Vista Security Center Issue

[Daniel]

My pc will not allow me to turn on my firewall. It tells me the group policy
has been set to disallow me to change the settings. I am the only person who
uses this pc and it is in my home. I have ran avast anti-virus and found a
trojan in my iexplore.exe and service.exe files. I have attempted to remove
them repeatedly and then run another scan but they keep returning. I would
like to get my security center back on and under my control. Can someone
please help me?

I am operating with Windows Vista Home Premium. Thank you

 

[Malke]

Daniel wrote:
> My pc will not allow me to turn on my firewall. It tells me the group policy
> has been set to disallow me to change the settings. I am the only person who
> uses this pc and it is in my home. I have ran avast anti-virus and found a
> trojan in my iexplore.exe and service.exe files. I have attempted to remove
> them repeatedly and then run another scan but they keep returning. I would
> like to get my security center back on and under my control. Can someone
> please help me?
>
> I am operating with Windows Vista Home Premium. Thank you

Go through these general malware removal steps systematically -
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Include scanning with David Lipman's Multi_AV and follow instructions to
do all scans in Safe Mode. Please see the special Notes regarding using
Multi_AV in Vista.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Multi-AV - instructions
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/sicherheit/35905/multi_av_scanning_tool.html
- download site

The site is in German but David's tool is in English so don't let that
worry you. Scroll all the way down to almost the bottom of the page and
you'll see a box titled "Infos Zum Download - Multi-AV Scanning Tool".
You'll see "Download von www pctipp.ch" and the live link to download
Multi_AV.

You can also check to see if there are targeted removal steps for your
malware here:
Bleeping Computer removal how-to's -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum55.html

When all else fails, run HijackThis and post your log in one of the
specialty forums listed at the first link above (not here, please).

Not all tools used will work in Vista and you will need to run them
elevated. If you are unable to remove the infection by following the
general steps, register at one of the HijackThis forums as suggested.

Standard caveat: If the procedures look too complex - and there is no
shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not your local version of
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). Please be aware that not all local shops
are skilled at removing malware and even if they are, your computer may
be so infested that Windows will need to be clean-installed. Have all
your data backed up before you take the machine into a shop.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

 

[M.Butzin]

"Malke" <notreally@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:e3rI8zeVIHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Daniel wrote:
>> My pc will not allow me to turn on my firewall. It tells me the group
>> policy has been set to disallow me to change the settings. I am the only
>> person who uses this pc and it is in my home. I have ran avast
>> anti-virus and found a trojan in my iexplore.exe and service.exe files.
>> I have attempted to remove them repeatedly and then run another scan but
>> they keep returning. I would like to get my security center back on and
>> under my control. Can someone please help me?
>>
>> I am operating with Windows Vista Home Premium. Thank you
>
> Go through these general malware removal steps systematically -
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
>
> Include scanning with David Lipman's Multi_AV and follow instructions to
> do all scans in Safe Mode. Please see the special Notes regarding using
> Multi_AV in Vista.
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Multi-AV - instructions
> http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/sicherheit/35905/multi_av_scanning_tool.html -
> download site
>
> The site is in German but David's tool is in English so don't let that
> worry you. Scroll all the way down to almost the bottom of the page and
> you'll see a box titled "Infos Zum Download - Multi-AV Scanning Tool".
> You'll see "Download von www pctipp.ch" and the live link to download
> Multi_AV.
>
> You can also check to see if there are targeted removal steps for your
> malware here:
> Bleeping Computer removal how-to's -
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum55.html
>
> When all else fails, run HijackThis and post your log in one of the
> specialty forums listed at the first link above (not here, please).
>
> Not all tools used will work in Vista and you will need to run them
> elevated. If you are unable to remove the infection by following the
> general steps, register at one of the HijackThis forums as suggested.
>
> Standard caveat: If the procedures look too complex - and there is no
> shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a
> professional computer repair shop (not your local version of
> BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). Please be aware that not all local shops are
> skilled at removing malware and even if they are, your computer may be so
> infested that Windows will need to be clean-installed. Have all your data
> backed up before you take the machine into a shop.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Malke,
But won't you transfer the virus to the backup?

Marc B.

 

[Malke]

M.Butzin wrote:

Snipping judiciously when quoting is wise.

> Malke,
> But won't you transfer the virus to the backup?
>

What virus? What backup? Are you talking about my warning to always try and
backup data before taking the machine to a professional? Then yes, of
course one will want to scan the data before putting it back onto a clean
machine. That is simply common sense. But there is no reason to throw out
tons of non-infected pictures of "baby's first steps" in a panic!

Or was there something else you wanted to know?

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

 

[M.Butzin]

"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:%237y75J$lIHA.5208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> M.Butzin wrote:
>
> Snipping judiciously when quoting is wise.
>
>> Malke,
>> But won't you transfer the virus to the backup?
>>
>
> What virus? What backup? Are you talking about my warning to always try
> and
> backup data before taking the machine to a professional? Then yes, of
> course one will want to scan the data before putting it back onto a clean
> machine. That is simply common sense. But there is no reason to throw out
> tons of non-infected pictures of "baby's first steps" in a panic!
>
> Or was there something else you wanted to know?
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!

No, I am concerned that if a person sets up their computer to "automatically
back up their system on a certain date and time" and later discover that
their system has been infected, then they'll have a harder time restoring
their system, unless the virus doesn't transfer to a system settings only
backup. Norton and Windows, as you know allows this to be done on a schedule
in the back ground, while the user continues until their system begins
acting weird . Which leads to a false sense of security, right? Pointing out
that even the back up "maybe/is infected" and if they use a system restore
can continue to have problems.

Inexperienced users think "Oh, I backed up my system automatically two days
ago" I'll just restore to that point and all is fine. The reality maybe that
they are just starting over with a Trojan or Virus.<> Is there a way to
ensure that a back up is Virus~Trojan free? <> I back up to a portable HD
after a scan but I am even suspicious of that. I just down loaded Ad Aware
and my PC would not let me extract it, but (Spybot S&D & Norton 360) ran
fine without finding anything (Windows Vista Home Prem) but when I ran MS
Malicious Software Removal Tool, it did fix the problems.

Article ID : 890830
Last Review : March 11, 2008
Revision : 44.3

 

[Malke]

M.Butzin wrote:

> No, I am concerned that if a person sets up their computer to
> "automatically back up their system on a certain date and time" and later
> discover that their system has been infected, then they'll have a harder
> time restoring their system, unless the virus doesn't transfer to a system

(major snippage)

Well, yeah - of course if you image or otherwise completely back up an
infected system the image or backup is infected! And honestly, most end
users know that. My clients are home users and small businesses and even
the most computer unsavvy of the lot ask me to make sure their data isn't
infected before it goes back onto a clean machine. I assure them it will be
carefully scanned first. People who are technically adept enough to image
know to make a new image of the clean system! Or if we are talking about my
clients, I do it for them.

I'm not sure why we're having this discussion. Did you have a question? If
yes, then please make a new post with all pertinent technical details
included. Otherwise, this is an old, closed thread and I'm moving on.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!