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Old June 29th, 2007, 04:42 AM
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When Norton AntiVirus isn't enough?

I hope someone can help, because the professionals aren't doing much.

Something is going on with at least one of our computers at work. Management is clueless and we don't have our own tech support on staff.

Things were kind of weird for awhile, but I thought that the computer was just slow. Then MSN (for those boring days when you don't want to be at work) started acting up -- 100 windows or so would pop up at once! Then finally Norton AntiVirus kicked in and found 2 trojans. I quarantined and deleted the files. Beyond that I don't know what else to do. I've done 2 full system scans since then (Norton IS up-to-date) that haven't shown anything, but we get the odd message from Norton that it's found more trojans. I do the same thing -- quarantine and delete...repair doesn't seem to be an option for some reason.

I got in a Symantec chat room with a tech. He told me that we could go into the registry and get rid of these files, which sound like spyware. Great, but we're on a network here, and I don't know that allowing Symantec remote access would be a good idea. We need the system up pretty much 24/7 also.

Then I called a toll free help line that we have for one system that we use. The guy was more helpful than I thought he'd be. He agreed that it was probably spyware, went in, deleted some stuff, changed some internet options...basically cleaned up overall, but didn't find any actual problems. He told me that he thought we would be okay. Minutes after getting off the phone with him I had the usual pornographic pop-ups and error messages that don't make any sense. Norton has also found another trojan!

So now what? None of us are very computer-literate here. Should we attempt something ourselves or hire someone in? I've had viruses and such at home, but Norton has always fixed everything up fine.
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  #2  
Old June 29th, 2007, 06:53 AM
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Sounds like trojan viruses, not spyware. Same thing happened with our computer. After running numerous anti-virus programs, the only one that cleaned it all up was AVG Free Edition. Google it, download, and run it (it's free). It's been keeping our computer running smoothly ever since. Depending on how badly your computer is infected, it can take several hours to run. Good luck.
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Old June 29th, 2007, 09:28 AM
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I also had the same problem and was told that the virus was some sort of system designed to record keystrokes - that way whoever developed this can record your passwords, etc. I too downloaded AVG which worked far better than any other anti-virus I tried. At first (it started about 2 months ago) AVG was detecting 4 or 5 trojan files every hour or so and gradually has cleared my computer of them and I only get them once every week or two. Computer is much faster now! Definitley download the free version, and if you're in an office environment I believe there is a version for that which is fairly cheap.
hope this helps!
-Megan
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Old June 29th, 2007, 09:35 AM
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AVG is good but what you have sound slike it also could be malware which Spybot and Ad Aware programs can help with. I would try AVG but I'd also run those two. There are others for really tough malware! In my experience, no one program gets them all, alas!
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Old June 29th, 2007, 10:05 AM
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Go with Cyberkitten's advice. Run all three programs.

The only thing to be aware of is this: Norton may not play nice with AVG. So to get around that (as horrible as it seems) download AVG, install it, run the scan, uninstall AVG. For some reason, a lot of Anti-Virus programs do that. They don't like each other for some reason.

The other option is to run an online (since I'm assuming this PC is on the net) virus scan that will also remove it. The one here

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

works wonderfully. It'll ask you to install something or other and do it (it can't "see" your computer otherwise). Safe site. One of the other "big names" in Antivirus run the site

After downloading them all, update them. Run it ONE AT A TIME. If you run Spybot at the same time as Adaware your PC will explode (figuratively). They pick up things that the other has picked up but they also pick up things the other does not.

The spyware removers are all "allowed" on the computer at once, so long as you just run them at separate times.

Ease of use - here have the websites

AVG's site (also has a spyware remover for free)

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Spybot - You want the "Spybot Search and Destroy 1.4"

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Adaware

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Megan
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Old June 29th, 2007, 10:28 AM
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Yup, I dumped Norton a long time ago. Just screws up your computer and makes it run slow.

