Post by Yona Maro on Aug 30, 2005 7:41:23 GMT -5
I have created this FAQ drawing text from other FAQ's found on Tek-Tips, credits at the end, and my own experiences. I realise that I am duplicating information that can be found elsewhere, however it does not seem to be in a single location.
General Notes
If you are experiencing problems now then follow the Recomended Procedure below. Otherwise have a read and follow the general advice given.
Special Note for XP users:
If any of the scans below find problems then you should disable System Restore before fixing them.
Right-click My Computer, Properties, System Restore, and uncheck the box to have System Restore active on all drives. When you have finished the steps below, re-enable System Restore.
Special Note for all:
You want to run the antivirus, spyware, adware, and other utilities without IE active, and without any Peer-2-Peer application active, such as eDonkey, Kazaa or eMule. Your success with any of the tools below approach 100% if no internet application is currently active.
Viruses
People should not rely on a single Anti-Virus solution, while most of the applications that are available work very well. It is too much to expect them to find everything. Also make sure that you have downloaded the latest Virus Definitions, some companies release updates daily, some weekly. It normally takes seconds to check so I would recommend doing it daily.
It is worth running two of these on-line virus checkers once a month, and definatly if you are experiencing problems which may be attributed to a virus.
I personally prefer the Trend Micro and Panda checkers, however they all work well.
housecall.trendmicro.com/
www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp
security.symantec.com/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&;venid=sym
www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
www.freedom.net/viruscenter/index.html
You can scan single files using the following sites
www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html
www.ikarus-software.at/portal/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=4
Also a couple a nasty Worms that have been hitting people hard over the last couple of months are the MSBlast and Sasser Worms.
If you get a shutdown message such as the one below, then you almost certainly have one of the formentioned worms.
If you get that shutdown message appear, click on start > then run > type "shutdown -a" (without the quotes) and click OK. This should stop the shutdown, you should then visit the following two sites and follow the instructions given.
www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.mspx
www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.mspx
Spy/Adware
At least once a week you should run at least one from each section of these checkers (I would recommend running 2 from each section), they will scan your system for known Spyware and Adware. These little nasties can use up lots of valuble resources and can transmit your surfing habits/personal data back to the developers.
Spyware & Adware
Giant AntiSpyware - www.giantcompany.com (30 day trial)
Spybot - Search & Destroy from security.kolla.de
AdAware 6 from www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
Spyware Blaster from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spyware Guard from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Bazooka Adware and Spyware www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html
Browser Hijacks
CWshredder from www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
Toolbar Cop www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm
Hijack This from tomcoyote.com/hjt/
For help with the Hijack this log take a look at FAQ760-4764 and FAQ760-4849
Note: Some applications, such as Kazaa, will not function unless the adware that is included is present on the computer. Therefore check what you are deleting before you do it.
Windows Updates
So many people do not apply the latest updates from Microsoft, they had a lot of bad press back in the WinME/2000 days of being unreliable and MS having to reissue updates. However the WinXP updates have been alot better, I can only remember a handful of updates that had issues.
v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
Other Steps
If you are still experiencing problems you can try the following two fixes.
Download and run the LSPfix utility: www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Download and run the Winsock repair utility: www.dslreports.com/r0/download/544752~62fe0e8dc00fac87e6f0f83c54d283a4/WinsockFix.zip
FireWall
A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that creates a protective barrier between your computer and potentially harmful content on the Internet. It helps guard your computer against hackers and many computer viruses and worms.
XP has a basic firewall which is better that nothing and works quite well, it is not as configurable as those listed below. That being said you should enable it if you are not going to use a third-party one.
Take a look at www.microsoft.com/security/protect/windowsxp/firewall.asp for instructions on enableing the XP firewall.
Zone Alarm www.zonelabs.com/store/content/ company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Sygate Personal FireWall smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
Kerio Personal FireWall www.kerio.com/us/kpf_download.html
Outpost www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/
Recomended Procedure
If you are experiencing any Internet related problems follow the procedure below.
