OT: Malware, Virus, I dunno. NEED HELP!

[TheCuttingRoom]

Hello all,
I'm posting from my brother's computer since my DAW is currently out of commission ( realize it was foolish of me to even hook it up to the internet, but I was still deeply immersed in the false sense of security using a mac had provided me)

The problem.
Last night, my band and I we're recording guitar tracks. In between songs Tons of little icons started popping up saying "your computer is infected" My desktop was hijacked by a screen saying something to the same effect. I downloaded AdAware in an effort to get rid of it, but the problem's persisting. I even downloaded the trial version on Norton Anti-Virus, but it can't be installed for some reason.

Now the system reboots every time i start it up. And even safe mode isn't working right. I need to clear this up and FAST i have a session in less than FOUR HOURS!!!!


Can anyone recommend a program(s) to get rid of this mess? Thank you in advance. I'll be checking back on this thread about every 30 seconds or so...
-charlie

[Mark Stebbeds]

I downloaded AdAware in an effort to get rid of it, but the problem's persisting. I even downloaded the trial version on Norton Anti-Virus, but it can't be installed for some reason.

Now the system reboots every time i start it up.


Hi Charlie,

You may try Avast virus protection because they make a free "home" version and is updated for "new" viruses regularly. I've had good luck with it.

Besides the warnings you are getting, your symptoms sound mysteriously similar to behaviour I was experiencing when I recently had a faulty power supply. It took forever to boot up, and whenever I tried to access my audio drive, the computer would shut down and reboot, causing me to believe I had a virus. The PS couldn't handle the load.

The repair was replacing the power supply with a generic, "quiet", but inexpensive 400w supply. Then, I was able to determine there was no virus.

Good luck.

Mark

[TheCuttingRoom]

Thanks Mark,

I'm trying the software now.

When I run AdAware, It keeps saying that it finds "Malware.psguard" if anyone knows what that is.

[jeromee]

I run adaware and spybot.

[Mark Stebbeds]

T
When I run AdAware, It keeps saying that it finds "Malware.psguard" if anyone knows what that is.

Hi Charlie.

I did a quick Google search of *malware.psguard*, and it appears it's some sort of spyware. The google search hit many internet posts on how to get rid of this thing, but I'll let you sort them out. There are references to Ad Aware updates as well.

Good Luck. Sounds ugly.

Mark

[mikebuzz]

Registry mechanic helps to sort these things out also , but do the search and follow directions

Later
Buzz

Good Luck :eek:

[UpTilDawn]

Besides the others suggested already,

There are some good online virus scanners.... my favorite at the moment is:
http://uk.trendmicro-europe.com/consumer/housecall/housecall_launch.php

And another free service is HijackThis found here: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html

Install and run the program, post the text file it generates to the forum address given and wait for a response. It's a very, very good way to track down the crap that grabs hold of your system as this has done to you. The people on the forum are very quick, helpful, and patient.

They will have you perform some tests, possibly download other spyware detectors and resend a fresh textfile...... They've saved my butt and others I know a few times over.

DanT

Good Luck!!!!

[mako]

I use Avast and find it very good - however I recently had a friend's computer with a virus problem that Avast could not get rid of (after the infection).

My favourite is reinstall with full format (drive C). You'll be up and going within an hour using SAWStudio. Then, when your session's done, you can add your other programs at your leisure.

Good luck

mako

[Jay Q]

Charlie, check out NOD32 (http://www.nod32.com/home/home.htm). I've used McAffee, and Norton, and demoed other apps. McAffee just annoyed me. Norton was buggy as hell, and I stuck with it for years just because I was familiar with it. The other apps seemed okay, but after comparing features, NOD32 won out, and after 10 months of using NOD, I love it. To me, it's kinda like the SAW of anti-virus apps. Just does what it's supposed to do (has caught/stopped a number of viri including a couple of malicious website scripts), and it has a small footprint. Definitely worth checking out.

Jay

[Tree Leopard]

psguard:

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/PSGuard_spyware_problem-t48589.html

"psguard" in Google will bring up more forum posts, advisories etc.

Secunia http://secunia.com/ is great place to get more detailed (geeky) info on just about any virus, malware thingy out there!

Using KAV Personal Edition here - very good indeed. NOD32 looks interesting.

Andre

[Jay Q]

Using KAV Personal Edition here - very good indeed.Hey Andre. I almost went with Kaspersky, but there was something the personal version wouldn't do... I can't remember now. It was something like it wouldn't scan email (that's just a guess; I really don't remember). I tried the demo and thought it was fine until I realized it couldn't this one thing that was important to me, but I saw that NOD did it. What version of KAV are you using and what did you pay for it?

Jay

[mobetternow]

Here is a forum link that seems to have successfully fixed the same problem. It's quite a process unfortunately.
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50442

I second the motion for NOD32. My workplace recently changed over from SOPHOS. Our IT folks say that NOD hasn't missed ONE case of virus or malware in any test--ever! It apparently utilizes sophisticated artifical intelligence to 'predict' the behavior of even future viruses, etc.