Now I use AVG for virus protection, Adware and Spybot for spyware.
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Old June 29th, 2007, 02:05 PM
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I use Adaware, Norton, Spybot and I used to have AVG. But I found that AVG really slowed down my machine (which already crawls because of my slow connection). Could Norton and AVG have been duking it out and slowing down my machine? If I dump Norton and add AVG, would it run faster?
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Old June 29th, 2007, 02:32 PM
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Norton has never saved me from trojan outbreaks. Ever. I frequently use Housecall - which i believe dtb linked above... And Symantec also has an online scanning program which is often more up-to-date than installed software.

Amp up your firewall settings and if you're not already doing so.. I would suggest not using IE, Outlook, or Outlook Express. We used to have many many problems with trojans and viruses until we switched to the Mozilla suite for email and web browsing and kept ZoneAlarm running.

Good luck!
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Old June 29th, 2007, 02:39 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Ooops...I was under the impression that Symantec and Norton were more or less the same thing. Isn't Norton put out by Symantec? At any rate, what I have is actually Symantec.

I have no choice about IE, though... The Pack's newsletter is done with Publisher and the only browser that seems to be compatible with is IE. Definitely doesn't get along with Mozilla. :sad: Unfortunately, Publisher is the only software I currently have that can easily produce a written form as well as a web form of the newsletter. Ah, well... sigh
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Old June 29th, 2007, 02:49 PM
pags pags is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
Ooops...I was under the impression that Symantec and Norton were more or less the same thing. Isn't Norton put out by Symantec? At any rate, what I have is actually Symantec.
LOL hrp - yes norton is put out by symantec. I don't like to have Norton installed on my computer cause it DOES tend to bog down and mess with other programs. However -- I don't mind using the online scanner at Symantec just to scan for anything that gets past the firewall.

You know... computers drive me insane.
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  #11  
Old June 29th, 2007, 02:53 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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hazel was crazy long before computers came on the scene, but they sure aren't helping her condition much!
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"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

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  #12  
Old June 29th, 2007, 03:01 PM
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Another AVG user here, too. I dumped Norton a while back after using it for years, it's just too big and too slow these days and doesn't get rid of all the crap. I use AVG free, Adaware, Spybot and Spyware Blaster (all free) and have been virus/spyware/crap free for over a year now. If you want to keep Norton, just turn it off before you let AVG in - don't ever let them both run at the same time, they will fight and they will slow your computer down immensely.
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Old June 29th, 2007, 03:26 PM
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Like several others here, I use AVG, adaware and spybot. I used to be a Norton fan, but as of this year - never again! AVG works great and is cheaper. I update it daily, and scan almost daily (a little overkill) and run adaware and spybot at least once a week.

Good luck.
Diane
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  #14  
Old June 30th, 2007, 02:43 AM
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Wow!!! Thank you guys so much for the help! I figured I'd be lucky to get one or two replies.

I'm going to run this stuff by my boss, and then hopefully get this problem sorted out. We have Ad Aware, but I was worried that it was some kind of spyware itself...shows what I know So I haven't been running it since this began. It kept finding 18 files, 30 files, 22 files and so on that would need to be quarantined or whatever, so I assumed that it had to be some kind of problem itself as I didn't think we could possibly have that many trojans or whatever. Guess I was wrong!

Thanks again for the help. I was at a loss about all of this... and my boss isn't too eager to hire someone to come in and deal with the problem. I was afraid we'd have to get into the registry and start deleting anything suspicious, but I can guarantee that I'd end up deleting something vital...glad we've avoided that situation!
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Old June 30th, 2007, 04:35 AM
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We have Norton (Symantic) at work, but for home AVG is the free and best choice. I had nothing but trouble using Norton at home, the AVG is automatic, free and reliable. I've never had trouble with virus, spyware or adware of any kind with either, but you can't beat the price and ease of use with the AVG.

Cindy
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