I like having a little fun Too!

[shortordercook]

while waiting for a malware fighter to answer a post in a couple of days when they find the time!

I also don't have the time to do it myself: Between my lack of knowledge, having to inquire about every single little tiny step, Massive confusion, fear, anxiety, stress: it is in my best interest to do things in baby steps! I just recently had a heyday on another site: had great satisfaction and was building a tiny bit of confidence, and all I really accomplished was learning that ...this and that and that with this might conflict with that...until my computer would barely even allow me the pleasure of plain ole' TYPING anything! It was a good lesson in being more careful of what I do in here! Not afraid, but more aware that doing too much at times isn't better, sometimes less is best! I think donetao has some fantastic helps, and would willingly aid anyone in doing simple maintenance, preventative suggestions, back-up for emergency situations and simple virus/malware removal, via some 'safe and known tools'. I know that following others suggestions gave me a nearly inoperable machine. I don't know what the future will bring as to malware removal: certainly there is a tidal wave of methods to get in and infect a mass amount of computers. Does that mean more will be repairing their own? Or, perhaps, learning what they can to lower some of the costs, so that when and if a major infection hits, one can afford the cost of removal? Or, learning more about preventative shields?

I quoted you, donetao, on this because I know exactly to what you are referring, waiting for a malware 'expert' for hours or days to respond, and then probably not clear enough to get the job done: extremely frustrating when one sits and waits, then needs to clarify, then wait again! Or even has me do the work, wait while everything scans, then I upload results, then do the next, then (hopefully) donate to that person's said cause- while I did the work-time involved... what might a proper, or fair donation to such a person be? Or is it less costly.. not just in money, but in my time that I could be doing something else.. to just take it in to a friendly neighborhood shop for serious problems?

I've wanted to get back here for a couple of days, just to chit-chat on this issue, because it really is kinda major..

I have learned to browse around forums, snoop out what I may be concerned about or interested in, mull it all over, check with some different views, sites and friends, then decide how much I am willing to tackle! Good thread.

 

[donetao]

Hi @shortordercook When a person spends the time and effort to email the owner of Golden Oaks to try and find the computer man; that person will always hold a special place in this old man's heart. When the owner forwarded your email to me, I was walking on air all day and could hardly wait to answer your mail and tell you where you could find me. You have added a special southern warmth to Free PC Help Forum that comes from your heart.
I love people and people feel that love and give it back to me. You are also one of those people who love people and people give that love back to you. I've been wanting to say these things to you. I was going to do that through a email, but after reading your reply here, I want the whole forum to hear these things. Having said that, there are things we can do after you get your new computer. There are some very smart people here that will be happy to help and I will be one of them. The first thing will be creating a back up image of your new operating system. When you have a clean image on a external HD, you are almost fearless and can recover from almost any disaster in 15+ minutes. My favorite software to create a back up image is Macrium Reflect free. You can start reading about Macrium Reflect in this link. It has some great videos. It is very easy to use and I'm sure you won't have any trouble mastering it once you get your new PC. Thank you for your great post. You have made my day friend.
Gary(The computer Guy)
http://www.macrium.com/help.aspx

 

[donetao]

Hi Mate! You win the prize. I wish we could share this in real time! I use to give them Hell, but have mellowed out a little in the last couple of years. I still manage to get in trouble a lot.

 

[starbuck]

Computer users are finding ways of cleaning up their PC"s and that's why you are seeing less people seeking help on forums like ours.

Cindy got this one right...... 'As our membership grows, that will change.'

Everything is relative:
We have... Members: 6,364
BC has: 678,283 Total Members

They also have 52 Malware related logs waiting to be replied to.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/f/22/virus-trojan-spyware-and-malware-removal-logs/

waiting for a malware 'expert' for hours or days to respond, and then probably not clear enough to get the job done: extremely frustrating when one sits and waits, then needs to clarify, then wait again! Or even has me do the work, wait while everything scans, then I upload results, then do the next, then (hopefully) donate to that person's said cause- while I did the work-time involved... what might a proper, or fair donation to such a person be? Or is it less costly.. not just in money, but in my time that I could be doing something else.. to just take it in to a friendly neighborhood shop for serious problems?

