Morning!
Well! You know it’s going to be a peachy day indeed when you’re asked to fix a friend’s computer that’s replete with porn viruses and coolweb viruses and "Jeepers Mom That’s Icky!" viruses and ….
I guess you get the image, eh?
Computer viruses, alas, are a fact of life that, while being more unpleasant than scrubbing out toilets with a cardboard toothbrush, are generally something that’s easy with which to deal. Ever since I started traveling about the country, giving seminars on Internet recruiting, I’ve had the opportunity to fix hotel computers and the like…and that’s something that just never leaves you.
So! Have you ever had to deal with viruses or dialers or other undesirables on your computer? Ever want to get rid of ’em?
If so, dive into:
Before You Begin
First off, you can hope and pray the virus infecting your computer is easily removable. Check out some online virus scanners like
And of course, run anti-malware/spyware tools like Ad Aware – that can also help remove viruses/ickies as well.
Porn viruses are often called ‘dialers’ as they try to connect to a modem/etc. If you’re running a firewall, you might get a notifcation that a really weird process name (generally a bunch of random letters) is trying to connect to the Internet. Take note of that name. There’s an offchance you can simply search for it online, ie,
Many times, however, the process that’s generated is some weirdly random name, so such searching is futile. But don’t give up hope! Take note of everything that happens prior to the porn dialer starts its operations.
What you’re going to do is gather as much information as possible…and then ask for help from the free spyware and malware forums.
Next,
Step 1.) Download HijackThis.
"Hijack This" is a neat free utility that will generate an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. You won’t do anything with the output yet – you’ll be using it for when you ask for help at spyware forums.
Step 2.) Visit the Spyware/Malware forums.
Armed with your data (name of the process, what happens, etc.), visit the following forums:
Read a bit to get comfortable with the layout…and then post your request for help.
If you’d like to be proactive, run HijackThis and post the resulting log….or simply wait for an experienced board member to tell you to do that instead.
Step 3.) Follow instructions
In just about every case, more than one person will respond with suggestions on how to remove the porn virii from your computer. NOTE! FIRST check the posting history of the person helping you – if there’s dozens of prior posts with helpful suggestions, you can rest assured you’re not being led down the Path Of Ultimate Torturous Doom.
Once you have instructions to follow, PRINT THEM OUT!!
I cannot stress this part enough….chances are, you’ll have to boot into Safe Mode and perform some unique steps on your computer. You will need a step-by-step list to follow.
Need additional resources for removing viruses? Check out:
- How to remove a Trojan, Virus, Worm, or other Malware
- How to remove dialers
- PC Hell: How to Remove Virus Rescue
- Removing Viruses – Remove Unwanted Software – Microsoft Security
- Steps to help remove a virus
I hope the above has been helpful! I know I’ll be doing lots of the above today as I disinfect my friends’ computer…but hey, these things happen. I’m always glad to help out.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – for more security ideas, have you seen:
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!