Is my computer virus free now?

First let me say that I’m pretty much helpless when it comes to virus stuff.

Ok, so this may be a long one, but I really need to get something done on my computer and I want to make sure my computer is virus free…

I was browsing a website that I’m pretty sure was safe, but then I got a pop up that I got a virus (Windows32/Alureon, something like that). Windows Defender said I had Windows32/Alureon.DC and Windows32/Alureon.BT (I’m not sure if I’ve spelt these right), the first virus (Windows32/Alureon.DC) got quarantined apparently, but Windows32/Alureon.BT just got ignored… I also got a lot of other viruses, such as backdoor and rootkit viruses.

Anyway…

After a scan from OneCare Safety Scanner, Which said it found about 18 infected items and 4 or 5 issues. It and Microsoft’s virus/ removal tool apparently removed them. After most the viruses apparently got removed, the virus removal tool said that I had no viruses, but OneCare’s scanner said it still found 3 infected items and 1 issue. The last virus was Exploit:Java/CVE-2008-5353C. So it’s a java virus? I have no idea what that is, or what it does. How dangerous is it?

But OneCare Safety Scanner found the location of the virus, but it couldn’t remove the virus. I went into the folder that the virus was supposed to be in, and stupidly deleted it and the adult pictures that I found with it. By “delete” I mean I highlighted the virus’ file and hit the “delete” key, then got rid of it in the recycle bin. It was in my temp folder and it was called “Jar_cache64841.tmp”. But after that, OneCare’s scanner said I was virus free, it couldn’t detect any virus/infected files or issues what so ever. So I thought deleting it got rid of the virus, but I still had my doubts.

Eventually I installed Avast! and I did both a standard and thorough scan and it said I didn’t have any infected files either.

Am I really virus free? Does deleting a virus file in the temp folder really remove it? Or can’t the scanners detect the virus now because I deleted it?

P.S. After all this virus trouble, my computer acted completely normal. But I read that viruses don’t necessarily take effect right away.

Sorry for how long that was. Mainly what I want to know is: Am I really virus free? Is there a chance any of these viruses could still be on my computer?
Thank you in advance!

Hi Misuzu, welcome to the forum.

It looks like, on the face of it, that the malware might have been removed correctly.
Having installed Avast, you should uninstall the AV you had prior to that. What AV did you use before Avast?

A second opinion is always a good idea. A good free demand scanner is MBAM, This is the homepage.
Download the free version, install it, update it, and run a quick scan.
If anything is found, place a tick beside every entry, and click “remove selected”, then post the scan report here.

Thank you for your reply! :slight_smile:

That’s my main problem. Heh, I didn’t really have a AV program, unless you count Windows Defender.
Thank you for the link for another scanner. And I realize this is a stupid question but: will malwarebytes conflict with Avast?
If you don’t mind, I’m just going to use Avast to scan for things for a while, if I start getting worried I’ll use malwarebytes? That okay?

One more thing if you don’t mind :):
Since the virus files was in the temp folder, would really just deleting the virus file get rid of it?
Since I read on here (I believe) that if the virus is in the temps folder, just cleaning up all your temp files can work.

Thank you.

EDIT: I want to add by when I said that I found the Java virus’ location and ‘deleted’ it, I meant that I deleted it myself. Like hightlighting the file and hitting the “delete” key. OneCare Safety Scanner said it couldn’t remove the virus. So I tried to.

I edited my first post to include that.

Well, now you have Avast, which I recommend you keep. (Of course.)
Windows Defender isn’t a bad antispyware, but you are a bit lucky not to have more malware with just that one guarding your machine.
MBAM will not conflict with Avast, nor WindowsDefender. (Else I wouldn’t have recommended it.)

I still recommend it, and encourage you to install it, and post the scan report. But that’s entirely up to you. I don’t mind.

Deleting the virus from the temp folder will have got rid of that instance of it. If it was being created (then maybe re-created) from somewhere else, then it would need further action. I don’t know the answer to this, which is why I’m suggesting a 2nd opinion scan, to help be sure.
Usually if it was just found in a temp location following a scan, as in your case, it is probably gone.