As our time is given freely .... it all depends on what free time we have available.
We still have our day jobs and family to work around.

Or even has me do the work,

Well of course, you do the work... it's your computer.
But the 'Helper' then has to go through the reports to find out what the problem is and how best to tackle it.
Some reports can take an hour or more to read and investigate properly.

then (hopefully) donate to that person's said cause- while I did the work-time involved.

Your definition of 'work-time' is obviously different to mine.
I personally work on 6 different sites and have never seen a 'Helper' that expects to be paid for helping anyone.
Some do put a paypal link in their signatures.... but whether to donate or not will not reflect the service you receive.

but in my time that I could be doing something else.. to just take it in to a friendly neighborhood shop for serious problems?

Taking it to someone else is always an option ..... but you won't learn anything then, will you?
Plus you'll probably be overcharged for the work they've done.
After all, they're there to make a living!
an old saying:
You never learn anything about computers, until they stop working properly.

 

[donetao]

Hi @shortordercook Here's a good read for you about how you get infected. The best tool you have to stay clean, is your brain!
The next best tool is a back up image of your operating system. The scanners I have used here are safe. I would not post them if I didn't think they were safe. If you run them in the order that I did, there shouldn't be a problem. You shouldn't be afraid on the internet, but you need to understand and respect that there are scum bags out there and you need to protect your self. Pete and malware fighters need to know what's going on with your PC. The tools they have you run tell them a lot more than just what infections you have. They tell them what Anti-Virus your running. What needs to be up dated. What's been going on in your event viewer and many other things. After analyzing your reply, they then decide what you need to do to get your PC cleaned up and back on the road. I'm going to flag this post for Pete to comment on.I see no reason why you shouldn't run the scanners that I suggested before seeking help from Pete. If this is not acceptable, I hope Pete @starbuck will respond and correct any thing that is not exceptionable and any thing he disagrees with in this post. I chose this link because it is the first link when you Google "How do I get infected?"

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/2520/how-did-i-get-infected/

 

[shortordercook]

Hi @shortordercook When a person spends the time and effort to email the owner of Golden Oaks to try and find the computer man; that person will always hold a special place in this old man's heart. When the owner forwarded your email to me, I was walking on air all day and could hardly wait to answer your mail and tell you where you could find me. You have added a special southern warmth to Free PC Help Forum that comes from your heart.
I love people and people feel that love and give it back to me. You are also one of those people who love people and people give that love back to you. I've been wanting to say these things to you. I was going to do that through a email, but after reading your reply here, I want the whole forum to hear these things. Having said that, there are things we can do after you get your new computer. There are some very smart people here that will be happy to help and I will be one of them. The first thing will be creating a back up image of your new operating system. When you have a clean image on a external HD, you are almost fearless and can recover from almost any disaster in 15+ minutes. My favorite software to create a back up image is Macrium Reflect free. You can start reading about Macrium Reflect in this link. It has some great videos. It is very easy to use and I'm sure you won't have any trouble mastering it once you get your new PC. Thank you for your great post. You have made my day friend.
Gary(The computer Guy)
http://www.macrium.com/help.aspx

View attachment 12493

Hi @shortordercook When a person spends the time and effort to email the owner of Golden Oaks to try and find the computer man; that person will always hold a special place in this old man's heart. When the owner forwarded your email to me, I was walking on air all day and could hardly wait to answer your mail and tell you where you could find me. You have added a special southern warmth to Free PC Help Forum that comes from your heart.
I love people and people feel that love and give it back to me. You are also one of those people who love people and people give that love back to you. I've been wanting to say these things to you. I was going to do that through a email, but after reading your reply here, I want the whole forum to hear these things. Having said that, there are things we can do after you get your new computer. There are some very smart people here that will be happy to help and I will be one of them. The first thing will be creating a back up image of your new operating system. When you have a clean image on a external HD, you are almost fearless and can recover from almost any disaster in 15+ minutes. My favorite software to create a back up image is Macrium Reflect free. You can start reading about Macrium Reflect in this link. It has some great videos. It is very easy to use and I'm sure you won't have any trouble mastering it once you get your new PC. Thank you for your great post. You have made my day friend.
Gary(The computer Guy)
http://www.macrium.com/help.aspx

View attachment 12493

YOU are a true friend, dear sir: I wasn't sure how you might take my post, my thoughts, but you understood where I was coming from! Here, have a cheeseburger, compliments of shortordercook!!

