I recommend to check the computer with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: https://www.malwarebytes.org/free/

He he......first thing I did and they found and got rid of 3 PUPs and things look much better now.

Oh dear. Here's hoping it isn't anything too bad!

I used malwarebytes and got rid of 3 PUPs and it seems to be working pretty much okay again. Still a little slow on some sites but both my sister and I have been having that problem for the last few days so it may be the sites or our internet.
Anyway...I THINK I'm okay.

grab avast's free AV program too

I have the Norton Internet Security......which has always seemed to do real good. I haven't had a virus since I've been using it...tho there can always be a first time. I'd add Avast if I knew it was compatible with Norton.

i'll contact my tech buddy, but a combo of avast and malwarebytes was what they told me about regarding free but good protection

There are several good free ones, but I've eventually gotten a virus with all of them I've tried. (including avast) So far I haven't gotten one with the paid for Norton. But I still worry about it.

set up a full scan before you go to bed

Norton has... spotty reputation in the field. Some consider it okay, some consider it overpriced crap. I'm more on the line - I haven't used it for several years, so it might have been improved since the last time (which was a huge letdown.)

The biggest problem is that basically all antivirus/antimalware programs are like Russian Roulette: you either win (i.e. you don't get infected) or you loose. And you don't see if chambers are spinning or not...

Yes, I've heard about people having problems even with Norton, but so far I haven't had a virus in all the time I've had it. Of course I'm careful with my surfing. I don't stick my neck out or go to porn sites, etc.

The link that Mewtwolover gave you is to a very good program! I would also suggest frequenting http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ When you have signs of a virus. If you have trouble getting rid of one (Say ransom ware, etc.) Write down its name and input it into the "Search Guides" Section under "Virus Removal" In most cases you'll get a complete walk through on uninstalling that virus! :D

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/

This is a little program that they have which I've used many times in cleaning my old computer, which essentially locks down and shuts off any program known to be malicious within your registry. After using this program you won't have Ransom ware pop up on your screen, so keeping it on the desktop where it's quick access is very nice to have. Mind you, this isn't a virus removal program, it's merely a "blocking agent" so you can truly remove a program that's being an ass with Malwarebytes. :)

Thanks Emmy! I'll keep both of them handy just in case. I havent had any ransome ware for ages though...thankfully. The Norton does a pretty good job overall.

heh, ran the quick scan for the heck of it, one PUP found - in the recycle bin of all places!

Strange place to find it.

AWWWW.... When you coming back to the US???

March 27th I fly into LAX....so I'll be home the next day. I'm already counting the weeks. Soon, the days!

Woo hoo! So no FC, huh?

Nope.....one more year without. I think I'll either stay in Cal till it happens next year or fly back for it. I really want to go again!!

Well, next year Shrag and I were contemplating doing FWA to break up the con con con of MFF, FC, and TFF :)

Figures..... Just my luck...........

Sorry to hear of your peoblems

I'd say get Linux and be immune, but my box got nailed with FoxAcid from an infected server

Workin' fine now that I got rid of a few PUPs with malwarebytes!

Awesome!

Now turn Javascript off when you surf those.... art sites. Yeah, art sites >_>

LOL......I don't surf those anymore. Last time I looked at one I ruined every carrot in the house!!

FoxAcid? Can you give me some details? The only thing I can find in google is about NSA's spying program...

Yup! That's exactly what it was. I have no idea how it works and I'm not sure anyone but the creaters do either.

I scanned my box from my laptop and confirmed the infection with both Trend Micro and Avast.

There is no way to clean it. I just switched to FF3.0.6, which is immune to it and FF >24 is immune to it. Given I run such an old distro of *nix that I can't run the newer versions of FF, I just am going to wipe-and-reinstall.

What makes FoxAcid and the other NSA bugs so annoying is they are OS independent - Mac, *nix, BSD, Windows are all vulnerable.

Sounds quite strange.

Trend Micro has a Linux version? I never knew.

Can you please describe the symptoms?

No, they don't. I mounted my computer remotely across the LAN and scanned it like a removable drive from my Windows laptop.

