Please help - COMPUTER GENIOUS needed

[Brighton till i die]

please help:

i have this f***ing Trojan virus on my computer at home called qhosts.apd.

i have cleaned it time and time again, but it keeps f***ing re-booting with the computer on start up.

i aint got a clue about computers really but this is really f***ing doing my head in. Please help.

ALSO - for some reason, in the last few days, my BT Broadband will automatically dis-connect -and the modem will only have 1 light on - RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

please help!

 

[steventhesquirrel]

I can only reccomend maybe downloading a Panda Antivirus Free download off the internet if you can get on there maybe?

 

[Brighton till i die]

i have got McAfee anti-virus, spy-bot and ad-aware all running at present too though!

its a complete nightmare.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

http://forums.thatcomputerguy.us/index.php?showtopic=4659

 

[NMH]

type the name of the file into a search, and no doubt there will be a discussion and a help-group for the virus.

Sometimes 'hidden' files can only be erased after you rename them. Turn off your p/c's back-up facility when you do approach the situation, or it might get restored by your own computer - which will mistake it as a valued file.

 

[Brighton till i die]

thanx guys - will try that tonight although it is all very confusing to me!!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Not zapped your home page or something? (Check by doing 'START' then 'Settings' then 'Internet Options' and see what your homepage says it is - set to blank if in doubt)

A thing maybe worth doing is going into Windows Explorer and looking for files that maybe shouldn't be there ('Tools', then 'Find' then 'Files' then type in 'ghosts.*and in the box that says 'Look in' type C:\. When all the files are displayed, click on the 'Modified' column to check which is the most recent ones added. If it's one with an obscure name and a date that roughly corresponds to the date your trouble started than that maybe just delete that file.

For a more scientific approach, maybe use Google to search on something like 'qhosts.apd help remove'

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Else try switching it off and on again...

 

[Gwylan]

And don't use Explorer. No IE, no Trojans.

 

[beorhthelm]

i had a similar critter that just wouldnt go away after trying every trick in the book, just kept recreating itself. Eventually i outsmarted it by finding the registry entry for it (use regedit, but BE CAREFULL, make a backup first and only then play if you've got nothing to loose), then instead of simply deleting the registry key (something kept regenerating it) i deleted all the values in that key. I know, its still there somewhere, like a little cancerous lump, but its contained now.

Then i installed Mozilla and.. er.. dont use kazza for video anymore

 

[Brighton till i die]

thanks alot - i will take all that on board and attempt to get someone over to have a look at those tips you gave me.

much appriciated. i just wanna get rid of the little sh!T!



i have WINMX and iTunes on my machine too? is that likely to be a cause of future problems?

 

[Wardy]

If you are using XP you will need to switch off the system restore before running the virus checker. Then when you have run the checker turn it back on again. Otherwise the virus will be backed up by the system restore and hench reboot everytime you turn on the PC.

 

[Brighton till i die]

so turn off system resotre then do complete virus scan with mcafee?

 

[Wardy]

so turn off system resotre then do complete virus scan with mcafee?

If it is updated yes. Check their website to see if it detects the virus but it should do.

 

[Brighton till i die]

cheers bud

 

[Wardy]

Did it work?

 

[Brighton till i die]

i am at work at the moment - will be able to check it this afternoon - will let you know either way though

 

[Aspinal's Body Double]

I has a similar trojan a while back ,a real pain. I think your broadband problems are definitely a symptom.

If you've got XP it may be worth trying to use the system restore BEFORE YOU SWITCH IT OFF. You can go back in time to a point before you had virus and restore to that date. You may find the trojan has come with you, but there is a chance it might be gone (once you turn off system restore you lose this opportunity so it's worth a try first).

If it doesn't work you might do as suggested and turn off system restore and run anti-virus software. You should also try a disk cleanup on C drive with system restore off (click on my computer/right click C drive/properties/General tab/disk cleanup).

If you know the name of the virus you could also search in the registry (open run from start menu and type "regedit", then use edit/find to look for virus). Again do with system restore off.

However, be prepared. I tried all this and although my virus check said I was clear I still had all the symptoms and problems. In the end I re-installed XP. It's a bit of a pain to restore all your programs and websites but it does act as a very effective clean up and it did solve all my problems. Last resort though. (Make sure you back up all your files first of course).

 

[Brighton till i die]

great stuff - cheers norman - i will crack on with these tips later - cant wait to be free'd from this beast - really apprciated your time guys.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

another one...go on to Microsoft site and download regclean....its an old product but will kill off crap links etc.

Also download from www.GRYSOFT.Com - AVG its an AV and free...they get their money from business...give it a go