Seil
09-02-2010, 10:11 PM
So a while back, I was talking about my computer. It's a frankenstein monstrosity, pieced together through the years, surviving being a family computer and eventually ended up as mine. It's an old hunk of junk that has half-deleted files, bits and pieces of spyware and never really runs very well. Since it does actually run, though, and I can't afford a new one, I'm stuck with it.
Now, it got infected with Desktop Antivirus 2010. (http://www.xp-vista.com/remove/antivirus-2010) That link there is to one of many online guides that the web offers - though much of the guides suggest the same thing. The virus itself is installed via Trojan (apparently) and sets up shop. After a few days, it makes its presence known by:
a) Initiating false blue screens (http://www.thestubware.com/malware_removal/antivirus2010/antivirus2010.gif)
b) Pop-ups on your desktop initiating false virus scans
c) Messages stating that your computer is infected and to pay for the service to fix things
Trying to delete the thing is amazingly difficult. It pops up on the "Add/Remove Programs" list, but requires a registration key to uninstall it. Malwarebites AntiMalware didn't do me any good. I tried to unregister the .DLL files, and a Windows prompt told me I couldn't. I tried multiple virus scanning things - the only things that told me I even had a virus were Spyware Doctor and ExterminateIt, but as I had just downloaded the trial versions, they wouldn't delete it. Nearly any antivirus program that I start ends in one of the false blue screen.
But they did list the file extensions. So I went down the list and started deleting stuff, and ended up getting rid of the wrong thing, because the next time I booted the computer, it gave me the prompt that I had three days to re-register Windows. I was at the end of my rope, so after about a month, I took it to a shop in town. The person there promptly did a few virus scans, determined nothing was wrong, billed us $90 for his time, and gave the computer back. The virus is still there.
Now, as I said in the first post, it's not a top-of-the-line machine. I know that, and I'm hopefully getting a laptop soon. It's just that while I have it now, I'd like to be able to use it. Does anyone have any suggestions that would keep me from taking a sledgehammer to it?
Because at this point, I really want to take a sledgehammer to it.
Now, it got infected with Desktop Antivirus 2010. (http://www.xp-vista.com/remove/antivirus-2010) That link there is to one of many online guides that the web offers - though much of the guides suggest the same thing. The virus itself is installed via Trojan (apparently) and sets up shop. After a few days, it makes its presence known by:
a) Initiating false blue screens (http://www.thestubware.com/malware_removal/antivirus2010/antivirus2010.gif)
b) Pop-ups on your desktop initiating false virus scans
c) Messages stating that your computer is infected and to pay for the service to fix things
Trying to delete the thing is amazingly difficult. It pops up on the "Add/Remove Programs" list, but requires a registration key to uninstall it. Malwarebites AntiMalware didn't do me any good. I tried to unregister the .DLL files, and a Windows prompt told me I couldn't. I tried multiple virus scanning things - the only things that told me I even had a virus were Spyware Doctor and ExterminateIt, but as I had just downloaded the trial versions, they wouldn't delete it. Nearly any antivirus program that I start ends in one of the false blue screen.
But they did list the file extensions. So I went down the list and started deleting stuff, and ended up getting rid of the wrong thing, because the next time I booted the computer, it gave me the prompt that I had three days to re-register Windows. I was at the end of my rope, so after about a month, I took it to a shop in town. The person there promptly did a few virus scans, determined nothing was wrong, billed us $90 for his time, and gave the computer back. The virus is still there.
Now, as I said in the first post, it's not a top-of-the-line machine. I know that, and I'm hopefully getting a laptop soon. It's just that while I have it now, I'd like to be able to use it. Does anyone have any suggestions that would keep me from taking a sledgehammer to it?
Because at this point, I really want to take a sledgehammer to it.