Removing viruses and spyware in 2 hours….NOT!

Ok, so just some thoughts. I have been removing viruses and spyware since, well, since they were being created. In some cases I run by some easy ones that I can remove in an hour or two. But, in some cases it takes a dozen hours of running tools, removing registry items, testing, testing and more testing. If I were to estimate how long on average, I would guess most take 5+ hours.

What does my client get for this? A computer they aren’t going to have to bring back in 2 days.

For example, with the most recent computer, had I not given it one more run-through, I would not have caught a hidden malware program. It was dormant, but had it been “triggered”, my client would have been pissed.

My point, anyone that tells you they can completely remove all your viruses or malware in 2 short hours or less–well, don’t use them. That’s just my opinion.

Two more points: 1) I never charge for more than 3 hours of work, but I never do virus and malware removal in someone’s home. 2) I offer a guarantee.

Tags: kytechs, lexington computer repair, lexington virus removal, virus removal

146,000 Spam Emails in a few hours….

Ridiculous, huh? Insight Communications, our local cable company, cut off my broadband service the other day stating that 146,000 emails went out in a few hours. It just so happened I was fixing a buddy’s computer that was virus-LADEN. I have never encountered so many viruses and malware as I did with this person’s computer.

Here were a few issues that I was able to fix:

1) My Background Intelligent Tranfer service and Automatic Updates service were not working. They were disabled and I was unable to activate them again. As I looked at the property of the services, I noticed that the path had %fystemroot% instead of %systemroot%

Here is how it is fixed: http://malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=11558

2) Win32/HEUR    - I was finally able to fix this using links here: AVG Virsus WIN32/Heur–Hijack Log [Closed]

and here Malware and Spyware Cleaning Guide

There were tons of other virus but they are finally all gone.

Installed Applications to resolve issues:

AVG Free

F-PROT

HijackThis

ComboFix

If you found this post and information helpful, leave me a comment. Thanks, and good luck.

Tags: %fystemroot%, Computer repair, KY, Lexington, Malware

Update to my iPhone blog

Sorry for the absence. We’ve been preparing for a new baby (our fourth) and I’ve really been swamped.

The last time I blogged about my iPhone, I was pretty mean. I hated it and wanted to get rid of it. Since then, I’ve had a MAJOR change of heart. I upgraded my iPhone to the new 3G version and I am now in love again. I did this about 3 months ago and have thoroughly tested it. I have lots of apps.

By the way, my kids ( 4 and 2) love the iPhone games. It keeps them entertained at restaurants while we’re waiting and in the car on trips.

So, Apple, I apologize for the hatred and now an very happy.

Me and my iPhone

Let me start off my saying if Apple had the same return policy as AT&T, I would not have my iPhone today. So, if you’re hoping to read something great about the new iPhone, it won’t be here.

I do have some good news though. I won the iPhone on a bet, so I didn’t pay for it. I got it a few months after it came out and really toyed with the idea iPhone vs. Blackberry. I am already online all the time with my laptop, so it was not important to me to have the email, etc.

Ok. I’ve spend enough time talking about the iPhone so let me sum it up with what I didn’t like (and a couple of the decent features).

What I liked:
…..hmmmm…..

What I didn’t like:

1. No true instant messaging (you can do it with a webapp, but it loses connection a lot, and sometimes the pages closes, etc.
2. No video! Are you kidding me?
3. No MS Exchange connectivity (as I said earlier, I don’t care about this, but I just cannot believe it’s not there)
4. Typing, typing and more typing. Sure, the touch screen looks sweet, but you try typing on it. Yes, I can type on it, but it’s way too easy to make mistakes. I like to be able to feel my way thru the keys.

Now, with all that complaining, I will say one positive thing. My 11 year old son would love it. But, I think even some of those same features that bug me would eventually bug him.

Lesson #1

This is the first post in my computer repair and troubleshooting blog. I decided recently to start the blog so that I can tell others how to fix some annoying computer problems. I get asked all the time at my workplace, by family and by friends, how to fix this and that. So, my intention of this blog is to help others. If I help you, please let me know.

Today I will address one of the biggest issues seen today: Wireless devices

If you have a wireless router in your household and to install it you just took it out of the box and plugged it in and was thrilled it worked, then you have a major security risk. Yes, companies make it easy to install wireless devices and I am thankful for that. The technology has gotten a lot better making it easier for anyone to install a wireless device. At the same time though, the default setup opens a security hole in your house.

At any given time, I can turn on my laptop from my couch and view other wireless networks in my neighborhood. The “out-of-the box” installs with the security issues are easy to spot. Besides not having the PADLOCK icon, they are still named “linksys” or “netgear” or something like that.

So, let me make a couple of suggestions.

1) Take a few moments to read the install guide.
2) Setup each MAC address security or WEP security. MAC( you must enter the MAC address of each computer you want to give access to your wireless network) - WEP (requires a code/password to access your wireless network)
3) Turn off your SSID (this is optional and not necessary if you do #2.) The SSID is what your Wireless device is called. This keeps people from even being able to see your wireless device.

Truthfully, #2 only takes about 5 minutes and will stop people from accessing your wireless device, in turn, having access to the computers connected to your device and stealing your Internet access.

Hope you found my first post helpful.

Have your own question? E-mail me!