The Tech Support thread

[Luftwaffles]

So yeah, I have been getting my paws on a lot of computers lately and I have come across an awful lot of annoying viruses, spywares and the like. Some of them were just a nuisance, but others were a good reason to practice Earth-bending with your head on the wall. Either way, it's not cool.

Fortunately, I have figured out how to get rid of some of them without having to rely on external tools, programs, licenses and the like, so I'm gonna share a few of these tricks. I also intend this thread to become some of sort of "call center" where everyone is welcome to either share their own solutions or post their own problems with their computers.

Now, the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening, so here's a bit of advice for ya:

Spoiler

1) If you absolutely need a program but you don't have the money to afford it, search for an alternative. If someone made a program that you need to pay for, it is more than sure that somebody else has made a free alternative for it. Just don't go around downloading cracked versions and the like, you don't know who's been "touching" the program or how it is been modified.  

2) I know that some sites like Softonic are nice and stuff but you should ALWAYS download your programs from the author's site. Those sites have a downloader for a reason and I have had many cases of people finding out that their programs weren't the only thing installed from their downloads (besides, we all know that we are not going to take the time to read the ToS of any program anyway).

3) If someone brings a Pendrive to your house or you need to plug yours on a computer that you know is going to be used by seventeen different people (this is specially common if you are in college) you should totally take the time to press Shift when you input the device on your USB drive. That way you can prevent the thing from auto-running on your computer, thus dramatically reducing the risk on an infection.

4) You should create a few restoration points to protect your system from a malfunction or just to avoid major nuisances. I know, I know, they take up a lot of space and you are probably never gonna use them anyway, but I'd bet my house that you are going to be dancing Polka the day you actually need them (cofpersonalexperiencecof).

5) If you are going to install add-ons to your browsers, please take the time to read some reviews firsts (Mozilla has them on the same page as the actual add-ons) I can't even count how many times I was "just about" to install something, just to crash head first into a whole PAGE of comments telling that it was dangerous. Also, I would recommend you to keep track of your add-ons (I often take a screenshot of what's installed) and the processes running on your computer. Being able to tell that something is fishy and/or wrong just because it's priceless, and can make a difference in the outcome of some situations.

I know that this is not the best or the most advanced advice in the world, but we need to start somewhere and many people don't know any of this in the first place (plus you are more than welcome to include your own advice here).

[close]

The ToolBox:

Spoiler

Even though I do like to find my own solutions, every so often I come across something that is just way too annoying or that it's just doesn't worth the time and effort... and when that happens, I like to kill things by simply pressing a button, and, in that regard, these are the best "weapons".

(I'm not sure if I can post the links to those tools, despite being free, so I'm gonna leave the names until I find out if I can or cannot do that).

AT-Destroyer (by InfoSpyware): Have you ever been infected with one of those annoying "search" bars that so often like to place themselves on top of our browsers? Well, with this little program here, that's over.

What this little fellow does is a really fast scanning thru your computer, looking for anything suspicious. When it's done, it will ask you to reboot your system and it will give you a nice report telling you exactly what it found. It is an effective tool, although it should be noted that it WON'T help you against any other kind of spyware, because that's what it was made for. Still, it is a great solution for those looking for a fast-paced bar massacre.

MalwareBytes Anti-Spyware: Sometimes I'm simply amazed at the level of love and care that went into a program, because it is like an unwritten rule in the informatic world, that if something is "free", it should totally be limiting as well (especially in the Internet Security business). That's what I love MalwareBytes Anti-Malware so much. It just says "heck" no to that, and it almost FORCES you to have the complete experience for free (and I'm not kidding here, it actually offers you a free trial of the premium license, what other program does that?).

This is a really complete and complex program that would make sure that your problems are over before they even begin. It basically does a very exhaustive scan on your computer and it lists all kinds of suspicious files, registry keys and other bugs that are lurking your Memory and Drives. The scan might take over an hour, but it won't let any stone unturned, and by the time it's over, it will tell you exactly what it found and it is up to you if you want to delete the menaces or something (because some of the files might be just your regular files, but they just got caught in the middle of the scanning).

Another thing that I absolutely love about this program is that it is always watching your system (if you haven't closed it, that is... the active scanning is a "premium" feature). I once was helping a friend with his doomed computer and the program immediately caught a redirect attempt from an unspeakable site. That's the kind of stuff that really make me feel protected.

Cclenear: Although it was never meant to serve this purpose, this program can be really helpful in the security area. Its start-up and registry tools are especially useful to combat some of the most sneaky menaces, because it not only lets you disable and delete the entries, but it also allows you to RENAME the darn things. Some viruses won't go away if you delete them, but they can be doomed if you just edit their names and paths.

