Virus help - unable to run notepad or regedit

[heyyo]

Im a newbie when it comes to computer knowledge. i have used ad-aware, spybot, norton, panda antivirus...and it found viruses which i cleaned, but many are still remaining....for example when i click to open notepad it installs xxxtoolbar and a pop-up appears Purity Scan and the same when i try run regedit.

Also in program files (C:\Program Files\ISTbar) which includes istbar.dll, i cannot delete this as it wont let me as it says access is denied.

I have googled all these viruses with no real idea of how to deal with it...

When i tried the online panda antivirus scan it found over 300 viruses, which i dont think u can fix online. it just informed me of it. i tried my offline version of panda and it found nothing on a complete computer scan.

I also downloaded Scan Spyware (shareware) it found loads of viruses in my registry but it would not allow me to delete the viruses as i have to make a purchase.

Can anyone advise me what to do now?

[Russ]

Get yourself a quality free AV product such as the one found here (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php) if you don't really feel like splashing the cash.

As for ISTbar, try booting your pc up in Safe Mode (reboot your machine and as it starts up, keep pressing F8, and chose 'safe mode' when the option comes up) and go in to Program Files and delete it that way, it should work.

Let us know how it goes.

[Chris W]

If you found 300 viruses i would seriously consider scrapping the whole lot- reformat the hard drive, install an AV package, firewall and spyware blocker and start afresh. Prevention is alot better than treatment.

[MovedGoalPosts]

If Panda Antivirus, presumably the online scan version is detecting viruses, the Panda site will give guidance on how to rid your self of these. Often there will be a download tool available to rid yourself of many of the more common issues.

You should have permanent antivirus on your computer and not rely on online scanners. AVG are a good freebie, but there's no substitute, if you have the money, for a good brand, paid for, antiviruse solution that has frequent updates. On the subject of Panda, we use this at works and with the aid of the frequent automatic updates, have not had a virus cause problems for over 3 years. Not bad in the current ever changin virus environment.

If your PC is this badly infected, since you have no effective antivirus, it is probable that you also have spyware and adware taking over your computer. These are an additional cause of problems on top of viruses. Try downloading adaware from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ a freebie which works well and should talk you throgh it.

Antivirus and anti spy ware / adware software is only as good as the latest update. You need ot ensure your computer is set to subscribe / update frequently, preferabley daily for antivirus.

As you have so many problems, I also anticipate that you your M$ Windows, whichever version, is not fully patched. M$ software has a number of holes in it which the unscrupulous exploit with viruses and stuff. Make sure you have Windows Update set to ruynd automatically, or that you do frequent checks for updates.

The drastic solution, is of course to back up all data to a writable CD or two, then reformat and reinstall windows, update Windows to all new patches, add current antivirus, spyware and a firewall, and then make sure everything updates from then on.

* edit As Monkeybreath says, with 300+ viruses, its probably not worth faffing around. Bite the bullet, save data if you can (you do take regular backups dont you?), and start afresh with the drastic solution above so you dont get into this mess again.

[heyyo]

thanks for the information, i am trying out avg anti-virus (freeware) now

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/5296/1879.jpg

this pop-up box appeared, im not sure if the programme will get rid of it or it expects me to get rid of it.

ill see how it goes when it finishes otherwise i will do what you say, back up my data and re-install windows

thanks for your information.

[Paul K]

Nope its telling you that it has detected a virus, you now should run a complete scan with AVG and tell it to remove the virus when it finishes the scan. After its quarantined it you may want to look in the virus vault and delete it from there too.
Run AVG anti virus, do complete scan, let it remove the virus, then in the top tool bar click program, AVG virus vault, find the listing for the virus or viri found and click on them to select them and then click the bin icon towards the top right to delete them completely from the computer. Always make sure you empty your recycle bin just in case and reboot the pc to make sure its all gone.

[paulyoung666]

from my point of view this could take ages to sort out , as mb pointed out it might be better to reinstall , assuming you have some way of backing up the stuff you need to :erm: , a good ( imho ) firewall / av solution is kerio and avast :)

[dilli-theclaw]

from my point of view this could take ages to sort out , as mb pointed out it might be better to reinstall , assuming you have some way of backing up the stuff you need to :erm: , a good ( imho ) firewall / av solution is kerio and avast :)
Definately %100 agree....

I'd backup what you can - then do a full reformat and install.

Install an antivirus and firewall straight away..

Oh and remember to virus check your backed up files when you put them back on your computer - just in case.

