please help, my computer is messed up!!

I was referred to this site by a very good friend of mine...

Ok, so my computer has been screwed up for a couple of weeks now. I have tried everything I could think of....Mcafee security, OneCare, Ad-Aware, Stinger, etc..and still cannot remove all of whatever is on my computer.

Here are some of the problems I've had or still having:

1. my desktop background was hacked with a fake virus message, and would replace any picture i would try to set as my background. (removed)

2. my computer would randomly switch to a blue screen saying there was a windows failure, yet when i pressed a button, it would disappear like a screensaver and return me to my previous position in windows. (removed)

3. my browsers have been severely hit. i cannot do google searches, nor can i try to view any virus protection/security websites on the net. every time i try to go to something like avg or windows update, it says it cannot connect to the site, yet it will go to any other site with no problem. also get occasional re-directs to "xp antivirus 2008" site and "scan" ( still infected)

4. i keep getting pop-ups on my firefox to delete browsing history, cookies, etc when i have not looked at that screen. (still infected)

5. common internet video streams will either not load, or load for approx 30 seconds, play, and randomly stop. some websites will not entirely load either (still infected)

6. whenever i run a virus scanner, the system shuts down with an error code 0 or something like that and says its from the nt/authority or something like that,causing windows to restart. (still infected)

7. the names of certain files are in blue text rather than the normal black. ex: Local Disk (C is written in blue text, with other folders are in standard black.

As i've said, ive tried all the scanners, and even system restore, yet it is still there. it will not let me restore to a previous setting. besides re-installing Windows XP, are there ANY other suggestions for getting rid of this pain in the @$$?

also, if i do have to re-install,what is the best way to take all of my pictures and music files from my computer so that i wont lose them?

thanks!!

 

OMFG man, stay away from the p0rn!

I'm sorry to say that the system is pretty much done. You can transfer your data to an external USB hard drive and reformat from there. Tracking and removing each of those infections would be more work than simply wiping the disk.

 

Ouch. Bogs right. A clean install takes very little time... With all those problems it would be a lot of work to clean it up. Even then could you trust that nothing is still lingering you haven't found?

In the future definitely use some antivirus/antimalware software.

As far as transferring your files an external hard drive is good as Bog mentioned. DVDs are great too. If you happen to be familiar with gparted cutting into your partition and creating a backup partition is an option. But don't bother with that unless you're already familiar with it.

 

Just to make sure, you've tried to run the following programs: Avira, Avast, Super Anti Spyware, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Most of the programs you listed, aren't very good (don't know about Stinger).

If you have, have you tried running the programs in safe mode?

Next, have you tried running an Avast boot-time scan?

Lastly, have you tried HiJackThis?


If you have done these steps, then yeah...it might be time to clean install. Make sure you figure out why this happened to you. What firewall do you have? If it's McAfee, I suggest get another one. McAfee's firewall did very poorly in Matousec's test only getting 6%. Pick up Online Armor (89%, though they're coming out with a new version soon so expect this to go +95%) or Comodo (95%). Though since you have XP, I would go with Online Armor. Finally, I'd look at your router settings (check how many computers are connected) and change your router's password just in case. I doubt your router has anything to do with this, but it doesn't hurt either.

However, don't worry too much about doing a clean install. It's not that hard and can improve your system performance if you haven't done it in awhile.

http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php


About your file transfer question:

I'd go with either a DVD or buy a cheap USB flashdrive. I think you might be running a risk in transferring your files because they may be infected without you knowing. Before you transfer them to a clean computer, make sure you scan them thoroughly. You don't want to need another reinstall after you just did one.

 

You got pretty thoroughly raped by viruses.

 

1. Prepare a backup harddisk.
2. Transfer all your important files there.
3. Get a Windows XP CD.
4. Reformat your computer.

Before transfering back the files to your computer after the reformat though, be sure to get a good anti virus first. I suggest install Avira AntiVir.

 

If you have access to another computer, you might try following the steps on this webpage to make a bootable CD/DVD that contains just an A/V program, and then try using that to boot up the infected computer and scan it.

Basically, by doing that, you end-run whatever's on the hard-drive, because the hard-drive is treated as just another passive storage medium to be scanned, and nothing on that drive is loaded at boot or otherwise permitted to run.

Failing that, though, a good clean reinstallation is the order of the day.