Think I've got a Virus - is this the place to get help?

i've got a compy running XP that we think is sick. yesterday, things loaded more and more slowly. yesterday AM, i started running the virus scanner we're using (b-safe online) and it was hopping along nicely till my kid stopped it cuz he wanted to use compy.

now this morning, i went to run the scan, and it was running super slow. in about 4 hrs, it'd scanned only about 6000 whatevers (sorry, not compy smart).

i stopped that scan and started Trend housecall. at first, it said it was going to take 2.75 hrs to scan. i watched it count down to about 1.5 hrs, then all of a sudden, it jumped to over 6 hrs. now its saying it'll be 10 hrs for the scan to complete.

so me thinks i've got a sick one on my hands.

help

 

What anti-virus software is actually INSTALLED (so not web scanners) on the computer.

And do you have an anti-spyware or anti-malware.

 

we have "b-safe online"

kaspersky is also installed but it is not current as we got the b-safe instead.

we've got spybot and adaware, also.

i dont know how good of an update this is. its been 5-6 hrs since i started the Trend housecall scan. as far as i know, no one touched my compy (i've been gone running errands) but i had a DOS window (mmm, maybe thats not right. it was the window you'd get if you hit F something upon start-up... the mouse didnt work on it, etc.....) showing on my monitor. i tried to get out of it (not having a clue what it was or why it was there) and had to del+alt+cntrl to reboot...

so i have no idea if Trend ran all the way, if it found anything or what... i feel i have to start over (running the scan, that is)...

 

I think B-Safe is an Internet filter, parental control, I don’t believe it is an anti virus software. I would recommend getting a current license for the AV you have installed. If you don’t want to spend the money there are several good free ones out there, Avast and AVG . If you are going to install a new AV you will need to uninstall the old one first I believe you said kav. Run a scan in safe mode and report back.

 

I see B Safe does have a suite with Sophos antivirus. Is that the version you have and is it updated? Do you have Kav and B Safe running at the same time? Is there a icon for each of them in the system tray? lower right on you,re computer screen. You should not have 2 AVs running resident at the same time.

 

so, since i've got KAV still running, i'd need to uninstall it (i dont want to pay any more right now) and the b-safe, i'd need to uninstall that, too? and when i'm all done, i can reinstall the pgm i've paid for, eh?

and to get compy in to safe mode, i need to reboot?

 

Yes you should uninstall Kav via add remove programs in the control panel. Update the antivirus in the B Safe suite you have I am assuming that you have the version with Sophos antivirus. When you reboot keep tapping the f8 key and follow the on screen prompts to get into safe mode then do a scan.You don’t need to uninstall both of them just one and in you’re post above it sounded like the kav subscription was expired and you wanted to keep the other one. The point is you should only have 1 AV running in the background at any one time, having 2 can cause problems, how long have you had 2 running?

 

kathyL,

Before you start doing things, let's establish where you are.

1. You have a BSafe Online product installed. Is it the Internet Filter, All-in-One Suite, Spam Filter, or AntiVirus?
2. KAV is installed still, correct? Is it verified as not current (i.e. you know that the license ran out xx/yy/2006 and it hasn't updated since). Before you uninstall it, does the BSafe product have an associated AV (i.e. is the All-in-One or AV product)?
3. Spybot and AdAware are installed, are they current?
4. Is there anything else installed security wise (firewall, other programs that you know of)?

Blue

 

hey blue! thanks so much!!

-->> it is the all-in-one security

-->> yes. i loved it but wanted more protection from websites, so i let it lapse and bought BSafe.

-->> expired

-->> all-in-one

-->> yes, and i've run spybot, and adaware in currently running

-->> i used to run AVG, but i think when you, Blue, had me get KAV, i uninstalled it...

(I'm ashamed to say i've never cleaned my computer up with the last problem i had - when KAV was finding all these errors... it still scans and finds these errors - i know i need to delete the files, but i cant remember how i found them and how to get rid of them... so if i uninstall KAV, will i lose all that info? ie., the bad files...??)

 

MY pleasure, but I'm just one of many here who help.

OK, if this is what you want to go with, KAV should be uninstalled.

A reasonable course of action. As mentioned above, the embedded AV is by Sophos and it is fine.

OK, sounds good

You basically have to do the same thing with KAV now. It shouldn't be a problem and a simple uninstall should work fine.

If these were real problems, the files should be quarantined. At uninstall, you may get the option to leave quantined files, logs, and so on, I'd just delete everything to clear things out.

The other thing I'd recommend is to grab a copy of CCleaner. It's free and basically sweeps away most temporary stuff. These can impact performance if you really allow things to build up. Simply install it, press the Analyze button, then Run Cleaner.

Blue

 

thanks, blue.

all those are done.

my biggest problem (other than the obvious virus) is that reboots are taking about 20 minutes. so i get real grumpy every time i have to reboot...

i uninstalled KAV and, of course, it wanted me to reboot... which i didnt do.

awaiting your next instructions...

 

If it’s taking 20 min to reboot I would think there is some process taking up a lot of cpu, could you try ctrl+alt=delete check the processes and see if any of them are using a ton of cpu.

 

system idle process - 98

all the rest are -0-

 

That one is supposed to be 98 or so. It was worth a try. Have you tried another scan since uninstalling Kav and running cc cleaner? Is it still slow?

 

while i'm at it, microsoft security is real upset w/me since KAV expired. it says it cant detect virus detection. why wont it recognize BSafe?

(oh. it says my firewall is running...how do i find out what firewall it sees?)

 

kathyL,

Sorry, was tied up.

The uninstall won't be complete until a reboot is done. If there were a conflict with KAV, that won't be resolved until KAV is removed. Key question: Are reboots faster with KAV uninstalled (can't answer until a post-uninstall reboot is performed).

If so - we're on our way out of this.

If not - we'll need more information

Also, if you haven't already done so, download CCleaner and clean things out. Go with a basic default install and clean. Also, select the Issues option and Scan for Issues. When it's completed, select Fix Selected Issues. All are selected by default. Answer Yes to backup when requested and just go with any defaults presented.

Let's see where this gets us before doing anything else.

Blue

 

Not sure maybe because it is B Safe, Sophos is recognized according to there web site.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/viruses/wsc/en-us/flist.mspx

Are you sure you have the suite with the AV included? Can you update the signatures?

 

I don't believe it will look for anything else until KAV is removed. Let's see how this evolves after the post-uninstall restart. Also, bring up BSafe Online and make sure all the modules are activated and working after that reboot.

Blue

 

ok. i ran CCleaner as you've said. so i guess where we're at now is rebooting....

 

Yep, let's see how it goes with respect to time and stability. If it takes a long time, is it on shutdown, restart, or both?

Blue

 

i'm pretty sure its both. we've had to cntrl-alt-del and we've had to restart. all are miserable...

 

Well, let's see how it goes now. I assume you haven't rebooted as yet (since time is too short thus far).

Blue

 

i'm in the reboot process. now on 2nd computer.

do i want to get in to safe mode right now as its rebooting? (and i started it 4 minutes ago. i've got 'press DEL to enter start-up' or something like that on screen...)

 

No, let's go normal for now and see how long it takes. There will be some added time due to the uninstalls - some files (index.dat from CCleaner and some items connected to KAV) will be removed at restart.

Also, depending on how things behave, we may need to reinstall BSafe - I've not used it before so I'm working blind.

Blue

 

whew... cuz now that screen is gone. now i just have a black screen. it sits like this for a long time.

and for a blind guy, you do great work, lol!!