I got suspicious when all my BW was being gobbled up whenever I fired up FF. I used Wireshark to sniff the packets and the computer was trying to connect to a Google run proxy. They had blocked the ports, so nothing was really getting out. But at the same time, the file-access-time for the files in my /home/ folder were attempting to be transferred to those IP address.... it was trying to upload my entire computer! I kill FF and it stopped.

Weird thing was on a program trace, nothing seemed unusual and the process tree was normal. Uninstalling and re-installing FF had no affect.

Chrome, Opera and Dillo aren't affected.

Malware Bytes is a good one. That'll spot most things that slow your system down.
Only other thing I can suggest is to clean out the browser cache since that can get a bit clogged up over time. Also see if your hard drive needs defragging too.
All the basic maintenance stuff really.

If none of that works, it might be worth doing a quick check with another program called "HijackThis". It's more of a malware detector than an antivirus, but it's useful for its ability to show you everything that's running on your system as well as any registry keys that may have been altered. (Not that I'm recommending messing around in the registry though, as doing that has the potential to irreparably shaft your OS!)

My niece gave me a program called CC Cleaner that is pretty good except I hate having to log back into everything and get all my browser shortcuts working again after I run it. It also has a registry cleaning part, but I'm afraid to run that part. I'd rather let her do it for me when I see her if I remember to. She's been in IT for most of her life. Does it freelance nowadays and makes more money at it that way than working for the big companies like she used to. So I trust her judgment.

Ah yeah, I've heard of that one. It's not bad

Registry cleaners are usually ok, assuming you know which keys to tell it NOT to delete.
Normally the way they work is they have a record of the way your OS sets up the registry when first installed, so it looks for any changes to that (normally new registry keys added by installed programs rather than user customisation to the OS itself) and it'll flag them up. It's basically saying: "This registry key wasn't put here by your OS. Is it supposed to be here?"
So as long as you know which ones are supposed to be there, you can tell it to kill everything else.

HijackThis does something similar, by listing all changed registry keys and all currently running processes on the system (including ones that are capable of hiding from the Windows Task Manager!)
It can remove things that it's found, but I think most people tend to use its log-file function as a handy guide to seeing if there's anything unwanted that's managed to sneak onto their system.

If the registry thing is bothering you though, you could always run a check on it and note me with what it finds, and I'll tell you if anything there is suspicious.
Just don't accidentally tell it to delete everything it finds. That would likely screw up most of your installed programs!

Everything is running fine again. If I was to want my registry played with I'd let my IT professional niece do it. But so far she's always told me that it wasn't necessary for what problems I have had.
But thanks for the offer. :)

No worries

I'm more than happy to play with your equipment anytime! hehe

Do I detect an undercurrent lurking in that remark?

As if I would do something like that!

*stares cutely at you, twitching his bunny nose and trying to look all sweet and innocent...*

You don't fool me! *looking all around herself, just in case she needs an exit route*

Hehe, I think people have me figured out around here...

I do anyway. The quiet type who you better not turn your back on....at least not while bending over.

*drools at the thought...*

Errr, I'm sure I have no idea what you mean! hehe

*winks as she picks up an earring she dropped 'accidentally"*

*gropes your butt and flees before you can slap him!*

*whirls around, swinging at you but laughing at the same time*

*meeps*

hehe

Be very careful with registry cleaners, they can do good... and they can totally break your system!

Exactly why I'll only let my niece, who is a professional IT person mess with mine. I'd screw it up for sure!!

You know you should get actually avast, but i also hope your computer gets fixed soon

Read the above and you'll know what happened.

already done

Gee, what anitivirus are you using? Do you clean up your computer and defrag it regularly? Small things have good results.



(Oh, also, might want to stop downloading all that midget elder porn, that stuff is not always reliable.)

Norton, and yes.

Never liekd Norton. I'm an avast lass. Good to see you look after your computer though. (You won't believe the number of people who've told me they had to uninstall the Avast I put on because it wouldn't let them visit certain porn sites... sigh.)