[Paul K]

I would suggest a format too but only if there are no files on the system you can't afford to lose. What operating system are you running? If its XP you could boot from the CD and during the install process tell it to rip the windows folder out and reload all the software.
If you re-install windows I would suggest you don't connect the PC to the internet until you have installed a firewall and up to date anti-virus.

[paulyoung666]

I would suggest a format too but only if there are no files on the system you can't afford to lose. What operating system are you running? If its XP you could boot from the CD and during the install process tell it to rip the windows folder out and reload all the software.
If you re-install windows I would suggest you don't connect the PC to the internet until you have installed a firewall and up to date anti-virus.


and from a backup point of view , there is little case for not having at least a cd - writer , even pc world are doing them for around £20 this weekend , me thinks back to what i paid for my 1st writer :disturbd: :disturbd: :disturbd: :disturbd:

[heyyo]

yeh its taking ages to sort out, the viruses keep coming back..ive got a dvd writer so i can get everything onto about two dvdrs :)
i paid 160 for my first cd rw - it was 12 speed plextor, the best and fastest at the time. lol

a quick question, do you think i should use an alternative browser to I.E, as this is where the viruses came from, it was automatically downloading these viruses etc...i think i might use opera

[MovedGoalPosts]

yeh its taking ages to sort out, the viruses keep coming back..ive got a dvd writer so i can get everything onto about two dvdrs :)
i paid 160 for my first cd rw - it was 12 speed plextor, the best and fastest at the time. lol

a quick question, do you think i should use an alternative browser to I.E, as this is where the viruses came from, it was automatically downloading these viruses etc...i think i might use opera

From what you say, your PC has so many viruses on it, that I think it's unreasonable for you to put the entire blame on IE. You could argue the blame lies with the virus writers. Realistically the blame lays at the door of the computer owner who in this day and age now learns the hard way that a computer must have current antivirus and firewall protection, and be fully patched on all updates released by both M$ and any other software vendor whose products are being run.

If you didn't have proper protection the viruses can come from web browsing, email, files you open from a disk on another infected PC, etc. If you don't have effective firewalls and antivirus, some viruses open ports (holes) into which other viruses will propogate accross the internet, simply by the viruys on other PCs scanning for the open ports. To that end, once you have your AVG up to date, disconect your PC from the internet, while you run all the scans, then ensure your firewall has all ports closed before reconnecting.

[Paul K]

One thing to be careful of with virus files is that you haven't got them in your system restore files or you will never get rid of them fully. I asked before but you missed the question, what operating system are you running (and when was windows update last run on it)?
You cannot blame IE for the PC being over run with viri, if the system is left open (unprotected by firewall, spyware protection and anti-virus software) or files downloaded without care then you will get infected, if you open emails from people you don't know the same will happen.
As movedgoalposts has just said and I stated in my previous post, clean your system or format it but while you are doing the re-installation take your pc off the internet/ network and make sure you installl a firewall and anti-virus software as soon as you have windows installed and running (there are plenty of good free anti-virus and firewall programes out there.) If you leave it on the internet connection before you get the relevant tools installed it will be infected before you even realise it.
Sometimes you just have to take responsibility for things that happen to your pc ;) a lot of problems or errors are caused by the operators and none of us are perfect :)

[heyyo]

im running windows xp, i have an early copies of windows xp...i have allowed the installation of updates that automatically appear.

[Paul K]

You may get away with booting from your windows CD and then choose to re-install, when it comes up with the installation options tell it to remove the windows folder and then you may lose all your damaged system files and windows files. When you re-install though, make sure you have a new copy of AVG or any other anti-virus software with up to date definitions to install and a firewall ready to run.
DO NOT connect your pc to the internet or broadband feed before those two things are installed. Disconnect the cable leading to the PC completely and do not plug it in till you are protected and are ready to get the necessary updates for windows.

[heyyo]

Ive done exactly what you guys reccomended, its all sorted now...just a matter of re-installing all the programmes.

Cheers for your soundadvice!

[paulyoung666]

yippeeeeeeeeeeeee a result , now just make sure you keep yourself upto date :D :D :D :D

[Paul K]

Ive done exactly what you guys reccomended, its all sorted now...just a matter of re-installing all the programmes.

Cheers for your soundadvice!
Gotta agree with the previous post, please keep your anti-virus up to date, (if possible tell it to update itself every 24 hours) keep a check on your firewall and periodically run anti-syware software such as
adaware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
spyware blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html
spyware guard http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sgdownload.html

[MetaWraith]

That's another user educated, another one to spread the word of "safe sex for pc's". Only a few billion to go.