SpywareBlaster

[Lorien]

ESET Online Scanner is another great tool to use to help get rid of malware and viruses.

Thanks for this suggestion. Although I had just completed all the other malware removal recommendations (and some others as well that I'd seen elsewhere or before) and run full scans, this one found (in the "archives" which I chose to check as well) 25 trojans (they were all the same and sorry, I don't remember the name) which it then deleted apparently as I did another scan and they were no longer found. Scans by everything else (done again just to be sure) all ran clean. So this too has become part of my arsenal to be run periodically. I deleted all old restore points (I really hated that, but if they contained the infections then they were no good) and started with a new fresh one (actually two) as per instructions.

Most of what Richard posted as a general recommendation I already did - but I included a couple of additional ones that were missing (HOSTS and ERUNT). ERUNT is easy enough to understand, but I don't quite fathom the HOSTS one yet (I'm still researching it to try to figure out how to use it properly) - but did it anyway.

This has been quite valuable. I'm not sure we should typically recommend all of this to every user (I'm thinking like Rich that MSE, MBAM and now SpywareBlaster may be sufficient as a normal suggestion - or perhaps other options as I see different opinions here), but I'm pleased to have it in place myself. Then again, I may simply link to that post by Richard (or is it Jacee's and being edited by Richard) and let it speak for me and allow the poster to decide what and what not to do. If that's what the experts suggest, then maybe I shouldn't be second-guessing them by suggesting less than they do, especially when such an excellent "tutorial" of sorts exists.

Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions that have helped me clean up my system and that will hopefully keep it that way.

 

[niemiro]

ESET Online Scanner is another great tool to use to help get rid of malware and viruses.

Thanks for this suggestion. Although I had just completed all the other malware removal recommendations (and some others as well that I'd seen elsewhere or before) and run full scans, this one found (in the "archives" which I chose to check as well) 25 trojans (they were all the same and sorry, I don't remember the name) which it then deleted apparently as I did another scan and they were no longer found. Scans by everything else (done again just to be sure) all ran clean. So this too has become part of my arsenal to be run periodically. I deleted all old restore points (I really hated that, but if they contained the infections then they were no good) and started with a new fresh one (actually two) as per instructions.

Most of what Richard posted as a general recommendation I already did - but I included a couple of additional ones that were missing (HOSTS and ERUNT). ERUNT is easy enough to understand, but I don't quite fathom the HOSTS one yet (I'm still researching it to try to figure out how to use it properly) - but did it anyway.

This has been quite valuable. I'm not sure we should typically recommend all of this to every user (I'm thinking like Rich that MSE, MBAM and now SpywareBlaster may be sufficient as a normal suggestion - or perhaps other options as I see different opinions here), but I'm pleased to have it in place myself. Then again, I may simply link to that post by Richard (or is it Jacee's and being edited by Richard) and let it speak for me and allow the poster to decide what and what not to do. If that's what the experts suggest, then maybe I shouldn't be second-guessing them by suggesting less than they do, especially when such an excellent "tutorial" of sorts exists.

Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions that have helped me clean up my system and that will hopefully keep it that way.

Hello!

Jacee can correct me if I make any mistakes, but I think (well, of course I do!) this is all correct.

We will often finish a case with an online scan. The aim of this (for us) is not to try to beat the primary infection, just as a clean up tool. It will be the final, most in depth scan available. It will search System Restore, archives, every file, etc. etc. It will usually find something - things from System Restore, things in a quarantine box, and small little remnants which need cleaning. A final check.

The HOSTS file is a simple redirect. 127.0.0.1 is a simple IPV4 address for the LocalHost, your own computer. MVPS hosts contains a large database of infected/bad websites. Visit one of those, and you will be re-directed back to your (often unconfigured) localhost sitting on 127.0.0.1, so you never visit the infected website.

However, I am not sure how effective it really is these days. Blacklisting malware is becoming almost too difficult; blacklisting websites is so much harder. What with infected downloads and P2P, and infected, normally genuine, websites, I am no longer sure if it is worth it. I don't know, ask Jacee!

Richard

 

[Jacee]

When malware redirects ......
Understanding DNS and the Hosts file http://www.tech-faq.com/understanding-dns.html and Hosts (file) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flushing the DNS cache and restoring MS's original Hosts file with ***HostsXpert is what you should do.
*** Now if you have used Spyware Blaster's extra tools and set a "Hosts Safe" .... you will need to replace any of those entries yourself.

 

[ilikefree]

I have spyware blaster installed,updated and all protection is on,yet it has failed to notice tracking cookies that Super Antispyware has just found during my weekly run. My vote is still undecided about this program.