Posted by Lisa Prestegard on 7/2/07 10:57pm
Msg #198267

Question for Andy...

or anyone else w/techie knowledge.
I came home this evening to find that my wonderful, charming and handsome son had been "uh, surfing the internet" on my business computer. Lo and behold, I have some sort of virus that I think is named op.exe (there was an icon on my desktop).
I've run Registry Cleaner and AdAware SE, and have deleted all the critical objects (there were dozens). Is there anything else I must do to ensure that the malware (which I believe is actually HACKware) is completely removed?
I did try to run Avast anti-virus but it froze half way through the process.

Oh, and the description of my son above? That was purely sarcastic, because right about now I want to wring his NECK.

Reply by Ndwa on 7/3/07 4:10am
Msg #198284

The following must be done with your computer disconnected from the internet gateway. Most people fail to do this b/c they don't know that the internet gateway is the virus only source for destruction.

1. Disconnect from the internet to prevent further damage to your computer.
2. Scan for virus, spyware/hackware, etc. with whatever resource you have (remember to write down the program name & location of the detected virus).
3. Manually search & delete the virus file/program in c:\program file.
4. If the program is not deleteable (very common), goto "task manager ->processes" find the name of the virus and do "end process" then try deleting the program again. This process must be done quickly as most virus programs are set to execute in a loop cycle every 1-3 seconds.
5. Reboot, rescan, and run a registry scan.

Good luck

Reply by Loretta Reed on 7/3/07 7:52am
Msg #198290

Re: Question for Andy...a $1,000 mistake for me....

We bought one of the best computers you can possibly buy (then) for our business. We told our teenagers several time (hundreds maybe) to stay off of it and use your own laptop. I made myself a myspace and so did my kids. They went to youtube and downloaded crap.

Well, don't go to mypace or youtube because we got so many viruses that my computer crashed and we lost everything. Yes, everything. My Quickbooks with every company/phone/fed ex number and invoices. Thank goodness I had it on paper or I would have really been in bad shape. But, needless to say, we bought another computer.
I have a password that opens my desktop and I don't care what they say, death or hell, they won't get the password and we do not go to any websites that are questionable, download any music on this. Work only. Period. Plenty of virus protection and a "mean mom" look keeps me squeaky clean now.

Reply by Lisa Prestegard on 7/3/07 9:01am
Msg #198294

Thank you, Andy

You're always there with the right answer

Looks like I have a busy day ahead of me, searching for and deleting files. Coffee's on, 'mean mom face' firmly in place, so here I go. Have a great day, all.