# I need some computer help please....



## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

Hello fellow contractors....

I need some help with the home PC. My Anti-Virus recently expired and was considering some alternatives. Well, I put things off (out of sight, out of mind kind of thing) since I'm not on the home PC much. 

Well, this morning things were acting weird so I ran a MALWAREBYTES scan in safe mode and cleaned up the malware. I then went to download new antivirus software and I got a pop up saying "current security settings don't allow that action."

So, I go into the control panel and shut off the windows firewall. I then remove the old AV software just in case it was somehow blocking my new download. But I still get that pop up and can't seem to download new AV software.

I'll get a screen shot and add it here shortly. In the meantime, any ideas?

Thanks

Ok, here is the screen shot:


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## SLSTech (Sep 13, 2008)

Have you fully shutdown & restarted is my first question


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

SLSTech said:


> Have you fully shutdown & restarted is my first question


Yes..... Twice. Once after the MALWAREBYTES run and then after shutting off the Windows firewall.


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## SectorSecurity (Nov 26, 2013)

My guess is it is an infection which is coded to not allow the download / running of antivirus. Your best bet is to download a bootable antivirus burn it to a CD boot to it and run a scan. You can Google bootable antivirus for suggestions and downloads


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

Something else that's amiss.... when viewing posts here on CT, I now have all of these blue links embedded into the text of the posts. Here is a screen shot of those....


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## SectorSecurity (Nov 26, 2013)

Download a bootable av and antimalarial and run them.


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

I need to do that on a non-infected machine though right?


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

Boot up in safe mode and then go to the control panel and uninstall every single program that has anything to do with anti-virus, malware, spyware, etc. and any other program that has names like "Safe search" or "shopping helper" or "Safety Assistant" or "Super Protector" or any program that looks like it's purporting to be helpful in any kind of way. 

Then go into your "Services" configuration from the control panel and scroll down the list of available services. Every service that has one of those "helpful" or "protective" names is something that you need to disable. Double-click on it or right click and choose properties and then somewhere in the dialog box there is an option of starting or stopping the service or permanently disabling it.


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

I can go into the office and download one to a flash drive and then bring it home. But, I haven't got a clue how to _*"boot to it and run a scan."*_


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

tedanderson said:


> Boot up in safe mode and then go to the control panel and uninstall every single program that has anything to do with anti-virus, malware, spyware, etc. and any other program that has names like "Safe search" or "shopping helper" or "Safety Assistant" or "Super Protector" or any program that looks like it's purporting to be helpful in any kind of way.
> 
> Then go into your "Services" configuration from the control panel and scroll down the list of available services. Every service that has one of those "helpful" or "protective" names is something that you need to disable. Double-click on it or right click and choose properties and then somewhere in the dialog box there is an option of starting or stopping the service or permanently disabling it.


Thanks.... I'll try that too. I appreciate the help guys. I don't get on this computer much. It's mainly for the wife and kids. I guess I should have been more pro-active when the other AV expired.


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## ScipioAfricanus (Sep 13, 2008)

I find the very best thing to do is to just re-install Windows. 

Is this an XP machine or Windows 7?

Back up your important data, wipe the hard drive, install Windows and your other programs. Don't dick around with all that other anti-this and that crap. It never gets everything.

Then, don't let the kids click any links that are sketchy (yeah, that will happen).

Andy.


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> I find the very best thing to do is to just re-install Windows.
> 
> Is this an XP machine or Windows 7?
> 
> ...


LOL Andy.... most of what you just said went right over my head. :whistling

I have NO IDEA how to just wipe the hard drive and re-install windows. The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit I believe.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

CompleteW&D said:


> Something else that's amiss.... when viewing posts here on CT, I now have all of these blue links embedded into the text of the posts. Here is a screen shot of those....


I'm using Windows 7...Firefox with Adblock...Malwarebytes and an up-to-date Norton through Comcast. 

I also get the blue print, which are clickable links.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

ScipioAfricanus said:


> Then, don't let the kids click any links that are sketchy


I'd say that you shouldn't let your kids on the computer PERIOD because they have no idea as to what's sketchy and what's legit. Get them their own and let em screw it up without it affecting you.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

CompleteW&D said:


> LOL Andy.... most of what you just said went right over my head. :whistling
> 
> I have NO IDEA how to just wipe the hard drive and re-install windows. The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit I believe.


Yep...piece of cake for us challenged individuals.:laughing:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

CompleteW&D said:


> Something else that's amiss.... when viewing posts here on CT, I now have all of these blue links embedded into the text of the posts. Here is a screen shot of those....


