[ARC5] Off Topic - looking for a virus on my PC

[Leslie Smith]

  Hello Roy,
  What I found:
  Adware-cleaner alone didn't fix the problem.  Moreover the problem is
  made more difficult by some "good guys" actually being "baddies".
  Some software (masquerading as sheep) but purveys malware (or worse).

  Thanks for sending this info.  In the end AVG identified Adware
  (various sub-types) and other "baddies" on my machine.
  It seems to me the source (path into my PC) was some of the "junk"
  news-pages that float around ("Wild condor takes baby, bassinet and
  all." etc)
  The interesting thing is that the virus found it's way into the
  system32 restoration file directory - a directory not visible to the
  "non-system" eye.
  One virus I found was called svhost.exe.  After removing this I
  examined I examined my system restoration setup.
   (See Start > All programs > accessories > system tools > system
   restore)
  I found permission given to remote access.  Hmmm.

  The virii world is both malicious and clever.
  Maybe it's inhabited by humans?

  My Insurance Strategy:
  As insurance against completely losing my PC, (and the internet), I
  keep a copy of Puppy Linux on CD to hand.
  Puppy Linux will boot most older PCs (I'm speaking only from
  experience, don't know about any Windows newer than "XP") from a CD.
  Since it boots only into RAM, and has no need for the hard drive (and
  will ignore the HDD until you mount the drive on your system) you can
  regain the use of the web (and your PC hardware with the certain
  knowledge that the Linux-based "puppy" is virus free.  (I assume the
  CD itself is virus-free, as supplied.)
   I have "rescued" several PCs using "the puppy".  This included one HP
   laptop, just out of warranty (at that time) that the shop techs
   couldn't fix.  They simply 'Gave up' and said, "too bad.  Out of
   warranty."    In another case a colleague completely "lost" his PC. 
   Again, the hardware itself was good.  He "recovered" his most
   valuable files from the "broken" HDD, using Puppy.  The cost to him
   was (I think) about $5 or $10 for the disk.  (Puppy itself is free,
   if you down-load it, but getting a pre-loaded CD is worth the low
   price.  I always give them twice their asking price.  Hell, it takes
   time and effort to keep something as valuable as The Puppy running.)

  Again, thank for your advice, much appreciated.


  73 de Les Smith
  formerly vk2bcu 
  still vk2bcu at operamail.com


On Mon, Jul 13, 2015, at 13:59, Roy Morgan wrote:
> 
> On Jul 12, 2015, at 3:48 AM, Leslie Smith <vk2bcu at operamail.com> wrote:
> 
> >  G'day all,
> >  About 1-2 months ago I found a mischievous/malicious "thingy" on my
> >  PC.
> >  Asking here,  I got some answers that solved the problem to a large
> >  degree.
> 
> Les,
> 
> Here are some notes I made a while ago.  They may help.  It’s your
> interchange with the fellow who gave advice in April.
> 
> Soon, I will set up a Windows computer I have acquired and need to know
> about this stuff.
> 
> Roy
> 
> 
> 
> Roy Morgan
> k1lky68 at gmail.com
> K1LKY Since 1958
> 
> Email had 1 attachment:
> + Malware.txt
>   6k (text/plain)

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