Ok. brb

Here's the thing GC. Once you have an infection, unless you completely wipe the hard drive and re-install everything (including your OS), you can never be 100% certain it's clean. You can do a bunch of different scans (the more the better because no single program will get everything) and be reasonably sure all the crap is gone, but depending on how paranoid you are, a full wipe may be safest.

When we do malware scans here at work (I do several of them a week), it takes about five hours to complete. These are the free tools I/we use:

• AVG
• MalwareBytes
• SuperAntiSpyware
  This has some pop-up warnings you may find annoying, but does a good clean-up job.
• SpyBot Search & Destroy
• Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
  You may have this already if you do Windows Updates regularly. Just go to the Start menu then click "Run".
  In that dialog, type "mrt" then click [OK]. If the program runs, make sure you have the current version (it's updated once a month) as noted on the title bar. If you don't have the program or if the version you have is not current, run Windows Update manually. Open IE (yes, it MUST be IE) and select "Windows Update" from the "Tools" menu.
• Microsoft Security Essentials
  I have not personally used this yet, but I have heard good things about it. It's free for personal use.

I'd recommend running all of these programs, rebooting after each one completes. That's what I do when I scan peoples' computers. And I do this a LOT! As I mentioned, no single program will find everything, so hitting it with multiple assaults is your best bet (short of wiping your HD and starting over) Just budget several hours for all the scans to complete. Do not use more than one program to scan at a time and always choose to do a full/complete scan as opposed to quick/partial.

I think wiping the hard drive is a good idea. But I have no idea where my disks are. They're in a box somewhere at the parents' house, I think.

I'm going to run the above.

Thanks, everybody.

BTD ~ I did the update and scanned again. It found nothing the second time.

We've seen those 3 at work a lot. The MalwareBytes scan has been able to remove them and alleviate any additional issues.

Well, thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go home and double check my laptop. Just in case, you never know!

Nice to know so many, in the know, if you know what I mean. :cool:

I'll bet everyone here a donut that removing the malware, while a good thing, does next to nothing to fix the performance issue.

I'll bet you are correct.

Brad, go to C:\Temp and delete the temporary internet files and cookies in there.

Scan diddy scan scan scan.
I'm running those programs SM linked to.
So far, they haven't found much.
We'll see how it goes.
I wish I knew where my disks were.
Or should I just get Windows 7?

If you do want to rebuild, Windows7 could be an option depending on how old your Laptop is. Download/run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor.


If you want to say with XP, then you should be able to download the drivers for your laptop (sound, video, lan, wireless, etc...) from the manufacturers site.

As for XP any matching XP CD will do (home, professional, SP2, etc...). All you need is the software key which is typically pasted somewhere on the bottom of the laptop. If you can't scare up an XP install CD, just post it here. I expect someone would be able to squirt you a copy via the intertubes. Err, you do have a CD burner right?

How much RAM do you have in it?

I'd actually suggest doing the following...

After you run the scans go to Start > search > *.tmp and delete all the temp files listed. You may have to follow the path back (you can go to Start > Run and then type in the path that shows up in the search window)

THEN I'd run a disk clean up
Reboot
THEN I'd run a disk defrag
Reboot
THEN I'd run a check disk /repair:

Start
Open My Computer
Right click on the C Drive
Click Properties
Click Tools
Select Scan Now
Select both check boxes
Click Start
It may want you to reboot. This WILL render your system unavailable while it runs. Can take between 15 and 90 minutes.

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All I do at my new job is remove viruses and perform system maintenance. While I hate it, it has given me some new tools in my arsenal.