Hi there,
Fix HijackThis lines
- Run HijackThis!
- Click on Do a System Scan only
- Place a tick next to the following lines:
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {CA6319C0-31B7-401E-A518-A07C3DB8F777} - (no file)
Congratulations, you are now all clean! To help to prevent from becoming reinfected, please follow the instructions below in order. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them. If after 48 hours you have not responded to this, then I will assume you have no questions and have the topic closed.
Flush the system restore points
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
- Select the System Restore tab.
- Check (tick) Turn off system restore on all drives box.
- Click Apply.
- Uncheck (untick) Turn off system restore on all drives box.
- Click OK.
- Restart your computer.
Keep your system updated
Microsoft releases patches for Windows and Office products regularly to patch up Windows and Office products loopholes and fix any bugs found. Please ensure that you visit the following websites regularly or do update your system regularly.
Install the updates immediately if they are found. Reboot your computer if necessary, revisit Windows Update and Office update sites until there are no more updates to be installed.
To update Windows and office
Go to Start > All Programs > Microsoft Update
Alternatively, you can visit the link below to update Windows and Office products.
Microsoft Update
I also recommend, if it's not already on, to enable Automatic updates. It will notify you whenever there are new updates available. Here's how:
- Go to Start > Control Panel > Automatic Updates
- Select Automatic (recommended) radio button if you want the updates to be downloaded and installed without prompting you.
- Select Download updates for me, but let me chose when to install them radio button if you want the updates to be downloaded automatically but to be installed at another time.
- Select Notify me but don't automatically download or install them radio button if you want to be notified of the updates.
Besides Windows that needs regular updating, antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall programs update regularly too.
Please make sure that you update your antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware programs at least once a week.
Surf safely
Many of the exploits are directed to users of Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Using Firefox with NoScript add-on helps to prevent most exploits from running as NoScript by default disables all scripts on all websites. If you trust the website, you can manually allow it.
If you prefer to use Internet Explorer, here are some settings to change to improve the security of Internet Explorer.
For Internet Explorer 7
Please read this article to configure Internet Explorer 7 properly.
Backup regularly
You never know when your PC will become unstable or become so infected that you can't recover it. Follow this Microsoft article to learn how to backup. Follow this article by Microsoft to restore your backups.
Alternatively, you can use 3rd-party programs to back up your data. One example can be found at Bleeping Computer.
Avoid P2P
P2P may be a great way to get lots of stuffs, 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. If you do need to use them, use them sparingly. Check this list of clean and infected P2P programs if you need to use one.
Prevent a re-infection
- Winpatrol
Winpatrol is heuristic protection program, meaning it looks for patterns in codes that work like malware. It also takes a snapshot of your system's critical resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without you knowing. You can read more about Winpatrol's features here.
You can get a free copy of Winpatrol or use the Plus version for more features.
You can read Winpatrol's FAQ if you run into problems. - Hosts File
A Hosts file is like a phone book. You look up someone's name in the phone book before calling him/her. Similarly, your PC will look up the website's IP address before you can view the website.
Hosts file will replace your current Hosts file with another one containing well-known advertisement sites, spyware sites and other bad sites. This new Hosts file will protect you by re-directing these bad sites to 127.0.0.1.
Here are some Hosts files:
MVPS Hosts File
Bluetack's Hosts File
Bluetack's Host Manager
hpHosts
A tutorial about Hosts File can be found at Malware Removal. - Spybot Search and Destroy
Spybot Search & Destroy is another program for scanning spywares and adwares. Not only so, it has other preventive options as well. You are strongly encouraged to run a scan at least once per week.
Spybot Search & Destroy can be downloaded from here.
If you need help in using Spybot Search & Destroy, you can read Spybot Search and Destroy tutorial at Bleeping Computer.
Before downloading any anti-spyware programs, always check the Rogue/Suspect list of anti-spyware programs and Malwarebytes RogueNET. This will save you from a lot of trouble. If in doubt, don't ever download it. - SiteHound Toolbar
SiteHound is a toolbar that warns you if you go to a site that is known to scam people, that has potentially lots of viruses or spywares or has questionable contents. If you know the site, you can enter it; if you don't, it will bring you back to the previous page. Currently, SiteHound works for Internet Explorer and Firefox only.
Stand Up and Be Counted ---> Malware Complaints <--- where you can make difference!
The site offers people who have been (or are) victims of malware the opportunity to document their story and, in that way, launch a complaint against the malware and the makers of the malware.
Happy surfing and stay clean!
Regards,
Adam