• Enable/Download a firewall
• Your Current AntiVirus Solution
• Trend Micro Virus Scan
• Panda Virus Scan
• Windows Update
• CWShredder
• Giant Antispyware
• Spybot
• Adaware
• LSPFix
• Winsock Fix
• Hijack This
General Notes
If you are experiencing problems now then follow the Recomended Procedure below. Otherwise have a read and follow the general advice given.
Special Note for XP users:
If any of the scans below find problems then you should disable System Restore before fixing them.
Right-click My Computer, Properties, System Restore, and uncheck the box to have System Restore active on all drives. When you have finished the steps below, re-enable System Restore.
Special Note for all:
You want to run the antivirus, spyware, adware, and other utilities without IE active, and without any Peer-2-Peer application active, such as eDonkey, Kazaa or eMule. Your success with any of the tools below approach 100% if no internet application is currently active.
Viruses
People should not rely on a single Anti-Virus solution, while most of the applications that are available work very well. It is too much to expect them to find everything. Also make sure that you have downloaded the latest Virus Definitions, some companies release updates daily, some weekly. It normally takes seconds to check so I would recommend doing it daily.
It is worth running two of these on-line virus checkers once a month, and definatly if you are experiencing problems which may be attributed to a virus.
I personally prefer the Trend Micro and Panda checkers, however they all work well.
housecall.trendmicro.com/
www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp
security.symantec.com/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&;venid=sym
www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
www.freedom.net/viruscenter/index.html
You can scan single files using the following sites
www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html
www.ikarus-software.at/portal/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=4
Also a couple a nasty Worms that have been hitting people hard over the last couple of months are the MSBlast and Sasser Worms.
If you get a shutdown message such as the one below, then you almost certainly have one of the formentioned worms.
If you get that shutdown message appear, click on start > then run > type "shutdown -a" (without the quotes) and click OK. This should stop the shutdown, you should then visit the following two sites and follow the instructions given.
www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.mspx
www.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.mspx
Spy/Adware
At least once a week you should run at least one from each section of these checkers (I would recommend running 2 from each section), they will scan your system for known Spyware and Adware. These little nasties can use up lots of valuble resources and can transmit your surfing habits/personal data back to the developers.
Spyware & Adware
Giant AntiSpyware - www.giantcompany.com (30 day trial)
Spybot - Search & Destroy from security.kolla.de
AdAware 6 from www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
Spyware Blaster from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spyware Guard from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
Bazooka Adware and Spyware www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html
Browser Hijacks
CWshredder from www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
Toolbar Cop www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm
Hijack This from tomcoyote.com/hjt/
For help with the Hijack this log take a look at FAQ760-4764 and FAQ760-4849
Note: Some applications, such as Kazaa, will not function unless the adware that is included is present on the computer. Therefore check what you are deleting before you do it.
Windows Updates
So many people do not apply the latest updates from Microsoft, they had a lot of bad press back in the WinME/2000 days of being unreliable and MS having to reissue updates. However the WinXP updates have been alot better, I can only remember a handful of updates that had issues.
v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
Other Steps
If you are still experiencing problems you can try the following two fixes.
Download and run the LSPfix utility: www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Download and run the Winsock repair utility: www.dslreports.com/r0/download/544752~62fe0e8dc00fac87e6f0f83c54d283a4/WinsockFix.zip
FireWall
A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that creates a protective barrier between your computer and potentially harmful content on the Internet. It helps guard your computer against hackers and many computer viruses and worms.
XP has a basic firewall which is better that nothing and works quite well, it is not as configurable as those listed below. That being said you should enable it if you are not going to use a third-party one.
Take a look at www.microsoft.com/security/protect/windowsxp/firewall.asp for instructions on enableing the XP firewall.
Zone Alarm www.zonelabs.com/store/content/ company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Sygate Personal FireWall smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
Kerio Personal FireWall www.kerio.com/us/kpf_download.html
Outpost www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/
Recomended Procedure
If you are experiencing any Internet related problems follow the procedure below.
• Enable/Download a firewall
• Your Current AntiVirus Solution
• Trend Micro Virus Scan
• Panda Virus Scan
• Windows Update
• CWShredder
• Giant Antispyware
• Spybot
• Adaware
• LSPFix
• Winsock Fix
• Hijack This