ill be off for a while-HUGE PROBLEM

We all hope your PC will recover soon Try some TCL ... it can work wonders

well after some great help from [drumroll] the geek sqad, i got my computer up and running...i had 7,103 viruses/spyware/adware. but, when i finished the last virus scan, i clicked delete all the viruses and it froze up and it only deleted like a quarter of them..i tried the scan again...same thing. then i tried a different virus scanner...it scanned, but then only scanned up to my documents and then got an error message and stopped and froze...i am gonna call them back, hopefully i wont have to replatform [lol you should have seen how much i slowed down when i started to type that]

robbier

[quote="robbier"]well after some great help from [drumroll] the geek sqad, i got my computer up and running...i had 7,103 viruses/spyware/adware. Ouch , that is a lot. I had some spyware problems before, but nothing like that. You need some real help.

Oops, bad quoting. Sorry

With them amount of unwanted programs on your computer, you will never get it right unless you reinstall the OS

Even if you get a few scanners and delete all the files, not all scanners will get them all and if they do they dont always get deleted properly, and leave traces all over the computer of it, wasting resources. Even if the anti-virus|spyware|adware appears to have deleted the adware/spyware/virus, bits of it may still linger about and still cause problems, slowing down the computer big time, popping up ads

I would suggest reinstalling, but remember to back up all needed files, you will lose everything

Best way is to search through your computer, make a list (write it down, dont save it to a file etc) of the things you need to backup. start with anything in my documents, then the fs folder. Write down any settings you need to keep (internet encryption keys or anything which may cause an inconvience if you lose)

Hope this helps

Tim

PS. remember, if you decide to reinstall, dont rush into it, make sure everything you need is backed up.

im backing up right now actually, gonna do a replatform/reinstall OS

Please be certain that the files you are backing up are not infected. Otherwise, the moment you restore them to a clean system, the cycle of destruction begins all over again.

I am not even going to ask how or why you allowed your computer to become so severely compromised. I'm afraid my head would explode if I found out. 🙄

this is really bad. I made 2 DVD's of backup material before re-platforming, then i replatformed, everything went OK, then i put in DVD 2, got all my stuff off of it, then put in DVD 1. nothing. i went to my computer, then went to the dvd drive...it said it was an empty disk. Nothing. i did everything i can think of, and some things other people can think of. I lost ALL of my pictures(over 500 of them)i lost ALL i mean ALL my payware aircraft, i lost all my scenery for FS, my modules, and everything, and i lost some other stuff very important to me. in total, i lost 4.3 GB of very valuable, important data. If ANYONE, ANYONE, can give any programs, suggestions, and anything to get my data off that DVD, please please please!!!!

ok guys i read the dvd, man i am glad i did, because if i didn't, i would've lsot 4 gb of data

One question. did you scan all the contents of the DVDs for viruses?

after i put the dvd's data onto my computer, then i scanned the computer

For future reference, scanning things before you put them on your hard drive is safer, although probably slower.

Also, for future reference, here are three good rules to keep viruses and spyware off your computer.

1. Never open email attachments. (Even if they came from your best friend)

2. Free programs, especially those that look cool, are suspect.

3. Scan everything before you use it the first time.

CrashGordon wrote:

For future reference, scanning things before you put them on your hard drive is safer, although probably slower.

Also, for future reference, here are three good rules to keep viruses and spyware off your computer.

1. Never open email attachments. (Even if they came from your best friend)

2. Free programs, especially those that look cool, are suspect.

3. Scan everything before you use it the first time.

next to that; and equally important as the above,

Never use Kazaa, Limewire, Sharezea and other of these fancy-looking and easy-to-use P2P downloaders. They WILL infect you sooner or later. (or at least 99% of all PC users)
No matter how many nice things you can find, its not worth reinstalling your PC over. These programs are a pest and are responsible for infection of a great part of all infected PC's.

Second, Avoid websites with adult rated content. They are as bad as kazaa etc.

You should see how many PC's we get returned to us in a weeks time that were infected by either of these two sources. 😕

If you had 7000+ infected items, you must have been downloading things via P2P...next time you think about installing such software think about the 4 GB that you almost lost, and reconsider!

sorry for me not knowing what it is, but what is p2p? port to port? just curious, i dont know.. sorry

don't be sorry 🙂 P2P stands for Peer - to - Peer.
A form of data exchange where you download the content straight from another persons computer rather than from an internet server.

TimH wrote:

With them amount of unwanted programs on your computer, you will never get it right unless you reinstall the OS

I would suggest reinstalling, but remember to back up all needed files, you will lose everything

Disclaimer: I might be misreading this post completely, in that case please ignore what I have to say.

Reinstalling the OS and reformatting the HDD are two completely different procedures with different results.

Reinstalling the OS will do exactly that -- however, it will not get rid of any nasties resident on your HDD.

Reinstalling the OS will NOT cause you to lose files.

Reinstalling (or repairing) the OS or reformatting the HDD is only possible if you own the Windows OS Disc which is unlikely if you own a brand computer.

If you do own the Windows OS Installation Disc, back up your files and the .exe files of any small applications you run (preferrably on DVD discs) and then reformat your HDD. This will ensure that ALL the nasties have been eradicated.

After the reformatting process has come to an end, it's a good idea to install the necessary drivers first. Next, your programs such as Office, Photoshop etc. and FS of course 😉

And now the real fun starts... no need to elaborate on that.

Well, this is how I normally do it and it works for me. If you find a more convenient way, by all means do it and share your new discoveries with us.