When they changed servers they added a money making link generator. It's not harmful just annoying. They're is a site that you can go to that will turn it off.

You also might just have some malware still lingering.


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## SLSTech (Sep 13, 2008)

CompleteW&D said:


> LOL Andy.... most of what you just said went right over my head. :whistling
> 
> I have NO IDEA how to just wipe the hard drive and re-install windows. The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit I believe.


Your PC either came with recovery CD/DVD's or it is located on a hard drive. Depending on the manufacturer there is a way to kick it off from a program or as your machine is booting up you should see a press F10 or something similar to ring up the recovery option. 

Best bet is go to the manufacturers site & look up recovery options - of course that also means that you will be spending hours installing programs & updates.


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## m1911 (Feb 24, 2009)

The simplest solution is to buy a MAC


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## TWhite (Oct 29, 2013)

m1911 said:


> The simplest solution is to buy a MAC


Here it comes!


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I use microsoft security essentials. Never a problem, although I dont do much on it anyhoo. 

I use firefox and never a popup, an ad or a clickable link.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

The free AV programs were recently tested. There are two parts to consider - one is how effective it is in preventing infection, the other is how effective it is in detecting and removing an infection. Avast actually does really well at blocking infections. 

The benefit of Gideons protect with one, detect and clean with another is id unlikely you'll have something slip through both. This is what I do, and I recently went back to Avast for protection due to it's improvement in preventing infections.

BTW, the two win7 Home systems I disinfected both used IE as the browser - I use Firefox on Win7 Pro.


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## gideond (May 17, 2007)

Last time I used Bitdefender it had a lot of false alarms. I've very seldom seen any false alarms with Avast. Since going through the setting thoroughly I hardly ever see anything trying to get me to upgrade either. Really only when it's time to renew it yearly. They are all decent for free options. If I were paying I'd have NOD32 on there.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

'
The Best Free Antivirus Malware Blocking Chart

A year ago, we added a new test that relies on a super-fresh feed of malicious URLs from MRG-Effitas. We specifically use URLs that point to executable files, since that makes measuring success easy. If the antivirus doesn't block access to the URL or quarantine the file on download, it failed. The highest scores so far among free antivirus products went to Avast Free Antivirus 2015, with 72 percent, and Panda, with 64 percent.
'

Lots more here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp


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## gideond (May 17, 2007)

I actually run SuperAntiSpyware weekly too. It picks up a few things Malwarebytes does not, mainly adware tracking cookies. I don't recommend it right off though because it likes to hang around taking up memory and processing power unless you forcefully close it from the system tray. I don't like programs that don't actually close when you close them, especially when this is the free version and serves no purpose at all when sitting idle in the background. 

Before I run any of them I usually run CCleaner's clean function after carefully configuring what I want to clean. This gets rid of the leftovers on the system and the scanner have less stuff to scan through. There are some other tools like Spyware Blaster that inoculate your system to keep it from ever getting to a lot of bad sites, and OpenDNS which you can use to filter out some of the well known attack sources. Nothing is foolproof though.

If you look at all the tools to clean this stuff up it shows just how bad it's getting. I need to just run my linux installs more often. They aren't foolproof, but they are far safer than Windows.


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## m1911 (Feb 24, 2009)

gideond said:


> I actually run SuperAntiSpyware weekly too. It picks up a few things Malwarebytes does not, mainly adware tracking cookies. I don't recommend it right off though because it likes to hang around taking up memory and processing power unless you forcefully close it from the system tray. I don't like programs that don't actually close when you close them, especially when this is the free version and serves no purpose at all when sitting idle in the background.
> 
> Before I run any of them I usually run CCleaner's clean function after carefully configuring what I want to clean. This gets rid of the leftovers on the system and the scanner have less stuff to scan through. There are some other tools like Spyware Blaster that inoculate your system to keep it from ever getting to a lot of bad sites, and OpenDNS which you can use to filter out some of the well known attack sources. Nothing is foolproof though.
> 
> If you look at all the tools to clean this stuff up it shows just how bad it's getting. I need to just run my linux installs more often. They aren't foolproof, but they are far safer than Windows.


I only run linux on my personal computers.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

m1911 said:


> I only run linux on my personal computers.


My other OS is Linux on a bootable USB stick....


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## tccoggs (Dec 17, 2008)

Inside IE, tools, Internet Options, Advanced Tab and select Restore Settings.

This will reset all your internet security zone settings to default and allow you to download again.