Java can be configured to delete it’s cache on exit, a setting I have ticked, or you could use a program to help with disk cleanup, such as ATF cleaner, download fromMajorGeeks, or Ccleaner. A lot of users use one of these disk cleaners, they do a little more than the disk cleanup utility built into windows, and are usually the first step in a malware cleanup routine.

Like I said before, I’m pretty virus-stupid… So…

By deleting it’s cache (Which is a memory file? Or something?) it will prevent java viruses from accesing my computer?

Also, how can I be sure if the java virus won’t come back? And do you happen to know what Java viruses do?
Thanks for helping me. :slight_smile:

Yeah, no worries, it’s all a bit complex, a lot of it is over my head, tell the truth.

Java is a programming language. The application is represented by a symbol like a coffee cup, you can see it in the control panel.
Like any computer application, the folk who would rip us all off examine and seek vulnerabilities in it, a means to download unwanted applications onto our computers. When one is found and exploited, the developers of whatever application it is, take steps to patch it.

This is what a lot of the monthly MS updates are doing- patching security flaws.

So it is really important to keep the computer, and all apps on it, up to date. MS make it easy, with automatic updates. Some of the other software vendors have in the past made it not so straightforward.
A good tool to monitor the status of a huge range of known software on a computer is the Secunia PSI. (Link at the bottom of the page.) It will start with Windows, monitor your system, and notify when out of date/vulnerable software is found, and provide a step by step process to update it.
It’s worthwhile doing this. If you had an out of date Java (the current version is 6.0.170) it could represent an attack vector. So clearing the Java cache would not prevent it happening again. Updating Java, in that case, would. (Until the next hole is found by the evil-doers.)
You can check your Java version either online, or by looking in the control panel “add/remove programs” panel, which will list everything installed.

A virus (or malware) that accesses the computer via an insecure Java application could do anything that any other malware could do; the Java vulnerability (which is likely in your case, because something was found in your cache) is just the means for it to sneak something in.
Malware is most often used by large crime syndicates, these days, not so much youthful cyber-vandals. It’s a really big business. Folk can have their bank accounts cleaned out, be tricked into purchasing useless software, or their credit cards cloned.

Here’s the link for the Secunia scanners. The PSI is one you download and install. You might want to try the Online version, first, see what it shows up. (OSI). It will install and ActiveX control to run. It is safe to allow this.

Hope that makes things a bit clear.

Thank you! :slight_smile:

Sorry for all the questions but I have another one:

This year, in late July I got a ad that said I had many viruses on my computer. Obviously it was a ad, but I never ran into a ad like this before, and I panicked. And like the idiot I was, I downloaded the program the ad offered… :-\ I immediately got rid of it (Well, manually deleted it :slight_smile: after realizing what a stupid move that was…
I wonder if that gave me a virus and I just didn’t know it… But I didn’t get any virus alerts…

But I scanned and supposedly nothing was wrong with my computer… And it worked fine even after that… But… I read somewhere that viruses do not necessarily take action right away… Is this the reason why I got a virus alert now? I doubt it, only because that was in July, and it’s December now… But I’m very virus dumb so, I don’t know. And can these viruses make a “come back”?

Also, whenever I do a thorough scan with Avast! it says it can’t scan 9 items… Someone told me that those 9 files may be the viruses right there. But I have no idea what they are and I’m not sure if I really should delete them. (Sorry I may have asked this before)

Once again, sorry for all the questions. And thank you for all the help! :slight_smile:

What you got in July sounds like a rogue antimalware program that you were probably fortunate to be able to get rid of so easily. It’s unlikely to be related to this recent event.
There have been cases (and are still; Conficker worm I think is an example) of malware that are designed to infiltrate and remain semi dormant or dormant until either a set time, or when commanded to launch by the mothership.
They aren’t usually associated with rogue programs, but, like various legitimate programs, it seems a lot of the trojans around these days are capable of doing more than one thing.
It’s quite possible that what was found more recently could have been a leftover of what you had in July, and has only just been detected. But it’s more likely to be a random part of some of the many malwares you found yourself with, as a result of not using an AV until now.

