2046
join:2005-11-12
Cerritos, CA
| Is this a virus or spyware?
Hi,
This is my first post, and hopefully I can provide enough info to get some help on this matter. A friend of mine asked for my help when a few days ago the AVG Free Anti-Virus program on his computer alerted him of a virus.
Unfortunately, he's not very computer proficient as he tends to click the "x" most of the time when he's not sure of a dialog box. So, he hit the "x" on the virus dialog box to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away, which I think it's not supposed to go away until it is handled with. But he kept clicking it until it finally did go away, and then he turned off his computer. That's when he asked me to check it out, so I did, and upon turning on the computer, the virus dialog alert box did not appear the entire time I was operating his computer. I've had a couple virus's before, and I remember the virus box will always pop up until you deal with it. However, when I checked his AVG Virus Vault, it wasn't there, so we were left wondering where it went?
The only other small piece of info he remembered about the virus dialog alert box was that it said Trojan Backdoor. I tried checking, but there are plenty of specific viruses associated with that name, so I couldn't specifically help him especially if the alert box didn't come up again.
So, what I did was just install Spywareblaster, Spybot, and Ad-Aware for future use. Ad-Aware caught over 50 spyware in his computer, so I deleted them all. I cleared as much as were detected, and then used AVG to scan his computer normally and also in Safe Mode. I also used that vcleaner.exe program on the grisoft site for those specific viruses just in case. These recommended instructions came from the grisoft forum, but still the virus was not detected again.
I'm still concerned though that a virus alert should show up once, but won't show up again. He didn't heal or quarantine it, so I have no idea what or where it might be. Is it possible that this virus has escaped detection after the first time? Or could this be a case of one of those spyware acting like a virus? And is there another anti-virus I might try that may redetect it?
Thank you for any replies that might shed some light on this case. I'm trying to educate myself of these security measures as well while I'm figuring this out, so I'll hopefully be a little more prepared when things start hitting the fan.  | |
CajunTek
Insane Cajun
Premium,MVM
join:2003-08-08
Arlington, TX
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Do you have access to this PC.. Or does your friend have access to this site.. Because if either is true.. You cannot go wrong with »Security »I think my computer is infected or hijacked. What should I do?
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Lost in Texas | |
CalamityJane
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2002-08-27
Eustis, FL
2 edits | reply to ric2046
Can you try these steps?
»Security »I think my computer is infected or hijacked. What should I do?
Also, can you post his AVG scan log? That might have some clues on it.
Let us know how you make out.
And welcome to the forums! Glad to have you here and helping your friends. We'll do our best to assist
Edit: CajunTek...he is always one step ahead of me
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It takes a disaster to make a woman out of a female
Microsoft MVP/Windows Security 2003-2006
Proud Member of ASAP (Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals) | |
ric2046
join:2005-11-12
Cerritos, CA
| I only have access to his PC when I'm at his place, which isn't regularly. His PC is also secondhand. It's a PIII WinXP Pro. He bought it from someone else so there's a lot of unwanted stuff on it. And I mean a lot because scanning with AVG takes way too long (around half an hour at least). Anyway, I'll try and get his AVG scan log. In the meantime, I'll try those steps. Thanks! | |
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