Some malware will even hide this menu in IE so you cannot reset the settings. Then you will need to get into creating REG files and using them to change settings directly in the registry to give you access again to the options menu.

bleepingcomputer.com is by far the best source of info for battling malware. Your situation doesn't sound too bad and can probably be fixed without doing a complete re-install.

If you do choose to restore, what I have been doing lately, is replacing the HDD with SSD drives and then re-installing the OS. I will then take the original drive and make it the secondary so any pictures or docs are still available and can be copied over. SSD is now very affordable and (240GB for $89), and it can make even a 4 year old PC perform like a brand new machine. Its the single best upgrade you can do. I have a 5 year old Core2 Duo based machine and between the SSD and Win 8.1 it boots to the desktop in about 8 seconds once the BIOS post is done.


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## CompleteW&D (May 28, 2011)

gideond said:


> Glad to be of help. I haven't used Avira or AVG in a long while. AVG started getting very bloated so I ditched it for Avast and never looked back. It's current incarnation is probably just fine. Avast can be bloated too unless you do a custom install and just use the core components without all the extra unnecessary apps they add to it.
> 
> *I'd also recommend installing the free version of Malwarebytes from http://www.malwarebytes.org *for an on demand weekly scan. Once installed go to Setting>Detection & Protection and make sure Scan for Rootkits is enabled. Back on the Dashboard run a scan every week. It'll download new definitions and run a smart scan that usually takes about 10-15 minutes. Malwarebytes does pretty good at catching what your AV misses. Combofix, JRT, and ADW Cleaner are not programs you want to be running frequently.
> 
> ...


I already have the free version of Malwarebytes that I would run occasionally. I'll make sure it's updated, set up like you mention and run it weekly. 

As for my browser, I think you got the inference that I use FF from another post that wasn't mine. I'm running IE but not sure which version. Maybe that's one of my problems.


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## gideond (May 17, 2007)

IE has never been good with security. They get it up to snuff and all of a sudden it the worst one on the list again. They are in the process of abandoning IE and creating a whole new browser. I'd recommend Firefox or Chrome any day over IE. IE also still uses Active X controls which are a bit security risk. And they come with no real benefit. Half the crap MS uses them for fails to work correctly these days.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

More useful stuff - modifying the hosts file to block known bad sites:

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

There are also software restriction policies that prevent a number of infections.


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## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

m1911 said:


> The simplest solution is to buy a MAC



Oh no you di int.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

CompleteW&D said:


> I just loaded AVG.... never used it before. We'll see how it works. But, obviously I'm open to anything better/easier to use.


Along with Tin, my first choice is not to use anything - but that's me, and I know what to do if I get in trouble.

Malwarebytes and either a well-researched HOSTs file or AdBlock is a given, IMO.

Depends on your OS, methinks. Microsoft Security Essentials integrates very well if you have Windows 7/8 64bit. Set it to "On Demand".

On 32bit OS, like XP, then Avast is da bomb.

These things I would recommend always:

Go to bleepingcomputer.com. Get and keep safe adwcleaner, combofix, frst and mini toolbox(this one resets internet connections).

Also, keep a text file someplace with bleepingcomputer's URL in it.

They are hands down (along with Malwarebytes) THE best place to get the most current baddies identified and resolved.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

CompleteW&D said:


> I already have the free version of Malwarebytes that I would run occasionally. I'll make sure it's updated, set up like you mention and run it weekly.
> 
> As for my browser, I think you got the inference that I use FF from another post that wasn't mine. I'm running IE but not sure which version. *Maybe that's one of my problems.*


It is, IMO. Mention it around any group of even half-arsed gurus, and most of them will just sniff or outright chortle.

The good about IE, is its pervasive. That is, it is embedded in the Windows OS itself. Almost everything you do on your computer that is built-in, is using one or more components of the Internet Explorer/Windows Explorer engine.

The bad about IE is its pervasive. That means baddies know that IE is like someone just flipping the latch on a screen door - expecting to keep unwanted types out.

The other bad about IE, is it is considered the "standard", so most sites write their pages to work best with IE. So does most software.

Which in turn means Microsoft is slow to make major changes, to avoid the risk of consumer loyalty (translation Big Bucks).

One last thing: That effing "click sound" that IE makes every time I select something drives me bat chit craaaaazy! That alone is a death sentence!!!


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## deciduous (Jan 21, 2015)

Try right clicking the new AV (I highly recommend Avast) and running as administrator. If that does not help PM me. I will be able help you get your machine back to tip top shape.


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## GCmedia (Feb 3, 2015)

Are you logged in as the Administrator or as a User. Here are instructions in case you never set up this default account:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-log-on-as-an-administrator


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