There are corporate/enterprise and personal/home versions. Here's a link to the Windows home version ($29.95/year subscription I believe).
http://www.nod32.com/products/nt.htm

[antiClick]

I suggest you to take the physical RJ45 connection out, backup any info from your drives (use another PC if the system is fully crashed). Format disk, re-plug it to your current computer, and reinstall system.

Set everything as you like, and make an image of your now healthy hard drive into DVD volumes (I like PQ Drive Image).
Then you can connect the net cable again (if you need to).

Your windows system will crash again some day, but then just recover the image (it takes only 5 minutes), and ready to rumble.

Don't forget to backup important info every week (sometimes hardrives get broken -specially the fastest-).

If in the future you want to to avoid virus in your DAW, don't use the net... cheap and effective.
But a contingency plan is always needed (that's what the image is for).

Hope it helped!
Cheers!

[Pedro Itriago]

Your windows system will crash again some day, but then just recover the image (it takes only 5 minutes), and ready to rumble.

Even though your advice to him regarding backup is still valid, it's not a windows machine that crashed


Hello all,
I'm posting from my brother's computer since my DAW is currently out of commission ( realize it was foolish of me to even hook it up to the internet, but I was still deeply immersed in the false sense of security using a mac had provided me)

[TheCuttingRoom]

WOW, first of all I want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone on the forum for helping me out in my time of crisis.

When all was said and done, I ended up doing a clean wipe of my system and reinstalled windows. All my SAW files resided in a single simple folder and was easy to back up ( thanks Bob). All my audio data was on another drive safe and sound, so no problems there.

It was a Windows PC that I was using though. In my panic I guess I wasn't too clear about it. What I meant to say was, that after having previously used a Mac for so long, I got used to not thinking about spyware, malware and the like. Like I said, it was a stupid mistake to make and it will be the last time.

This little problem almost cost me a days worth of work! A chance I'm not willing to take again. That network cable is NEVER going back in that's for darn sure!

Thank you once again for your help and patience.
-Charlie

[Tree Leopard]

Hey Andre. I almost went with Kaspersky, but there was something the personal version wouldn't do... I can't remember now. It was something like it wouldn't scan email (that's just a guess; I really don't remember). I tried the demo and thought it was fine until I realized it couldn't this one thing that was important to me, but I saw that NOD did it. What version of KAV are you using and what did you pay for it?

JayKAV personal. You'll have to check KAV for prices. A fully registered pro version was came with this computer - but it was slowing everything down so I changed over to Personal. Boy, you can see it working hard on a lot of webpages these days. Pegasus for email. It just grabs correctly addressed html but blocks active scripts to external links.

I found a software firewall called "Look n Stop". It works as an application filter so you can just have the very minimum connected to the net. You have to do quite a bit of research on how to use the rule sets for TCP, UDP etc but its very effective - you can block out all but the ports you need to use.

Andre

[Mark Stebbeds]

Even though your advice to him regarding backup is still valid, it's not a windows machine that crashed

Hey Pedro.

I understand his message to mean that he got the virus on a Windows machine because he had a false sense of security from working on a Mac in the past.

Mark

[Mark Stebbeds]

It was a Windows PC that I was using though. In my panic I guess I wasn't too clear about it. What I meant to say was, that after having previously used a Mac for so long, I got used to not thinking about spyware, malware and the like.



I've been virus free due to consciencious behavoiur, but when I buy my next PC, I will consider coverting over to Linux for internet and business use.

I have a Mac with Pro Tools on it, and even though Macs aren't hacker bait, I think I'll keep it off the internet, and off the network until I need to transfer files.

mark

[Pedro Itriago]

Yeap, I noticed that when he replied to me.

Not a very nice weekend for me both mentally & phisically, very slow on both english & spanish comprehension & almost broke my knee by hiting it very hard twice yesterday.

Yesterday I learnt that whenever you see a soccer player drop to the ground & roll like crazy when he gets hit on the knee, it's not all bluff


Hey Pedro.

I understand his message to mean that he got the virus on a Windows machine because he had a false sense of security from working on a Mac in the past.

Mark

[Mark Stebbeds]

Yesterday I learnt that whenever you see a soccer player drop to the ground & roll like crazy when he gets hit on the knee, it's not all bluff

Ouch. I feel your pain. I have a bad habit of thinking I'm still young enough to do highly physical sports, and too frequently suffer the consequences.

Hope your feeling better. Ibuprofen works better than aspirin or acetominaphen.

Mark

[Pedro Itriago]

Actually, it had nothing to do with sports. It reflected my state of "dumbness" during this weekend. It had more to do with the corner of my knee bone hitting the corner of a 1 inch thick wood slab in mid air while walking fast around noon. I just plain didn't see it and wham!!

My reference to the soccer player was because the only thing I could do for the next 5 minutes or so was to roll over back & forth on my bed until the pain got tolerable.

Then, to make it even nicer, at dinner time while pulling my chair into position, I hit the wood slab table support on my side in exactly the same knee spot. Back to bed again for some more rolling over.

Thankfully by yesterday evening I was able to climb stairs like a normal person again and not like a wooden-legged pirate.


Ouch. I feel your pain. I have a bad habit of thinking I'm still young enough to do highly physical sports, and too frequently suffer the consequences.

Hope your feeling better. Ibuprofen works better than aspirin or acetominaphen.

Mark