Computer Repair Services
Posts tagged Virus
How to prevent “Scareware” (Rogue Antivirus)
Practically all my service calls the last two months have been due to Scareware related issues. Rogue anti-virus programs that claim every program is infected and that for some amount of money your computer can be secured. Unfortunately, the scareware program IS the infection and your money is sent immediately to some far off country while little if any relief is provided for your payment. It is a scam. And the worst part of it is you no longer have to be surfing the seedier side of the Internet to become a victim!
The authors are actually paying people to infect you, which More >
Computer Virus or Spyware? Try this first!
If you suspect your computer has become infected by a virus or spyware program (sluggish performance, pop-up windows, internet search takes you to an unknown site etc.) following the steps outlined below may save you some time and money. Simply running the programs listed below could correct the problem(s). If additional help is needed, the programs listed will generate reports you can submit here for more precise removal instructions.
If you feel your computer is infected and/or a program below confirms it you should NOT continue to use your computer for online banking or other sensitive operations such as logging into your work computer. More >
Bootable Antivirus Scanners
PC infected and can’t boot up to safemode to run initial scans? If you have access to another computer with a CD Burner and Internet access try one of these bootable rescue scanners!
Avira’s bootable CD scanner program (daily manual signature updates) is at http://www.avira.com/en/support/support_downloads.html
Dr. Web’s capable bootable CD scanner program (do a manual signature update before scanning) is at http://www.freedrweb.com/livecd
F-Secure’s bootable CD scanner program (updates when run) is at http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/rescue-cd/index.html
Kaspersky’s bootable CD scanner program (occasional manual updates) is at http://www.brothersoft.com/kaspersky-rescue-disk-197959.html
Sunbelt’s Vipre rescue program (download and put on computer or USB drive–a bootable CD is in the works) is at http://live.sunbeltsoftware.com/ More >
Virus scanning recommendations – Microsoft Windows OS
For computers that are running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158
Do not scan the following files and folders. These files are not at risk of infection. If you scan these files, serious performance problems may occur because of file locking. Where a specific set of files is identified by name, exclude only those files instead of the whole folder. Sometimes, the whole folder must be excluded. Do not exclude any one of these based on the file name extension. For example, do not exclude all files that have a .dit extension. Microsoft has no More >