 

[shortordercook]

Hi @shortordercook Here's a good read for you about how you get infected. The best tool you have to stay clean, is your brain!
The next best tool is a back up image of your operating system. The scanners I have used here are safe. I would not post them if I didn't think they were safe. If you run them in the order that I did, there shouldn't be a problem. You shouldn't be afraid on the internet, but you need to understand and respect that there are scum bags out there and you need to protect your self. Pete and malware fighters need to know what's going on with your PC. The tools they have you run tell them a lot more than just what infections you have. They tell them what Anti-Virus your running. What needs to be up dated. What's been going on in your event viewer and many other things. After analyzing your reply, they then decide what you need to do to get your PC cleaned up and back on the road. I'm going to flag this post for Pete to comment on.I see no reason why you shouldn't run the scanners that I suggested before seeking help from Pete. If this is not acceptable, I hope Pete @starbuck will respond and correct any thing that is not exceptionable and any thing he disagrees with in this post. I chose this link because it is the first link when you Google "How do I get infected?"

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/2520/how-did-i-get-infected/

I don't think I have any current infections: I need to post my config. or have that understood, and perhaps, anymore conflicts within system... this is a basic BASIC computer and I have not helped it over the years! I try to clean it, but there are still tons of stuff that should be removed and cleaned out to run at peak for what is here to work WITH.

I have no problem with Pete taking a look, or running some scans and posting results for him in a file: nothing ventured, nothing gained! But I wouldn't want to waste his time with probably no infections... so that would be up to Pete!

 

[donetao]

Hi! It seems your cheeseburgers has gotten smaller! Yes I understood where you were coming from.

 

[shortordercook]

Hi! It seems your cheeseburgers has gotten smaller! Yes I understood where you were coming from.

the economy... and the bottom line...

 

[shortordercook]

the economy... and the bottom line...

I think I will let my 'logo' be my cheeseburger'!!! Fun!

 

[starbuck]

I have no problem with Pete taking a look, or running some scans and posting results for him in a file: nothing ventured, nothing gained! But I wouldn't want to waste his time with probably no infections... so that would be up to Pete!

Feel free .....It's all part of the service we provide.
Not all reports contain Malware.... but most do need some tidying up.
Just following step 2 here: http://freepchelp.forum/t/200448/
and posting the 2 FRST reports in Malware Removal section will give us a good idea if any cleaning needs to be done.

 

[donetao]

Hi @starbuck I really hate being a pest. I learn by asking questions. I admire you guys that spend that much time learning about removing malware.
I have thought about trying to become a malware expert, but I don't like starting some thing and not finishing. Not sure I have what it takes to spend that much time. I don't want to cause you any problems my friend,so only answer this if you want to.
Is there a problem running these programs in this order before asking you for help?? I know you like looking for other things, but would it hurt to run these scanners before asking for your help??
Thank you!
Gary!!
Malwarebytes Anti Root Kit
Adwcleaner
Malwarebytes Free
ESET on Line scanner
JTR

 

[shortordercook]

Feel free .....It's all part of the service we provide.
Not all reports contain Malware.... but most do need some tidying up.
Just following step 2 here: http://freepchelp.forum/t/200448/
and posting the 2 FRST reports in Malware Removal section will give us a good idea if any cleaning needs to be done.

Hi, starbuck! I will need a day or ...(two.three, four) before I can sit and work with you. Sunday (today now), Mon. and Tues. all look a little rough! I need to have time and to be able to let the scans do their thing and etc, etc...

Right now, been a bit stressed. Do have a Krypto locker attempt on my other email address, though, at Outlook:
Tried to get a shot of the email without touching it, but this is the best I could get: (sorry)

 

[shortordercook]

Hi, starbuck! I will need a day or ...(two.three, four) before I can sit and work with you. Sunday (today now), Mon. and Tues. all look a little rough! I need to have time and to be able to let the scans do their thing and etc, etc...

