Computer viruses

[Deadman Walkin]

Hello escapist. I have a real problem with the people who make viruses. I find the only reason they would do this is to harm and destroy other peoples computers. Recently I have had a very serious virus, that nothing has been able to find (including 2 online scans, malware bytes and combofix) and I really don't have many options left because the virus is into my backup. Has anyone experienced crap like this before? Is there anything I can do? My comp has started freezing in safe mode.

So my question is, why do people do such horrible things? And is there anyway I can fix this without wiping everything?

 

[Snow Fire]

They either do it to gather a massive computer army so they can crash servers, or just for kicks.

Have you tried super anti-spyware? You should probably ready yourself for a format.

 

[Joe Deadman]

I think theres a number of reasons they do it:
Stealin credit card details and passwords.
As SamFisher202 said to create a drone army for DOS attacks.
And finally because some people are just idiots who get a kick out of screwing with people.
I also suggest formatting I just hope you don't have to lose something important.

 

[Deadman Walkin]

You see, I have about 1000 pictures that are backed up and aren't saved anywhere else, and my entire cd library (over 3000 songs) all backed up. I could never get the pics back and putting all of the disks back on there would take months.

 

[Joe Deadman]

You see, I have about 1000 pictures that are backed up and aren't saved anywhere else, and my entire cd library (over 3000 songs) all backed up. I could never get the pics back and putting all of the disks back on there would take months.

And yet another example of why we should really back things up on other systems... not that any of us will remember this lesson XD.

Well im not sure what to suggest...
What scans have you tried? If you haven't already I suggest trying Spybot or AVG.

 

[Elhueno]

download avast free home edition. scan computer. ??????. profit

 

[Avaholic03]

That sucks man. I've got separate hard drives for most of my data, so that hopefully even if my OS is corrupted I can just reformat and not lose any data.

If you have a desktop, it's quite easy to buy and install an extra hard drive. That doesn't really help your situation now, but for the future maybe look into it. I haven't run into many viruses that attack data storage drives, they usually just go for the boot drive (and any backup partitions).

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Alright I would try your suggestions for scanning but I cannot get to the point of opening any programs before it froze. Got an idea though, formatting hard drive, moving important files to c:/ from the backup, wiping the backup. Then putting the files back on the hard drive, partitioning c: with Linux and windows 7 and going on from there

 

[crazypsyko666]

I'd recommend slaving the drive, finding it, and deleting it. If you can't, get an IT guy to do it. It's not THAT expensive, but it's a little bit expensive.

 

[VinnyKings]

download avast free home edition. scan computer. ??????. profit

Lol nice Meme insert...

Yeah I had this problem to when I was looking at porn....
Still I had to manually delete the virus in safe mode. Was a pain in the ass but wasn't that hard if you know what you're doing.

 

[Doomdiver]

Get a Linux Live CD (a live CD, for those who don't know, is an operating system that runs straight from the CD/DVD without having to install). Then use this to access all your important files and copy them to whatever you are backing up to. Since Linux is impervious to windows viruses you should be fine. Then format the hard drive, reinstall windows, install an anti-virus (and update the definitions), scan the files as you put them back on your PC (in case the virus has infected other files) and you should be fine.

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Doing something close to that. Installed 7, backed up important files. Tomorrow I am gonna wipe external HDD, copy the files back to it and then partition my HDD with linux (I have about 70 copies from my job last summer) and the big partition will be 7. So if I ever have problems again I can just pop onto Linux.

 

[Mockingjay]

Super Anti Spyware. I've found it quite helpful with malware which was preventing me from playing WoW which Malware Bytes and AVG couldn't pick up. http://www.superantispyware.com/

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Thanks!