Feel free to add your own programs to the list.

[close]

Ok, enough beating around the bush... today I had to get rid of two pretty annoying infections for some customers, and these are the solutions I could find to get my job done.



Searchult:

What is it?: A virus designed to exploit the weaknesses of the Browsers.

What does it do?: An awful lot, that's what it does. It changes the homepage of ALL your browsers (even those that you never use, like IE) and doesn't let you change it back. It also makes everything slower and it likes to freeze flash content (forcing you to reboot your browser to do something as simple as watching YouTube).

On top of that, it has a "thing" for being the first thing to load, despite your efforts to prevent it from doing so (it can even act as its own independent process when you close Firefox on an inappropriate way, ignoring the "restore session" thing and loading anyway on a new, independent tab).

How do I get rid of it?: To be fair, it does have an uninstaller, but it would only work if the planets are aligned or something (besides, it likes to tease you while you are using it, putting emoticons and the like). Now, this is what you need to do in order to send his stupid face to Mars:

1) Press the "Windows Key" + the "R key".

2) When the Dialog Box comes up, type "%APPDATA%" and press "Enter".

3) Go to a folder named "Roaming" and access its content.

4) Look for a folder named "MacWebToise" inside of that one (there's another one named "Searchult" but it doesn't do anything, and you should totally ignore it).

5) Send all the files that are inside of said folder to your desktop and REBOOT your computer (otherwise it won't let you delete them).

6) When your system is loaded again, send those files to the Recycle Bin.

7) In your face, Searchult.

Lucky Shopper:



What is it?: A sneaky, unwanted add-on.

What does it do?: It likes to load a lot of "extra content" when you are browsing the web, it also likes to place several ads in the webs you visit. Everything moves slower when it's installed and it likes to behave like the webs you are visiting, despite the fact that it is obviously something fishy (for example, it likes to act like magnifying glass on Imgur).

How do I get rid of it?: In most cases, you just need to deactivate the add-on from your browser, but if that doesn't work, you can go searching from its folders like it was explained above (it won't lie to you and it uses the same name for its files).

That's it for now, stay tuned for more Happy Days (?)

Odd wording, typos and the like are going to be fixed as soon as I notice them. Feel free to "report" them to me.

[Søren]

I like this thread. I don't use any of the software you mentioned, but me, James and Sage use Macs, so we can help with that too.

[The Skarzs]

I'm using a Mac.

[Søren]

Ok, Skarzs too.

[Skyblade]

Helpful You can give advice about these things to people of the forums.

[Luftwaffles]

I like this thread. I don't use any of the software you mentioned, but me, James and Sage use Macs, so we can help with that too.

Awesome, thank you.

But I didn't expect to find that many Mac users here

[Rusvul]

   Much the same can go for Macs. While it isn't true that Mac and Linux OSes are immune to all viruses, malwares, and adwares... They're certainly very resistant to the vast majority of them.

   Side note: I hate malware. But I can usually remove it with a hacksaw- Find the relevant files and delete them. If that fails, Google will help me find out what the relevant files are so I can delete them. If all that fails, then I'll resort to my primitive antivirus.

[Søren]

@Rus
Hahahaha, that's good.
Partly, Macs are more resistant because there aren't as many viruses targeted on Macs and Linux because they're the minority.

[Hickory]

EXACTLY. Macs (well, I use only Apple products, so iPads, Macbooks, and the like) ARE AWESOME!!!!

[Blaggut]

How do I convince me dad to download stuff without searching for hours on sites if it has a virus history? We run a Mac (and only, like, one Mac in the world has gotten viruses) and virus protection

[Luftwaffles]

How do I convince me dad to download stuff without searching for hours on sites if it has a virus history? We run a Mac (and only, like, one Mac in the world has gotten viruses) and virus protection

I'm sorry what site do you mean or what software are you looking for?

[BadgerLordFiredrake]

*insert another relevant xkcd here*

[Søren]

EXACTLY. Macs (well, I use only Apple products, so iPads, Macbooks, and the like) ARE AWESOME!!!!

*fistbump*
Sent from my iPad
No seriously, I love my stuff!! Sage, have you tried on an Apple Watch yet?

[Hickory]

No. I was recently in an Aapple store, but the watch wasn't on display or in stock. 

[Søren]

No. I was recently in an Aapple store, but the watch wasn't on display or in stock. 

It's really nice. I like the way it feels. I tried on two 42mms, a Sport and a Watch, both were nice. The interface is different and takes some getting used to, but hardware wise, it's awesome.