A Trojan Horse is Eating my Brain

01/01/2009 07:52:53 PM · #1

actually, i have no idea what it's doing. i got an email(dont know who its from) and when i tried to open my inbox my computer told my there was a trojan horse warning(or something similar to thay phrase) and i clicked the make it go away button. now my cpmuter is very unhappy with me and i have no idea what to do. please help me.

ralph

Nikon Z9

01/01/2009 07:58:50 PM · #2

are you running anti virus software?
have you scanned your machine recently ?

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/01/2009 08:01:06 PM · #3

im actually having my buddy looking at it right now. im on my laptop now. my computer does the anti-virus scan every time i turn it on...

TCGuru

Canon EOS-40D

01/01/2009 08:02:22 PM · #4

try this my sister swears by it!

01/01/2009 08:04:50 PM · #5

if its something i need the internet to get i wont be able to use it. i cant get the internet to pull up

01/01/2009 08:09:47 PM · #6

there is now an icon titled 'gay fetixh sex' on my desktop. yay for me. anyone else with some help?

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

01/01/2009 08:15:19 PM · #7

I had some trojan problems in the past..I used forums to get me through....major geeks...

aliqui

Nikon D300s

01/01/2009 08:16:54 PM · #8

Originally posted by JDubsgirl:

there is now an icon titled 'gay fetixh sex' on my desktop. yay for me. anyone else with some help?

If I can't directly help with computer issues, I at least Google the clues without posting on the slim chance I'll find something that can help. I have to say, I'm a little hesitant to put this particular "clue" into Google, heh.

01/01/2009 08:20:31 PM · #9

same virus??

01/01/2009 08:23:14 PM · #10

another

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/01/2009 08:23:24 PM · #11

I have removed this same malware program from 2 PC's now. Your best bet is to download a program called Malwarebytes (I would just google "Malwarebytes") and let it scan your PC. It should find the files and registry entries that are causing the problems and then it will remove them.

I know you said you can't get to the internet so you will have to download it from a PC that you can get on the internet and then copy the application to a flash drive or CD and use that to install the application on your infected PC.

01/01/2009 08:23:44 PM · #12

I know the few times I had trojans I had to reformat my hard drive

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

01/01/2009 08:26:19 PM · #13

Originally posted by knowvak:

i can do that?! huh, well thanks. ill try it pronto

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

01/01/2009 08:32:29 PM · #14

Hopefully it is an easily removed piece of malware. I use the free version of AVG antivirus and I periodically run AdAware and Spybot S&D

If any of these scanners suggests you have a rootkit, your best bet might be to nuke (reformat) the drive and reinstall windows. Rootkits put there hooks deep into the core of the operating system and are difficult to remove.

A couple of suggestions to be better protected in the future:

-If you are still using internet explorer (especially v6 or earlier), stop using it. IE supports a technology called ActiveX, which is a good idea that can be used for bad things. IE7 will ask permission to run activex controls and other browsers, like Firefox, do not even support it.

-My own recommendation is using Firefox with the NoScript extension. NoScript will block javascript from a site unless you specifically allow it. A lot of malware gets in via the browser allowing scripts to run unrestricted.

-A custom hosts file will block many known malware and adware sites and your browser will load things more quickly without having to seek out doubleclick from every other page. (Note, some online shopping sites may not work due to links to these e-commerce trackers, but the hosts file is easily edited to allow them if need be.)

Added: When working on a heavily infested PC, I will run repeated cycles of AVG, Spybot and Adaware. Each cycle seems to uncover some more crap that was previously covered up, and no software finds everything. You can run different adware scanners at different times, but it it not recommended to have more than one antivirus installed at any give time. The AV programs will treat each other as viruses.

Message edited by author 2009-01-01 20:35:26.

boss351

01/01/2009 08:33:08 PM · #15

Ad-Aware 2008 Free and Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6 are what I use for these kind of problems. There both free.

//www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

//www.download.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html?tag=mncol;pop&cdlPid=10861988

01/01/2009 08:34:30 PM · #16

thanks steve. ill get firefox as soon as i figure this all out. more updates later

01/01/2009 08:35:50 PM · #17

malware thingy is scanning now. finding bunches of crap files. glad this is working out. ill let you all know it it works/kills us all

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/01/2009 08:36:45 PM · #18

Originally posted by boss351:

Perhaps they have updated their Library but the last I used both Spybot and Adaware to attempt to remove this as well and it did not work. The only thing I have found to successfully remove it is Malwarebytes.

01/01/2009 08:50:10 PM · #19

so malwarebytes is working away. how long does it generally take? oh, and i unplugged my external hard drive earlier. should i plug it back in to be scanned?

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/01/2009 08:53:09 PM · #20

Originally posted by JDubsgirl:

so malwarebytes is working away. how long does it generally take? oh, and i unplugged my external hard drive earlier. should i plug it back in to be scanned?

I guess that depends on how many files you have on your PC and how big your registry is...Also going to depend on if you did the quick scan or the full scan. I probably would go with the full scan just to make sure nothing is missed. If you did the full scan it will probably take close to an hour or so.

I know the suspense is killing you!

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

01/01/2009 08:55:29 PM · #21

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. i hate waiting for stuff like this. especially when it gets an hour into it and says it has to abort. gra!!! i dont know which scan i picked. i have short term memory loss. or something. and what is a registry and how do i know how big mine is. without my hard drive, theres not too much on my computer. i keep all my gazillions of photos on the hard drive.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

01/01/2009 09:02:12 PM · #22

i think you're asking the wrong questions in the wrong place.

there's nothing worse than trying a bunch of stuff that has no bearing on the issue you are experiencing.

at the very least try to be specific in your description of the issue..

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/01/2009 09:03:31 PM · #23

Hopefully it won't be much longer...and you'll have to reboot after its done, bummer I know.

Your registry holds configuration data and settings for the operating system and applications. Generally something you don't want to mess around with. The more applications you have installed on your computer the larger your registry will be.

01/01/2009 09:04:22 PM · #24

Originally posted by soup:

i am using a program that is working perfectly well(as far as i can tell, we shall find out when its done scanning). what would you suggest doing since you seem to think i am going about fixing my computer completely wrong