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Virus Detection and Removal Tips

This page covers recommended software for virus, trojan, worm, spyware and malware detection and removal.

What is Malware?

In the past, the classic virus which attached itself to other programs was the only major concern. In today's Internet environment, a new kind of menace which is especially made for attacks on the Internet are much more dangerous. Every computer on the web is vulnerable. Two categories of harmful code have become more important in the last two years: Worms and Trojan Horses. Such harmful tools are called Malware. The term was created by a combination of "malicious" and "software ".

 

Sometimes the infections are so nasty that you are forced to manually remove them...so we have single purpose removal tools available to us:

Single Purpose Removal Tools

Disclaimer Notice: Use of Removal Tool Utilities is not recommended by novices. If you're not sure how to do it, hire someone to do it for you!

 

 

 

  

 

» Virus Detection and Removal Tips »

Anti-Virus Software

    whatever Anti-Virus solution you have in place, ensure you are regularly checking and installing your antivirus updates!

Are you using Internet Explorer?

Are you aware that even with all the patches and updates provided by Microsoft that IE still has 16 security holes available to malicious virus, spyware, and malware creators?

need proof?
2004 issues: http://secunia.com/product/11/?period=2004#statistics
2005 issues: http://secunia.com/product/11/?period=2005#statistics



We HIGHLY Recommend:

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

 

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than Internet Explorer or Netscape ever was. You still need to keep IE on your system and use it ONLY when you end up at a site that doesn't support Firefox -- this is becoming more and more of a rarity.

Trouble with Firefox not connecting to sites?

as well, you might want to try Thunderbird, Mozilla's email program offering excellent security features and ease of use.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

 

*** Warning! *** Prior to using any Spyware, Malware Removal Tools listed below ensure that you do not have the BlazeFind malware

If the following occurrence is happening to you, you need a System Administrator or IT specialist to assist you with this:

If you see a Search Assistant Toolbar in the Taskbar, it might be due to a malware named BlazeFind. Quick Launch bar may be missing on every reboot or the Quick Launch sort order may not be maintained. These symptoms are caused by this malware. Here's the link to the page that discusses the preliminary steps required to remove this Desk band object, before running spyware removal tools: http://www.winxptutor.com/wsaremove.htm

 

* * * DISCLAIMER: Use the information provided at your own risk.
It is highly recommended that you obtain the professional services of an IT (Information Technology) person to assist you when attempting to remove any virus or trojan or when Registry Settings will be affected by your actions.

 

I recommend at LEAST these first 4 products absolutely and the others as additional:

AdAware Personal

www.techspot.com/download13.html

 

SpywareBlaster

SpywareBlaster 3.4
Keep spyware from installing in the first place!

www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html ... with FREE MANUAL UPDATES -- meaning YOU must remember to update it. If you want the Auto Update, then you must pay for that.

CCleaner

www.ccleaner.com/

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or nasty Ads :)

 

RoboForm
Secure Password Manager and Form Filler

http://www.roboform.com/

What it does:
• AutoSave passwords in browser.
• AutoFill passwords to login form.
• Click Login button for you.
• Fill personal info into online forms.
• Save offline passwords & notes.
• Generate Secure Random Passwords.
• Encrypt passwords and personal data using 3-DES.
• All personal info is stored on your computer only.
• Take RoboForm with you on USB disk for ultimate portability.
• Sync your passwords and notes to Palm or Pocket PC.
• Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.

.

* * * DISCLAIMER: Use the information provided at your own risk.
It is highly recommended that you obtain the professional services of an IT (Information Technology) person to assist you when attempting to remove any virus or trojan or when Registry Settings will be affected by your actions.

 

Spybot -- Some people find this one finicky especially with their firewall setup but we use it and i still recommend it <I have had success by uninstalling, rebooting and reinstalling the software to make it work correctly>:

SPYBOT Search & Destroy 1.3!

*visit the site: http://spybot.safer-networking.de/en/index.html

* read Download.com's Spybot Review and Download it here

Beginning from version 1.2, Spybot-S&D allows you to immunize your computer against some spyware. It currently offers three different immunities:

Permanent Internet Explorer immunity

Similar to JavaCools SpywareBlaster, this allows you to tweak some internal Internet Explorer settings to block the installation of known spyware (and similar threats) installers. Spybot-S&D is able to set all entries for those that are in its database to be blocked. If you want to distinguish, you should install SpywareBlaster.

Permanently running bad download blocker for Internet Explorer

This is a second layer of protection for IE. While the Permanent Immunity blocks installers by their ActiveX ID, this one blocks anything that should come through by different aspects.

Resident

Resident is a permanently running application to protect your system. Currently, it consists of a browser helper for IE that will block download of files known as malicious-spyware installers for example. This page inside Spybot-S&D allows you to install/uninstall this helper as well as view the report which pages it has blocked (that should only appear if the first layer of protection, the main IE immunity, didn't stop the culprit).

Resident #2 -- TeaTimer

The Resident TeaTimer is a new tool of Spybot-S&D which perpetually monitors the processes called/initiated. It immediately detects known malicious processes wanting to start and terminates them giving you some options how to deal with this process in the future:

 

Note: Running AdAware and Spybot on your system is fine as long as you select the option that keeps AdAware out of Spybot's history logs. Reason being: Spybot has a great function where it stores what it has removed so that you can UNDO something later if necessary.

**** We run all of the above on our systems for complete security.

 

For those of you who do not mind hunting around your system for virus files that your anti-virus software can't delete (and often Windows Explorer won't let you have access to your temporary folders within Internet Explorer) we recommend the following utility:

ExplorerXP

Explorer XP, FREEWARE file manager for Windows 2000/XP

ExplorerXP is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non - commercial use) file manager for Windows 2000/XP. Unlike the regular Windows Explorer, it displays the total size of each folder and allows you to browse multiple folders from a tabbed interface. More often these days our Anti-virus software is unable to move or delete some files/trojans BUT with ExplorerXP you can gain access to these areas and delete the culprit file(s) yourself.
> Download it now!

Exporer XP is highly recommended software but again, a warning to novice users to be very careful about what you are deleting! If you're not sure, get somebody else to do it. We always recommend visiting virus libraries to better understand the virus you are dealing with. If you're fully informed and can follow instructions EXACTLY, you shouldn't have a problem.

Virus Libraries we recommend:
http://www.viruslibrary.com/


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Virus Detection and Removal Tips: recommended software for virus, trojan, worm, spyware and malware detection and removal