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Your Computer May Already Be Infected
Statistics show that 75% of home computers are already infected with viruses,
spyware, or adware. In my experience the percentage is over 90% in
households with children computer users. You probably downloaded some of
this stuff yourself with games, utilities, and file sharing programs such as
LimeWire or BearShare.
Symptoms of a Virus Infection
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A hard drive light that is
blinking, indicating computer activity, when no one is using the computer.
While this may be an automatic update or virus scan, it could indicate the
presence of a rogue application like a mail virus.
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The computer, which was blazingly fast when it was new, is now as
poky as the old machine it replaced. This means that there are too many
active processes running in the background, and could indicate adware or
spyware.
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The computer takes forever to boot, and then freezes or crashes. This
machine has been seriously compromised by several rogue applications.
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A barrage of pop-ups which have begun
to flood their screen. This indicates that you have an adware infection.
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The Internet Explorer home page has been replaced, and cannot be changed
back. this indicates the presence of adware or spyware.
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A desktop shortcut to the porn site that appeared
mysteriously. Spyware would be the culprit.
Infection Remediation
Poor computer performance is a common symptom caused by a relatively new type of
software called adware or spyware. Adware is software that pops up
advertisements on your computer as you surf the Web. Spyware is a bit more
dangerous — it's deceptive software that can track the sites you visit and send
that information to other people on the Internet.
"Spyware ... sends information from the user's computer
without their knowledge whenever the computer connects to the Internet.
Usually the information sent is benign in nature, mostly concerned with general
marketing information (i.e.., spending habits) rather than specific information
like credit card numbers, although some programs are capable of retrieving
specific information as well.
Additionally, Spyware programs are sometimes poorly written, containing bugs and
causing the computer to malfunction. Spyware does not respect your privacy."
(SpyAny.com)
Often the terms adware and
spyware are used interchangeably.
What follows is a step but step process that I use to get computers cleaned out
and running like they should. You might want to plan on doing this over a
weekend. Many of the steps require running multiple scans. This
takes time, and while the scans are running, you can go do something else.
Scans can be run overnight as well. Just take it step by step.
Step 1: Use Add/Remove Programs
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Go to the Control Panel and open Add/Remove Programs. If you have any
programs in the following list, try to remove them from the Control Panel first. The
hyperlinks will take you to
SpyAny.com
for complete removal instructions.
Used with permission, with special thanks to James Dong from
SpyAny.com.
Step 2: Scan and remove spyware and adware
The
next step is to download two or three tools available on the
Internet to identify and remove any known spyware that has been placed
on your computer.
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Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool -
I would recommend
starting with the Malicious Software Removal
Tool. This will get the worst of the crud off your
system.
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Windows
Defender - Then Install and run the
Windows Defender. Be
sure to go to Scan Options and run a full system scan instead of a smart
scan. This program is fully automatic, and routinely scans your
drive for new spyware.
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SpyBot Search and Destroy -
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When you install SpyBot, it will step you through a wizard. Make sure
you enable the TeaTimer check box.
TeaTimer is an active service that runs in the background and prevents
new infections, so you will want this enabled.
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First it will make a restore point, so if things go awry you can
recover. This may take some time on an infected system, and
sometimes fails. If this happens, reboot the computer and start
SpyBot again, and skip this step.
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Second, it will perform an update. It will attempt to connect to
the Internet to download the latest version.
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Third, it will run a scan. Running a scan may take a fair amount
of time, but it may not work if you don't let it scan your entire
system. You should run the scan as many times as necessary to get
a scan with no results.
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Finally, it will immunize the system against all know threats. you
will want to run the immunize function until it reports that all bad
products are blocked.
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You should plan on periodically running the scanner that was installed
in Step 1 to remove any new deceptive software that manages to get past
these defenses. You should also update your scanner tool periodically to
ensure it can identify the latest spyware.
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Hijack This! -
If your system is very infected, SpyBot and Ad-Aware may not install.
Some spyware actually disables anti-virus and spyware removal tools.
Then you will need to begin by cleaning out the worst offenders with
Hijack This! Hijack This does
not need to be installed, it can be run straight off the CD, or simply
copy the folder and executable file in it to your C drive and run it
from there. You will need to get on line with another machine. Go
to the
Castle Cops Web
Site to find and follow the instructions. This is a very
powerful tool that works by directly editing the Registry files on the
computer. Be very careful. If you are uncertain, seek
professional help.
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CWShredder -
If SpyBot reports an instance of CoolWebSearch, you will need to
run CWShredder from the CD.
Some spyware can be hard to kill.