You should absolutely not delete the items Avast is unable to scan. There are very many files around that are OK, but unscan-able. Such as the quarantine of another scanner, which would be internally password protected, or some of the files in a “system volume information” folder, or other files that are encrypted. The thing about those sorts of files is they will not run by themselves, like a zip archive is dormant until opened with an un-zip program.
At the end, where you are looking at the scan report and it says “unable to scan; file is…” you can maximize the window, move the column headers around, and the reason given, plus the file name and path will often lead to a satisfactory explanation. Most of the time it is not something to be concerned about.

I don’t mind the questions at all. I’d rather folk left this forum armed with enough info to proceed in a safe way, or at least enough to know when it’s a good idea to ask for help. With most situations, there is an answer. ;D
Do you happen to belong to a Naruto forum? Not a bad idea asking for help in more than one area. Also a good idea to mention that, too, on the forums concerned.

Now, please run MBAM. ;D Or not, your choice. Won’t take too long.

All right, I’m installing MBAM now. :slight_smile:

And I belong to a lot of forums. A Naruto one included. I asked on a Naruto forum, but for some reason figured I was ok so I didn’t ask any further questions. ???

I have asked on two other forums though. And I am getting some nice help from another forum.

Thanks for your advice. I won’t delete those “non-scannable items”… Oh wow, MBAM installed quick…

I’m doing a full scan with it right now. I’ll be sure to post my results here.
Thanks once more. :slight_smile:

EDIT: MBAM said I didn’t have any viruses/infected files at all! ;D So does that mean I’m truly virus-free? :slight_smile:

EDIT: MBAM said I didn't have any viruses/infected files at all! ;D So does that mean I'm truly virus-free?
Almost certainly does mean your are malware free, taken in the context of other scans also indicate clean. Hang on to MBAM, you might want to run a quick scan with it every week or two, for peace of mind. Update it whenever you decide to run a scan. Same with Avast, following the initial scan, when it is automatically kept up to date (which is the default) it will prevent most malware from arriving; scans are only necessary it you develop "symptoms", otherwise as you like. Maybe once a month, or every two weeks...

Any more questions or comments, please feel free to come back and ask. :slight_smile:

Thank you so much! My computer is still working fine and I’m very confident that my computer is fine! ;D

I really appreciate your help!
I’ll be sure to ask any other questions here if I have them.

Thanks once more. ;D

A computer cant never be free of virus charge. There isnt 100 % secure even if you got 150 securitys applications or something… Well it isnt but at all avast! is doing a great job to keep out 80-90 % of those nasty virus that could destroy very hard your computer.

Please take this as a good post and no a bad post for make you angry or insecure. Contrary the % is very high.

Mr.Agent

Sorry, what do you mean? That I still have a virus or something? I realize that no one is ever 100% safe from viruses, if that’s what you meant.
What I meant by “virus-free” is that I currently, most likely don’t have any viruses/spyware.

Thanks for posting. :slight_smile:

Either he was trying to get his post count up or just post generic (and slightly scary, but somewhat true) information.

You’re good.
There’s more you can do to stay clean, but that falls into the area of “any more questions”.

Ya my point wasnt to scare you but to say there no any anti virus is catching 100 % virus but avast! do cover a great % of ammount of them. :wink:

Ok I’m back and I got another virus on my family computer. But it may have not been me… But anyway…

Apparently it is called: “TrojanDownloader:Win32/Renos.JM”. Which brings up ads on your computer?

Avast! and Windows Defender told me that I had that virus. I supposedly deleted it with Avast! (Does just hitting “delete” when Avast tells you that you have a virus work?) but not Windows Defender, as I was doing a thorough scan with Avast!, Windows Defender kept telling me that I had that same virus. But last night I “supposedly” got rid of it.

Until I logged onto the computer today. Now two ads just popped up without me being on the Internet. How can I get rid of this?

I also heard you can get viruses from other computers using the same network. So I disconnected my other computer from the Internet, would this prevent it from getting this same virus?

Please help.
Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Never mind. I made a new topic for this issue, since it’s totally different.