Right now, been a bit stressed. Do have a Krypto locker attempt on my other email address, though, at Outlook:
Tried to get a shot of the email without touching it, but this is the best I could get: (sorry)View attachment 12520

A little big, but it is a screenshot, saved to Wordpad.

 

[starbuck]

Do have a Krypto locker attempt on my other email address, though, at Outlook:

To be honest it doesn't seem to be the CryptoLocker malware.
kryptopay.pl is a Polish bitcoin payment processor for businesses.
Created by a team of young programmers, KryptoPay.pl, has put on speed, transparency and security of transactions using bitcoins.
It's probably a bad choice of business name though.
All the same, if it's junk mail just delete it without opening.

 

[starbuck]

Is there a problem running these programs in this order before asking you for help?? I know you like looking for other things, but would it hurt to run these scanners before asking for your help??
Thank you!
Gary!!
Malwarebytes Anti Root Kit
Adwcleaner
Malwarebytes Free
ESET on Line scanner
JTR

Technically there's no problem running these.
But the question is.... are they really necessary?

Not all malware is related to Rootkits.
If you run MBAM first it will give you an indication if Adware is present.
If so, then AdwCleaner and JRT can be run to check for leftovers.
MBAM will also give an indication if backdoor malware (rootkits) are present.... if so then MBAR can be run.
Eset Online Scan is basically a scan used for checking on any leftovers after the main removal process has been completed.

At the end of the day though.... why go at it like Rambo when you have no idea of what you are dealing with.
Just because those programs may have been run... doesn't mean there won't still be orphan entries that need to be dealt with.
That's the reason for tools like FRST and OTL.

 

[donetao]

Hi! Pete! @starbuck understand the reason for running FRST and OLT. I'm not trained to read those logs. I don't have the luxury of having a Pete around to check my FRST log when working on a seniors PC.
I like checking for Root Kits first. Free Malwarebytes has a Root Kit feature, but by default it is not checked. Going through like Ranbo is my only option. So far it has served me well here at Golden Oaks. I down loaded MBAM Pro free for a month yesterday on a seniors PC. While it was scanning, a pop up kept flashing in the corner about Trojan Chrome being blocked. When the scan was finished, 2Trojan Chromes and 10 Pups were found.
I did not run any more scans as the PC was performing great after quarantining those! I have found that 95% of the time running MBAM is all that's needed, but I have ran other scans when I thought they were needed. If I find a ASK tool bar, I run JRT. I really like ESET on Line Scanner some times also. I need all the help I can get to keep my seniors happy. Cleaning when you have the PC in front of you is a lot different than helping someone on a help forum like Free PC Help Forum. Thank you for your reply Pete. You are appreciated! Notice scan for Root Kit is not checked on MBAM.
I have noticed that when running MBAM. I'm wondering why it's not a default setting???

 

[starbuck]

I have noticed that when running MBAM. I'm wondering why it's not a default setting???

The answer is out there!

Because rootkit scanning tends to take substantially longer because of how thorough and low-level, Scan for rootkit is disabled by default.

It's also fairly new technology, and while this technology has been in use in our Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit for over a year, we want it used in the field a bit more before we turn it on by default in Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.0.

Rootkit scanners scan very sensitive areas of the computer and it is not uncommon for the computer to freeze, bluescreen or become unstable while using these type of scanners.

Additionally, we're working on some performance improvements for rootkit scanning to speed things up if possible and we may enable it by default in a future release.

https://helpdesk.malwarebytes.org/h...50478-Why-is-scan-for-rootkit-off-by-default-

 

[donetao]

Hi! Running MBAR is very fast and I love to see that "Congratulations no cleanup is required"
Thanks for your reply @starbuck !! Root Kits are the worst infection you can have. Not to long ago help forums wouldn't deal with them and recommended back to factory install.
PS You see I study these things. Would try the malware school, but I just don't think I could handle it for a year and then you are supposed to use that knowledge and I would rather help with other things that I have learned. Thank you for the explanation about Root Kits. I think it's about time they are added in a MBAM scan. That's just MHO!!