I Think I Might Be Infected ...

Strange things happen, like the installing window popping up momentarily and collapsing single player games.

Edit: I have this machine set to ask me before doing ANYTHING.

Relevant specs and programs:

XP with the latest service packs.

AMD 64x2 4400+
AMD Radeon HD 6670

Advanced System Care 6.1 free
AVG 2013 free
IObit Malware Fighter free vi.7
Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6.2
(Yes, I'm cheap.)

Ideas? Other malware program to try?

HALP!!??!!

That is what ya get for going to cat porn sites.

Try your ISP provider to see if they offer a free McAfee for as long as you're with your IP or some other form of paid security software. Check your Services and such and make sure nothing set to manual or disabled, etc.

That'll teach you to use a condom.

I thought this was the first sign of the zombie apocalypse.

/disappoint

It's probably some of that free junk you have installed, prompting you to install their paid version. Honestly if you are careful on the net, you really don't need all that. I would update windows defender and run a full system scan firstly.

Failing that uninstall "Advanced System Care 6.1 free" and see if it continues, if it doesn't then try the same with these two: "IObit Malware Fighter free vi.7", "Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6.2".

It's usually something that is free to download that causes these problems. Maybe go through your program list?

I'm almost certain it will not be AVG causing this as it updates through the application itself.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Next time it happens close all other applications and bring up task manager, then click on applications and see what it calls the program. It may just be windows installer, worth a try though to see if you can nail it down.

You might try safe mode scan or logging in to another user, create one if you need to. Though the best way would be to boot to a cd-rom based os and scan.

Run malwarebytes/superantispyware/spybot(http://www.filehippo.com/download_spybot_search_destroy/5168/)

run then one at a time.only install and run 1 at a time.Run a full scan and let me know what it finds if it doses.also run this

go here down load hijackthis

http://free.antivirus.com/us/#cleanup-and-prevention

do a scan make a log and upload it to pastebin then give us the link.

avg kinda sucks lately..


i'd use another machine to download and burn hirensbootcd all those tools and more are on it.

start with a system restore point then run scans

also can check your running and startup processes easily while its downloading.

honestly if it gets to the point of using hijack this, i'd just wipe and reinstall. time/effort/reward ratio isnt there imo... unless it was a multimachine problem.

Keep an eye on Microsoft Security Essentials. This conflicts with AVG (and probably every other service). If you take it out, MS will try to put it back in your next update.

We're all infected.

Never heard of IObit Malware Fighter free vi.7

lol that's a load of ***, it's not even installed via Windows updates...

more like AVG sucks.

I bring up hijakthis seeing if she gives us the log then we can check it with a tool and see if the tool finds any thing then give a better idea of what to scan with.

As counter intuitive as it sounds , MSE is actually all you need.
AVG has gone downhill, malwarebytes is good. Hijackthis is great if you can use it, don't bother otherwise.

MSE is the way to go.

my ISP comes with a free mcafee sub, I just found out about it so i'm just going to use that for now, rather then mess around with other free alternatives, this one is free so meh.

honestly, the truely free stuff is better.

AVG, Norton and Mcafee I'd avoid entirely.

especially with your issues CnT.

yes and again, it's most likely a waste of time.

^

Always wrap it,before you tap it

I'm pretty careful about free junk. And nothing showed up as new in the program list.


None of those will update unless I tell them to.


Task manager shows me little, mostly because I don't know 1/2 of the applications it shows running. Again, everything should ask me before installing anything. That's the biggest part of why it worries me.


its v 1.7.

Thanks all, I will try Microsoft Security Essentials and then maybe attempt to fumble my way through Hijack this.

I'm generally VERY careful with what I surf on the web to be quite honest... as much as I don't care for mcafee... it was free and it's KINDA ok (i've used it before and had it save my *** lol)

there's just too many "free forever" alternatives out there that I have no clue about.

adblock is your best tool.

and not using lime/frostwire and be careful when torrenting.

noscript is nice too but for most it's too annoying.

Mcafee still sucks.


@OP:

you could post some screenshots of your running processes and your add/remove programs list.

or you could try process explorer, it's better than default task manager.

Why do people keep telling others to download mse.We are playing the waiting game with mse if they ever get a certification again then it will be a good idea to tell be to download it but right now it is not the best idea.they are a lot of better ones on that list.

I find Avira to be very good. Spybot is neat too, and Malwarebytes AntiMalware is good. I use Comodo Firewall as well. Haven't been infected in years.

McAfee has to come with other services for free or get preloaded on with all the other bloat ware on prebuilt pc's cause no one will actually pay for it.

AVG is crap and has gone downhill over the years.

Here is what I recommend doing...

-uninstall AVG 2013 via Add/Remove programs in Windows Control panel
*because AVG's uninstaller sucks and even THEY know it, they have a completely separate utility that will actually uninstall the entire program
-go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/utilities and download "AVG Remover(32bit)_2013" (should be the 1st item in the list)
-run the AVG Remover and let it do it's stuff

-uninstall Advanced System Care 6.1 free via Add/Remove programs
-uninstall IObit Malware Fighter free vi.7 via Add/Remove programs

-download and install CCleaner @ http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download
-launch CCleaner, on the Cleaner option IE will be on the Windows tab, all other browers will be on the Applications tab... optionally you can uncheck things for the browers you don't want it to clear such as "history", "recently typed URLs", "Autocomplete form history", "Saved passwords", etc...
-select "Analyze", and once it's done select "Run Cleaner"
-now select the "Registry" option on the left
-select "Scan for Issues", and once it's done select "Fix selected issues..."
**IMPORTANT** When prompted to save a backup copy of your registry, please do so and save the file somewhere just in case (I have never had to recover a PC's registry after running this CCleaner option but there is always a 1st for everything)
-run the Registry "Scan for Issues" again, as sometimes it will find a couple more items to fix that it didn't on the 1st scan.

-download & install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware free @ http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/
-do a "Full Scan"
-have it remove everything it finds, including all the PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) that it finds but doesn't auto check to remove
**that is unless there is a specific program it finds that you do not want it to remove, this is very rare

-once all of the above is complete, then either download & install Avast Antivirus Free (http://www.avast.com/en-us/index) or get MSE (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/security-essentials-download)


Hope this all helps. ^_^