New to Avast! (just 2 wks or so - replaced AVG on my VISTA laptop; using Windows Defender) - seemed to be working well until the last few days; returned from a short vacation & turned on the computer - immediate Avast! warnings about malware; in my haste, I just deleted the files in question (not sure âwhyâ these were detected then unless the issue related to updating the database) - after these deletions, IE7 would not open (could not initialize w/ an error code) - well, going through a few âsafeâ reboots, and finally using the âprevious good configurationâ I was able to ârecoverâ the function of IE7 - not really sure why?
Tonight, I ran Windows Defender (no problems found) & Avast! (two more additional files found which I added to the âChestâ) - attached is a pic of the current âChestâ contents - I would appreciate advice: 1) Why did these files âbring downâ IE7 in VISTA?; 2) What are these quarantined files?; 3) Can I safely delete these w/o disrupting my VISTA/IE7 OS?; and 4) Are some of these warnings really major issues, âfalse positivesâ, or other? I was really liking this AV program until yesterday when I thought my whole VISTA/IE7 installation was ruined! Please advise as to these questions & any suggestions that might minimize these warnings, if not really that important - just curious âwhyâ my Defender program & Avast! seems to be conflicting - thanks all - ???
Did you deliberately install the âMywebsearchâ toolbar? This is fairly widely considered as adware-low risk. There have also been reports of it installing without consent. It is often bundle with other items.
Probably the reason IE7 crashed was associated with Avast quarantining the toolbar, which installs onto the browser.
See if it exists in âadd/remove programsâ.
Tarq57 - thanks for looking @ my pic & observing the multiple entries related to the âMywebsearchâ toolbar - YES, this was present - believe that my DIL sent us some pics through âSmiley Centralâ and not through my wanting this toolbar, it was loaded on to my IE7 (GOD, this is irritating!) - at any rate, the program was present in the âAdd/Remove Programsâ - I uninstalled & rebooted - now the toolbar is gone! Thanks!
In rechecking the Avast! Chest, these listings are still present - do I need to recheck their folder locations or can these just be deleted from the âChestâ w/o a problem? -
Reinfection or replication is a well-know way of malware to surviveâŚ
I suggest:
Disable System Restore and reenable it after step 3.
Clean your temporary files.
Schedule a boot time scanning with avast with archive scanning turned on.
Use SUPERantispyware, MBAM or Spyware Terminator to scan for spywares and trojans. If any infection is detected, better and safer is send the file to Quarantine than to simple delete than.
Leave them in the chest (they canât do any harm there) for a week or two so as to ensure that there are no harmful effects from them having been moved there (incorrect detection, etc.). This gives you time to investigate if at all possible (google search, ask here, etc.) to confirm.
Well, you could extract the files to a safe place (new folder) and send them to www.virustotal.com for analysis⌠but they seem to be infected files.
The .vir file is a âmovedâ and ârenamedâ file by avast.
There is no rush to delete anything from the chest, a protected area where it can do no harm. Anything that you send to the chest you should leave there for a few weeks. If after that time you have suffered no adverse effects from moving these to the chest, scan them again (inside the chest) and if they are still detected as viruses, delete them.
As mentioned, I was able to remove the toolbar as described - on reboot, I checked Windows Explorer and the âMysearch toolbarâ folder was still present but there were none of the files left as I posted in my pic, so I simply deleted the folder; in addition, I went to the Avast! âChestâ and deleted the entries related to that toolbar since the files no longer existed on my hard drive - seemed logical to me (but HEY Iâve been wrong in the past! :D) - closing & reopening IE7 seems to work fine at the moment.
Do I really need to go through all of the steps in your first post in this thread - this computer is mainly used via a Linksys router - doubt there are any major infections, but will certainly heed any advice recommended; again, thanks for all of your prompt responses - glad I was able to ârecoverâ my function & eliminate some potential problems -
Sonicman, I agree with Tech. (Iâd be treading very unwise ground not toâŚ)
After any infection itâs wise to give things a spring clean, to be sure.
Whatâs been done may well have removed all traces, but with dodgy installations you can never be too sure.
Just my 2c worth. At least run the boot time scan, and another scan with, say, Superantispyware. It does nobody any harm to install SAS. Itâs reputation as a scanner and cleaner is starting to become unrivaled.
Thanks Guys! I really appreciate your input & concern - great & quickly reponsive forum!
Did a Hijack This log & loaded it to âCybertech Help Forumâ - Iâve been pretty active there & the experts know me, so that will help - after a response, Iâll certainly consider your other recommendations -
:D) - closing & reopening IE7 seems to work fine at the moment.