Greetings fellow Huskers! I'm one of the behind-the-scenes guys that helps out with server issues from time to time for Chad and the HB crew. I saw this forum and figured I'd put a little bit of information out there for you all. Enjoy!
There is an outstanding tool out there called MALWAREBYTES. It's become such a great tool for our computer repair department that it's nearly the only tool we use to clean up computers. You can download it here: http://www.malwarebytes.org The free version should be just fine.
Once you download it, you'll need to run it to have it actually on your computer and running. Just accept all the default choices.
At the end of the installation it will automatically update itself and open up - let it do this. IF it doesn't update, you have a more severe problem and should contact a professional or seek further self-help sites on the net that are outside of the scope of this document. (HINT: search for HiJackThis - but be very careful!) You can also feel free to contact my office using the contact information at the bottom of this post.
Once the updates are done it will return you to the main screen of MalwareBytes. Click on the option to do a quick scan - it's the first option in the list. Let it do its thing, and while it's doing it, don't use your computer. In fact, before starting the scan, it would be a good idea to close down all programs you have running. This will allow the program to run faster and have a better chance of cleaning up any problems.
Once the scan is done, you'll have an option to view/fix the problems that were found. Do this, and if prompted to reboot it's IMPERATIVE that you do the reboot right away.
After rebooting (if necessary) come back in to MalwareBytes and run the full scan. Again, you will likely need to reboot when it's complete.
Continue running reboots and full scans until the scans come up clean. IF your scans continue to come up with the same infection, again, it's probably your best bet to contact a professional.
Repeat the entire process above (other than the program download) under each user account your computer has, if you happen to have more than one account.
Once finished, we HIGHLY suggest changing your computer so that you have one single account with administrative access, and one account (or more) that are restricted/limited users. NEVER use the administrative account unless you're specifically wanting to do updates to your computer. This will make it so that when you're online on Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, Yahoo, etc, that if you accidentally run in to a virus installer, your computer will not allow you to run and execute the virus. THIS ALONE is enough to prevent you not only from getting viruses on your computer in the first place, but to not have to trouble yourself with anti-virus software, which makes your computer work MUCH better in the first place. Now, it would probably be foolish not to have some kind of anti-virus software, but I personally don't use anything on my own computers. Running with limited accounts has worked flawlessly for me.
Once that's all done, you'll want to do some disk cleanup - most Windows computers have a disk cleanup utility that you can run. This is the safest option.
If you want to get under the hood of your computer and do some more advanced things, you can click on START, then RUN (or just type in the search box for Vista and Win7 computers): msconfig .... That will bring up a utility that lets you disable certain services and startup programs in a very easy manner. If you've set up the administrator user as described above, you'll need to run this command as that administrative user. Don't just shut everything off -- that will have VERY bad effects on your computer. I typically go through and search Google for everything I find there. This will give you a good concept of what is actually on your computer, why it's there, and you can use your brain if you want to shut things off or not. Oftentimes people have old printer and camera drivers loading that they no longer need.
You can also use your computers "Add and Remove Programs" utility to uninstall software that you no longer want. You should NEVER just delete the program folder from C:\Program Files\Whatever -- this would make it so the uninstall process would not work properly for most programs.
If you have any questions, feel free to post back here, but I really don't get on here too often, so you might want to contact me outside the board. My contact information is below.
Dave Stahr
IT Consultant and Integrator
Virtual Impressions Incorporated
Website: http://www.virtualimpressions.com
Current contact information is located on our website. You can also do a remote support session with me if you'd like me to look at something for you. Our standard rates would apply for this service.
There is an outstanding tool out there called MALWAREBYTES. It's become such a great tool for our computer repair department that it's nearly the only tool we use to clean up computers. You can download it here: http://www.malwarebytes.org The free version should be just fine.
Once you download it, you'll need to run it to have it actually on your computer and running. Just accept all the default choices.
At the end of the installation it will automatically update itself and open up - let it do this. IF it doesn't update, you have a more severe problem and should contact a professional or seek further self-help sites on the net that are outside of the scope of this document. (HINT: search for HiJackThis - but be very careful!) You can also feel free to contact my office using the contact information at the bottom of this post.
Once the updates are done it will return you to the main screen of MalwareBytes. Click on the option to do a quick scan - it's the first option in the list. Let it do its thing, and while it's doing it, don't use your computer. In fact, before starting the scan, it would be a good idea to close down all programs you have running. This will allow the program to run faster and have a better chance of cleaning up any problems.
Once the scan is done, you'll have an option to view/fix the problems that were found. Do this, and if prompted to reboot it's IMPERATIVE that you do the reboot right away.
After rebooting (if necessary) come back in to MalwareBytes and run the full scan. Again, you will likely need to reboot when it's complete.
Continue running reboots and full scans until the scans come up clean. IF your scans continue to come up with the same infection, again, it's probably your best bet to contact a professional.
Repeat the entire process above (other than the program download) under each user account your computer has, if you happen to have more than one account.
Once finished, we HIGHLY suggest changing your computer so that you have one single account with administrative access, and one account (or more) that are restricted/limited users. NEVER use the administrative account unless you're specifically wanting to do updates to your computer. This will make it so that when you're online on Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, Yahoo, etc, that if you accidentally run in to a virus installer, your computer will not allow you to run and execute the virus. THIS ALONE is enough to prevent you not only from getting viruses on your computer in the first place, but to not have to trouble yourself with anti-virus software, which makes your computer work MUCH better in the first place. Now, it would probably be foolish not to have some kind of anti-virus software, but I personally don't use anything on my own computers. Running with limited accounts has worked flawlessly for me.
Once that's all done, you'll want to do some disk cleanup - most Windows computers have a disk cleanup utility that you can run. This is the safest option.
If you want to get under the hood of your computer and do some more advanced things, you can click on START, then RUN (or just type in the search box for Vista and Win7 computers): msconfig .... That will bring up a utility that lets you disable certain services and startup programs in a very easy manner. If you've set up the administrator user as described above, you'll need to run this command as that administrative user. Don't just shut everything off -- that will have VERY bad effects on your computer. I typically go through and search Google for everything I find there. This will give you a good concept of what is actually on your computer, why it's there, and you can use your brain if you want to shut things off or not. Oftentimes people have old printer and camera drivers loading that they no longer need.
You can also use your computers "Add and Remove Programs" utility to uninstall software that you no longer want. You should NEVER just delete the program folder from C:\Program Files\Whatever -- this would make it so the uninstall process would not work properly for most programs.
If you have any questions, feel free to post back here, but I really don't get on here too often, so you might want to contact me outside the board. My contact information is below.
Dave Stahr
IT Consultant and Integrator
Virtual Impressions Incorporated
Website: http://www.virtualimpressions.com
Current contact information is located on our website. You can also do a remote support session with me if you'd like me to look at something for you. Our standard rates would apply for this service.
