Computer Techs Please Help

[sp3GT]

I've been trying to get NFS Shift to run and I think I might have encountered a virus but I ran AVG twice and it found nothing.

But whats happening right now is once my computer turns on running no apps it continuously makes a clicking sound when I'm doing nothing?

How can I get rid of this?

Thanks,

Edit: I'm now getting random popups from Internet Explorer .....how can I stop this??

[SL3VIN]

is your hard drive clicking or is it something else?

[sp3GT]

No it's like you know when you click something in a browser , windows will make a click sound. That continously clicking with nothing open..

I think my Internet explorer is hijacked...how can I fix this?

I just tried going into "Internet Options" and turned everything to high and block all cookies, the clicking has stopped.

Is there a full proof way?

I have Vista Btw.

[omalak]

When all else fails... format..
I hate hijackers and trojans, some of them can be a pain to remove. Some you may even need to remove manually.


run lavasoft ad-aware, it will most ikely do nothing but still.. try norton.


The best thing you can do is restore your pc to an earlier point by using system restore. Hopefully that does the trick

[PCLoadLetter]

Do a google search for the links that popup, sometimes there are topics on other forums about the same spyware / virii and how to effectively remove them.

Also, try this program, it's saved my ass many times from similar issues:

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

[sp3GT]

Do a google search for the links that popup, sometimes there are topics on other forums about the same spyware / virii and how to effectively remove them.

Also, try this program, it's saved my ass many times from similar issues:

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

Ran that just now actually. My log didn't show anything weird in particular.

[S.F.W.]

I would suggest downloading malware bytes. Then reboot into safe mode, install malware bytes, and run a full scan.
That will get rid of any adware/hijack programs. I've used it to fix many hijacked pc's.

If you need additional, PM me, I can help out further.

[Dante]

Download and Install Spybot Search & Destroy.
Link : http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html

It will find any malware and you have the option of removing it.

Then, Download and Run Avast Antivirus (Home edition Free)
Link : http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Run the updates for both programs and do a virus scan.

IMHO, Even If I remove a virus, I never feel safe, I backup and format.

[marvin24k]

um, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. This app will save you.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?tag=contentBody;mostPopTwoColWrap

[sp3GT]

Thanks for all the links guys. I will install all those after I'm done system restore. Doing that right now.

[sp3GT]

Just and update, I installed the 2 links you guys gave me and performed system restore prior to them.

Now my computer seems to be good. The 2 spyware programs didn't find much either to my surprise.

[Dante]

Glad we could help, make sure to make it a habbit to run those programs when your not attending the computer. That way your always clean =) Although, not everything is caught

[PCLoadLetter]

If you don't have an external hard drive for music / documents, I HIGHLY recommend going out and buying one right now. Works great for formats. Glad to hear your computer is back on track.

[Scottobot]

I highly recommend switching to Linux for everything except gaming.
At the very least stop using Internet Explorer ;)

[marvin24k]

If you don't have an external hard drive for music / documents, I HIGHLY recommend going out and buying one right now. Works great for formats. Glad to hear your computer is back on track.

+1 get a small nas, it's worth it. (Bitch to back it up though)

[marvin24k]

I highly recommend switching to Linux for everything except gaming.
At the very least stop using Internet Explorer ;)

++++1, just get a PS3 for gaming :)

Get on firefox!

[ds2chan]

When all else fails... format..
I hate hijackers and trojans, some of them can be a pain to remove. Some you may even need to remove manually.


run lavasoft ad-aware, it will most ikely do nothing but still.. try norton.


The best thing you can do is restore your pc to an earlier point by using system restore. Hopefully that does the trick


For future reference, this is what I usually do. It's pretty close to what everybody has suggested.

1) Boot up into Windows normally and update Lavasoft Ad-Adaware and Norton (or whatever other anti-virus program I'm running.

2) Boot up into safe mode and perform a complete full scan using the above softwares mentioned.

3) Boot back into Windows normally and see if that fixes the problem.

4) If not, go into C:\Program Files and sort by the Created Date in descending order and see if anything has gotten installed. I do the same in C:\Windows\System and C:\Windows\System32

5) If you find an app that was just installed then do a google search for it and see what others are doing. Also, if you find popups coming up do a google search for those too. Somebody usually would have found a file related to the trojan/virus you have.

6) Boot into safe mode, delete the files mentioned and repeat the complete full scan from Step 2.

Hopefully the above will work otherwise you have to go searching again because something else is installed. Sometimes I'll look in my Task Manager and see if something out of the ordinary is running.


Edit: Also, if you haven't done so yet start using Firefox!!

[distr0]

For future reference, this is what I usually do. It's pretty close to what everybody has suggested.

1) Boot up into Windows normally and update Lavasoft Ad-Adaware and Norton (or whatever other anti-virus program I'm running.

2) Boot up into safe mode and perform a complete full scan using the above softwares mentioned.

3) Boot back into Windows normally and see if that fixes the problem.

4) If not, go into C:\Program Files and sort by the Created Date in descending order and see if anything has gotten installed. I do the same in C:\Windows\System and C:\Windows\System32

5) If you find an app that was just installed then do a google search for it and see what others are doing. Also, if you find popups coming up do a google search for those too. Somebody usually would have found a file related to the trojan/virus you have.

6) Boot into safe mode, delete the files mentioned and repeat the complete full scan from Step 2.

Hopefully the above will work otherwise you have to go searching again because something else is installed. Sometimes I'll look in my Task Manager and see if something out of the ordinary is running.


Edit: Also, if you haven't done so yet start using Firefox!!

+1

[sp3GT]

++++1, just get a PS3 for gaming :)

Get on firefox!

Yea I think I should get a PS3, I only got into this trouble because NFS: Shift wouldn't work no matter what I tried. So I got carried away into searching and d-ling non-safe stuff.

[sp3GT]

Just a question, does your computer need to shut down after deleting a file from Malware Bytes?

[Ogata]

Just a question, does your computer need to shut down after deleting a file from Malware Bytes?

Depends what file Malware Bytes detected. Usually when it finds something it will ask you to restart if I recall. In eithercase, when I'm done cleaning in safe mode, I pray that nothing stupid happens when starting up normally. Hope that helps!