Help With A Computer Question

[skinny 0]

I asked this question within another topic but thought maybe id get a quicker answer if i made a topic about it. The day the forums went down my comp went nuts saying i had a virus, i ran scans with norton but they found nothing but it still said i ahd a virus and my homepage would be website saying i had a virus and i couldnt change it, panicing i reboot my comp from scratch destroying all files that didnt come with the comp when i bought it. My question is would this take care of a virus if i had one. i dont seem to have any problems now and i enabled my firewall, i noticed it was disabled before. I have adawae and norton, any suggesting on any other programs to protect my computer?

[IQCrash 1]

Sounds like you have spyware, not a virus. (Maybe both) Your first step is to go download both Lavasoft's AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy:http://www.lavasoftusa.com/http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.htmlOnce you have them downloaded - run them and UPDATE them both. Disable System Restore (instructions here: http://www.pchell.com/virus/systemrestore.shtml)Reboot into Safe Mode and run them both from there (not simultaneously, run one then the other). Reboot back into normal mode. Run them both again.Once that's done - go run HouseCall and make sure all is well (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/)Good luck.

[skinny 0]

well ok thanks for the info, but i didnt do a system restore, i did a system recovery when everything gets destroyed except what came with the computer. so would that rid my comp of the spyware, i will download the spybot thanks for the info again.

[Robification 0]

I asked this question within another topic but thought maybe id get a quicker answer if i made a topic about it. The day the forums went down my comp went nuts saying i had a virus, i ran scans with norton but they found nothing but it still said i ahd a virus and my homepage would be website saying i had a virus and i couldnt change it, panicing i reboot my comp from scratch destroying all files that didnt come with the comp when i bought it. My question is would this take care of a virus if i had one. i dont seem to have any problems now and i enabled my firewall, i noticed it was disabled before. I have adawae and norton, any suggesting on any other programs to protect my computer?

I got a virus/spyware from this site the day the forums went down too. I downloaded AVG free antivirus AVGFree and started the computer in safe mode ('cause if I didn't the virus just took all my resources attempting to send SPAM e-mails all over the place). AVG found the virus and deleted it.Good Luck.

[IQCrash 1]

You reformatted and reinstalled Windows, is that what you're telling me? Then yes, that should take care of all your problems. Just make sure that's what you did and not a System Restore (as a virus will linger in your backups).

[skinny 0]

NO i reformatted and re installed windows, everything seems to running ok now, so from now one i should use spybot and adaware in safe mode if it every happens again, i also enabled my firewall which had been previously disabled... Also is spybot needed if i have adaware?

[IQCrash 1]

Then you should be fine.You should run Spyboth & AdAware once every week just to be certain (You don't need to do it from Safe Mode unless you have a pretty serious infection). Yes, you need both - one will catch things the other misses.

[Jelly-Filled Ace 1]

Yes, you need both - one will catch things the other misses.

Fact.