Guide to Detection and Removal Of Malware
Dan Sippy, Apr 29, 2007 1800 hrs IST
Is your PC acting strange? Maybe it's sick. Here's a prescription that should make it feel better!
The first thing that you need to do is check if any unwanted software is installed on your system. This can be done at the Add/Remove Programs option in the Control Panel.
Once you have checked all of the entries there and find nothing out of the ordinary, go to the Run option in the Start Menu and type in "msconfig" and click on Ok. Once that is done, the System Configuration Utility Window will open up. There are several tabs in this window, but we're interested in only two - Services and Startup. First click on the Startup tab. Here you can either disable all (none of them are required for your system to boot), but that will cause nothing to load when your system boots up; or you can go through each one of them and disable the ones that are either blank or are not related to any of the programs you have requested to be at startup.
Then comes the cleanup of your system. Now cleanup doesn't mean deleting your personal data, it means deleting unwanted data that has occupied space in your system over a period of time. They are mostly temp files or prefetch files. Cleanup 4.52 helps you to wipe them out. Before you run cleanup, make sure that no program is running on your system, even minimized ones. It is also recommended to try these steps in Safe Mode and not in the normal mode or at the most you can try the Safe Mode with Networking option. Before you run cleanup, make sure you have selected the appropriate settings in the options section (I suggest you select Full Erase (Wipe Clean), but if you have important bookmarks, it's your call).
Once cleanup is complete, do not log off or do anything else; just run CCleaner. First, select the Analyse button and once that is completed, hit the Run Cleaner button. This erases any temp file that has been missed out by Cleanup 4.52. Second, Go to the Issues Bar on the left side and Scan for Issues (issues are unwanted registry entries).Once that has completed, select Fix All Selected Issues. You don't need to backup the registry files but you have the option.
After this we get down to detecting the threats using HijackThis. This brilliant software of almost negligible file size detects threats by checking registry entries on your system and then compares it with their database. It will then show you which entries need to be deleted and which do not. Follow the instructions and delete the necessary entries. After this there will still be some traces of the spyware, but HijackThis helps weaken the spyware by wiping off its registry entries.
USER COMMENTS
Very much thank you. Your article was very informative.
by novaeroger, chennai, on Oct 09, 2007 06:24 PM, Report abuse Reply
by manish, New delhi, on May 27, 2007 08:30 PM, Report abuse Reply
pleaz i want to know what type of viruses that can Prevent openning partitions and show strange symbols Instead of open & explore in the partition short menu.
by amr sayed, cairo, on May 26, 2007 01:04 PM, Report abuse Reply
i think kaspersky has a slight advantage over the Symantec AV because the intelligence of av matters when it comes to keeping the pc at best........
by pardhusamanth, chennai, on May 01, 2007 01:03 PM, Report abuse Reply
by CHINTAN, MUMBAI, on Apr 30, 2007 08:35 PM, Report abuse Reply
well i for ie users spybot is certainly the best imo.coupled with winpatrol and avg
by abcd, acd, on Apr 30, 2007 07:11 PM, Report abuse Reply
guys@ this is jus 2 basic.....atleast for my level but good though for newbies..
by Vishal_Kadakia, mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 05:37 PM, Report abuse Reply
iv had horrible experiences with some wicked rootkits...it takes a lot of effort to clean those up! AASE does the cleaning well, and Symantec AV helps too...
by Shoel, Mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 03:29 PM, Report abuse Reply
Nice review; However Spybot is missing in the list!!
by FreeGuy, Mumbai, on Apr 30, 2007 12:31 PM, Report abuse Reply
good samaritan... nice work bro.. keep helping us with many of these..
by siva, pune, on Apr 30, 2007 10:47 AM, Report abuse Reply
Use MSconfig and Hijackthis to identify running dll's and exe's. From system32 directory. Check on file details of Any suspesious looking file. Most trojans will not have version and revision history. Search about this file on the web and you will know what to do. Also having two OS's on a system is a good idea. Once you have found out about the infecting file, Boot in another OS and delete all traces manually. Remove registery entries using Hijackthis program.
by Dams, Mumbai, on Apr 29, 2007 09:43 PM, Report abuse Reply
Also, you can try running a sweep on your system using the Webroot "SpySweeper". We can periodically update the Virus Definitions and use online Virus detection and removal tools.
by Anandavalli, Bangalore, on Apr 30, 2007 10:06 AM, Report abuse
Use IE-SPYAD with ZonedOut to restrict Spyware sites. If you are using Firefox, use AdBlock-Plus along with a Filterset... I have also heard that the IE7Pro plugin for IE is good.
by tempest, chennai, on Apr 29, 2007 09:00 PM, Report abuse Reply
ver nice presentation and informative. It will help me.
by pranab bhattach, Kolkata 700 104, on Apr 29, 2007 07:06 PM, Report abuse Reply
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i am very sure that this information is going to help me a lot...thanks a ton
by varun tuteja, delhi, on Oct 10, 2007 08:43 AM, Report abuse Reply