My computer is infected with Malware and possible viruses

Hi Tgambaro112,

Answers to your questions below. I will post a follow up later on ensuring your system is protected once you have installed Vista.

what are the first steps of reformatting and reinstalling

First, you need to set the BIOS to boot from the CD. This is normally already enabled. See How to Set BIOS to Boot from CDROM
The next step is to boot the computer with the disk inserted. The computer should try and boot from the install disk.
See Installing and reinstalling Windows Vista for more information.

I would like to save my iTunes apps is there anyway I can do that too?

Normally you cannot backup/restore applications, Apple may store your details in the cloud though. I am not familiar with their products so I cannot say for sure.

"there is already a file with the same name in this location" the file was "desktop.ini"

You do not need to copy any of these files. They are normally hidden, if you hide these files it will not prompt you to copy them.

Do not show hidden Files/Folders.

• Click Start.
• Click Computer.
• Select the Organise button and click Folder and Search Options.
• Select the View Tab.
• Under the Hidden files and folders heading, uncheck Show hidden files and folders.
• Check Hide protected operating system files (recommended).
• Click Yes to confirm.
• Click OK.

Also I found the disks I'm not sure which one it is but I have one that says

That does appear to be the correct disk.

I also ran a scan on the whole external hard drive to make sure it was clean would you like to see my
Logs for that scan?

Only if the scan found anything.

okay now i reformated both of my harddrives and reinstalled vista, came back on brand new like the first day i got it no files or nothing what should i do now first thing i did when it started up was download avast free antivirus and google chrome, havent put my old files on here yet, i can not get the screen to fit my full 32 inch tv like i had before, when i go into the display option it doesnt give me all the options i used to have , also windows is installing a bunch of updates

Hi Tgambaro112,

The updates that Windows is installing are your biggest priority right now. These will patch vulnerabilities in Windows which will prevent future infections.
Continue with the update process until there are no more updates available. You can force an update check using the method below.

To update Windows
Go to Start > All Programs > Windows Update > Check for updates.


Next I would recommend you download and install Secunia PSI.
Secunia Personal Software Inspector - Copyright © Secunia. This app will monitor programs on your computer for known vulnerabilities. You can set it to auto-update for you, or just prompt you if an update is available. I highly recommend it.


Regarding the screen resolution, you may find that there is an updated driver on the Dell website for your graphics card. You can check this here.


Continue installing updates until there are no more left to install. Then run the program below and post the resulting log.

Security Check

• Please download Security Check by screen317 from one of the links below:
  
  • Link 1
  • Link 2
• Save it to your Desktop.
• Right click SecurityCheck.exe And select " Run as administrator " , then follow the onscreen instructions inside of the black box.
• A Notepad document should open automatically called checkup.txt
• Please post the contents of that document.

Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.43
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x86 (UAC is enabled)
Out of date service pack!!
Internet Explorer 7 Out of date!
``````````````Antivirus/Firewall Check:``````````````
Windows Firewall Enabled!
avast! Antivirus
Antivirus up to date!
`````````Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:`````````
Secunia PSI (3.0.0.3001)
Google Chrome 20.0.1132.57
Google Chrome 21.0.1180.79
Google Chrome VisualElementsManifest.xml..
````````Process Check: objlist.exe by Laurent````````
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastSvc.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastUI.exe
`````````````````System Health check`````````````````
Total Fragmentation on Drive C: 8 % Defragment your hard drive soon!
````````````````````End of Log``````````````````````

Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.43
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x86 (UAC is enabled)
Out of date service pack!!
Internet Explorer 7 Out of date!
``````````````Antivirus/Firewall Check:``````````````
Windows Firewall Enabled!
avast! Antivirus
Antivirus up to date!
`````````Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:`````````
Secunia PSI (3.0.0.3001)
Google Chrome 20.0.1132.57
Google Chrome 21.0.1180.79
Google Chrome VisualElementsManifest.xml..
````````Process Check: objlist.exe by Laurent````````
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastSvc.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastUI.exe
`````````````````System Health check`````````````````
Total Fragmentation on Drive C: 8 % Defragment your hard drive soon!
````````````````````End of Log``````````````````````

windows told me to update something else so i ran another scan with that program heres the log


Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.43
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 x86 (UAC is enabled)
Out of date service pack!!
Internet Explorer 7 Out of date!
``````````````Antivirus/Firewall Check:``````````````
Windows Firewall Enabled!
avast! Antivirus
Antivirus up to date!
`````````Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:`````````
Secunia PSI (3.0.0.3001)
Google Chrome 20.0.1132.57
Google Chrome 21.0.1180.79
Google Chrome VisualElementsManifest.xml..
````````Process Check: objlist.exe by Laurent````````
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastSvc.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastUI.exe
`````````````````System Health check`````````````````
Total Fragmentation on Drive C: 8 % Defragment your hard drive soon!
````````````````````End of Log``````````````````````

Hi Tgambaro112,

As you can see from the scan result Windows is still out of date, leaving Windows vulnerable to infection. Continue running Windows Update until there are no more updates available.

You will then need to run a defrag of drive c:. Post the securitycheck log once again when you are satisfied that all available updates have been installed.

diver79.

how do i update to vista service pack 2? , it says theres only one update right now and its only 28MB and at the time i posted the log it said everything was up to date

how do i update to vista service pack 2? , it says theres only one update right now and its only 28MB and at the time i posted the log it said everything was up to date

Now it says 2 more updates available I guess I'm just going to keep checking for updates for now until it says nothing else

Okay finally the update for service pack 2 came up its installing now

Results of screen317's Security Check version 0.99.43
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 x86 (UAC is enabled)
Internet Explorer 9
``````````````Antivirus/Firewall Check:``````````````
Windows Firewall Enabled!
avast! Antivirus
Antivirus up to date!
`````````Anti-malware/Other Utilities Check:`````````
Secunia PSI (3.0.0.3001)
Google Chrome 20.0.1132.57
Google Chrome 21.0.1180.79
Google Chrome VisualElementsManifest.xml..
````````Process Check: objlist.exe by Laurent````````
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
Windows Defender MSASCui.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastSvc.exe
AVAST Software Avast AvastUI.exe
`````````````````System Health check`````````````````
Total Fragmentation on Drive C: 0 %
````````````````````End of Log``````````````````````

Excellent work!

Everything looks good. Get into the habit of always installing available Windows Updates, and use Secunia to make sure there are no vulnerable applications installed.

As your problem has been resolved by a reformat this topic will be closed, unless you have any other questions.

Read, stay informed.
To help minimize the chances of becoming re-infected, please read.
Computer Security - a short guide to staying safer online

Thanks your a life saver! Also what free antivirus program do u recommend I think the avast I'm using is only a 30 day trail program

Please disregard the information in the previous post. Only trained malware removal personnel are authorized to assist user's on this forum. The infection you had has been removed by re-installing Vista.

Once the Avast trial period runs out you will automatically switch to the free version which also works quite well, provided you practice safe browsing habits.

diver79