See the next page for assistance with some of the more pernicious spyware and
adware threats
Step 3: Automate the Windows Update service
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Open the Control Panel
(START, Control Panel) and select
Automatic Updates. If you are running Windows XP, you may find
this process easier if you select Classic Windows View from the left
side of the window. Select the Automatic radio button, and
set it to everyday, and pick a time of day your computer is usually on.
Or select the Download automatically and let me install.. option.
If you have applications such as Microsoft Office, choose the new
Microsoft Update Service, and your Windows applications will be
automatically updated as well.
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The run a manual Windows Update
(START, All Programs, Windows
Update). Do this as many times as necessary to get all the
updates. Windows Update will tell you when all available updates
are installed.
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If you are running Windows XP and somehow have
avoided upgrading to Service Pack 2, running the updates will install it
now. Downloading the WinXP SP2 files will take a long time.
You can save time installing this from the CD. This will install a
basic software firewall.
If you install a third party firewall, you need to disable the Windows
Firewall by going to the Security Center in the Control Panel.
IMPORTANT!
Windows Firewall may
initially disconnect your Internet access as a security measure.
Simply go to Control Panel, internet Options, and click on the
Connections tab, and then click on the Setup button, and follow the
instructions on the wizard. If you need assistance with this please call me
first.
Step 4: Install Internet Explorer 7
Step 5: Upgrade to an Internet Security Suite program
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Check the expiration date of your current anti-virus subscription by opening
the application from the Start, All Programs menu. If your
anti-virus subscription has expired, you will not be able to get current
updates. Your options are to renew with your
current vendor, or install a new program. if you are going to
renew, you will need internet access and a credit card. Navigate
to the vendors web site, and follow directions. You will need to
download and install all the updates that occurred since your
subscription expired. Then run the full system scan as described
below.
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Even if your antivirus subscription is current, you should purchase the
extra security that comes with an Internet Security Suite. If you
prefer to stick with your current product, go to their web site and upgrade.
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If you want to switch to the recommended
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, click on the link to purchase and
download it. Choose SAVE from the dialog box (not RUN),
and save it to My Documents.
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Then uninstall your current anti-virus from the Add/Remove Programs applet
in the Control Panel. You may need to run the
Norton or
McAfee uninstaller if they do not
uninstall cleanly.
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Now install your new Internet Security Suite product from the downloaded
file you saved in My Documents.
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Enable automatic updates. Be sure to pick a time of day when your computer is actually usually
running. Most updates times are set in the wee hours of the morning by
default. if your computer isn't one then, no updating can occur.
ZoneAlarm looks for updates any time you are on line.
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Next, run a full anti-virus
and spyware scan as many times as it takes to get
a clean report.
Step 6: Enable the software firewall
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Because you are running Zone Alarm Security Suite, or Norton Internet
Security Suite, or the like, or are running Windows XP Service Pack 2,
you already have a software firewall installed, make certain the firewall you are using is
enabled.
Step 7: Set Up Users and Passwords
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If your computer simply opens without needing a User ID and Password,
now is the time to set that up. Without that protection, a hacker
who has installed remote access software on your computer can simply
take over your machine remotely without having to know a password.
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Go to
Control Panel, User Accounts and set one up for each person
using the computer. Make sure you are an administrator, and any
children are set up as Restricted Accounts. You may want to set up
children's accounts so they cannot change their own password. This
will allow you to access their log in and monitor their on-line
activities more easily.
Step 8: Disk Defragmentation
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One final cause of poor performance is an inefficient use of your
computer's hard drive called fragmentation. As you install and remove
programs, files on your computer get disorganized. Over time, this can
cause poor performance. Now that you have cleaned out some many problem
files, this will certainly be the case. To reorder all your files
so that your computer runs more efficiently, you can defragment the hard
drive. Windows comes with a disk defragmenter, and this can be found at
START, Programs, Accessories, System Tools. if your
computer is running well enough to support it, run Disk Defragmenter.
You could also gain some benefit from running Disk Cleanup as
well. If you are looking for a better defragmentation product, I
recommend DiskKeeper by Executive Software. Their product
runs continually in the background and keeps your computer defragmented
automatically. SpeedDisk in Norton System Works is
another decent option.
Your computer should be running like a top at this point. What's more, the
solutions you have installed should prevent any reoccurrence of this problem for
quite some time. If you simply keep your anti-virus up to date, and
periodically run the spyware scans, and update those products, you should be
fine until you are really ready to buy that next computer.
A final word: When you do purchase another computer, save yourself
some grief and take these precautions right away, before you have any problems.
Now that you have fully cleaned and secured your computer, lets look at some
other things you can do to increase your Internet security.
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