Hi.
No, it all seems great. That you very much for your and Michael's help. I do appreciate your dedication and patience
You're welcome!
Next:Congratulations your computer now appears to be malware free!
Now I have some tasks for your good self to carry out as part of a clean up process and some advice about online safety.
Importance of Regular System Maintenance:I advice you read both of the below listed topics as this will go a long way to keeping your Computer performing well.
Help! My computer is slow!Also so is this:
What to do if your Computer is running slowlyUninstall ComboFix:- Click on Start >> Run...
- Now type in ComboFix /Uninstall into the and click OK.
- Note the space between the X and the /Uninstall, it needs to be there.
Clean up with OTC:Please download
OTC and save it to desktop.
This tool will remove all the tools(and logs created) we used to clean your pc. Any left over merely delete yourself and empty the Recycle Bin.
- Double-click OTC.exe.
- Click the CleanUp! button.
- Select Yes when the "Begin cleanup Process?" prompt appears.
- If you are prompted to Reboot during the cleanup, select Yes.
- The tool will delete itself once it finishes, if not delete it by yourself.
Note: If you receive a warning from your firewall or other security programs regarding
OTC attempting to contact the internet, please allow it to do so.
Now some advice for on-line safety:Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware:This is a excellent application and I advise you keep this installed. Check for updates and run a scan once a week.
Other installed security software:
Your presently installed security application,
avast! Antivirus automatically checks for updates and downloads/installs them with every system reboot and or periodically if the machine is left running providing a internet connection is active.
I advise you also run a complete scan with this also once per week.
Erunt:Emergency Recovery Utility NT, I advice you keep this installed as a means to keep a complete backup of your registry and restore it when needed.
Myself I would actually create a new back up once per week as this along with System Restore may prove to be invaluable if something unforeseen occurs!
Keep your system updated:Microsoft releases patches for Windows and other products regularly:
Be careful when opening attachments and downloading files:- Never open email attachments, not even if they are from someone you know. If you need to open them, scan them with your antivirus program before opening.
- Never open emails from unknown senders.
- Beware of emails that warn about viruses that are spreading, especially those from antivirus vendors. These email addresses can be easily spoofed. Check the antivirus vendor websites to be sure.
- Be careful of what you download. Only download files from known sources. Also, avoid cracked programs. If you need a particular program that costs too much for you, try finding free alternatives on Sourceforge or Pricelessware.
Stop malicious scripts:Windows by default allow scripts (which is VBScript and JavaScript) to run and some of these scripts are malicious. Use
Noscript by Symantec or
Script Defender by AnalogX to handle these scripts.
Avoid Peer to Peer software:P2P may be a great way to get lots of seemingly freeware, but it is a great way to get infected as well. There's no way to tell if the file being shared is infected. Worse still, some worms spread via P2P networks, infecting you as well. My advice is to avoid these types of software applications.
Advised Optional Installation:There is no sign of a software firewall installed on your system. Regardless if using a hardware type and or using the inbuilt Windows Service Pack 3 firewall this is a necessary application as it will also provide outbound protection where as the aforementioned do not.
I highly advise you download
ONE of the following firewalls and install it. Restart the computer for changes to take effect.
This article is a excellent resource regarding the aforementioned firewalls:
Understanding and Using FirewallsFinally a educational source:To learn more about how to protect yourself while on the internet read this article by Tony Klein:
So how did I get infected in the first place?Some consider this article outdated, personally I still think it bares relevance and the author is well respected in the Anti-Malware community and by myself also!
Any questions, feel free to ask? If not stay safe!