joniebee

This is driving me mental,Please help me understand what the hell is going on.I have norton internet security 2007 installed,And every so often it does a full system scan,So as far as im aware im covered.Lately the scan has been showing 1 cookie(which it says is low risk and i thought these were just down to the forums and stuff ive registered on)so i chose to ignore it,Anyway a full system scan was done tonight and the 1 cookie appeared again with something else saying dialer,So after i ignored the cookie as usual,The dialer had gone to.Now norton said i was clean and the green tick reappeared,But this got me worrying so i found and ran spyware doctor and it told me i had 458 infections(bugger me!),This has really got me worried,And i must add that ive never downloaded anything dodgy at all,Not even any music.The only thing i had a clue of was cookies but i thought these were just to remember my passwords from forums.Im not to clued up on computers,The spyware scan was full of cookies,Im sure i saw trojan mentioned,Dialer,65 bad sites were listed and plenty of high risk infections were shown,Im totally shocked by all this,Could somebody please help me sort this out,Cheers.

koala

Hi joniebee, welcome to TSF

Please follow the instructions here (5 pages) and then post all the requested logs in a new thread here for the security analysts to look at.

If you have any trouble running any of the scans, leave them and move onto the next.

The security forum is always busy, so please be patient and you will receive a reply as soon as possible. If you go to Thread Tools > Subscribe at the top of your new thread you will receive an email as soon as a reply is posted.

joniebee

Wow a mammoth task,Im a bit unsure about the last step.It says to close all applications and windows,How do i close windows?If this is what its asking me?

koala

It means close down any open windows (like Explorer), not the operating system Windows (which would be Start > Turn Off Computer)

It shouldn't be too much of a mammoth task if you take it one stage at a time. The real work comes after you've posted the log files and the security analyst has to go through them line by line to find any problems.

Good luck.

joniebee

Oh right of course,Lol,What an idiot i am,You had me going there.One quick question for you.My norton internet security 2007 program says it is protecting me from spyware,Viruses etc,So how the hell has all this **** got to me,Is norton so bad.Also as i posted before,Ive never downloaded any dodgy material,Im really shocked by this.Ill get right on to those five steps and of course any help is greatly appreciated,Thank you.

koala

Norton software is known for being a resource hog and difficult to uninstall, but it's detection rate is about as good as any other security suite. The analyst will give you some tips on online safety after your problem has been fixed. In the meantime, read this thread which explains the importance of a multi-layered approach to security rather than relying on just one product.

It may turn out that most of the 458 infections are low risk or even false positives, so you're probably not as badly infected as it appears.

joniebee

I hope youre right about the infections,Just one last thing,Regarding norton,In what way is it difficult to uninstall as any program ive uninstalled before,Ive pressed remove and thats it,Are you saying its purposely built this way?

koala

I don't use Norton, so I can't give you any specifics. All I know from reading the many Norton-related problems in the forums is that it digs its claws into Windows and can be difficult to remove.

There are free programs available that do just as good a job of keeping you protected, use less system resources and can easily be removed. More details in the link above.

chauffeur2

Hi joniebee,

Koala is quite correct with his comments regarding Norton™.

Furthermore, when ( and if ) you ever decide to uninstall Norton™ from your computer, you will need to visit their website to download a "Removal Tool".

Uninstalling using the "Uninstaller" that comes with the program or from the "Add/Remove Programs" Section in the 'Control Panel' does not completely remove it from your system, because it is notorious for leaving "fragments" behind in the 'Registry', and only the Custom Norton Removal Tool can do this.
(Norton themselves openly admit to it too.)

Having said that, in today's Internet World one really needs to have 'an arsenel' of programs for maximum security when surfing The Web.

I hasten to add that ONLY ONE anti virus program ought to be installed on any one computer, so as to prevent conflicts and possible malfunctions of these types of programs.

The link that Koala gave you regarding the types of suitable programs to have in your 'Security Arsenel' is very sound advice indeed, and well worth reading.

Many anti virus programs will classify 'cookies' as "Infections" too.

These are small files that are automatically placed on your computer whenever you visit any website, as they are required for the site to be 'visible' to you; however, small as these 'cookies' maybe (usually only 1 or 2 Kb .tmp files), some are classified as 'tracking cookies'.

These types of 'cookies' are the more sinister ones, as they have the capablilty of 'tracking' your 'surfing' habits and targeting your computer for 'pop-up advertising', and other considered 'threats'.

Hence relying on only one Security type program will not protect you completely from attack, so please do not think that Norton™ is the be all that ends all.

That's my 50¢ worth.

Kind Regards,

Kalim

If Spyware Doctor is not registered/purchased, many of them will be false positives to gain a customer.

I've tested it before on a few systems to know, although it's a good product overall, improved.

That's a bit too much for me Dave, I only have 2¢ for ya.

joniebee

Thanks for the help and advice guys,It looks as though ive come to the right place,I feel such an idiot for installing norton and thinking that would keep me secure,Lol,What a fool.
Chauffeur 2,You say to only have one virus program installed and then you say,Use an arsenal of software,I dont quite follow.Do you mean just have one program like norton,Then use as much other software as i can,Like spyware blaster and IE-spyad etc?
Finally,I reached as far as installing spyware blaster last night(for my hijack this).I would just like to know if this is running constantly now,Everytime i turn on my computer will it start up itself or do i have to turn it on,Same goes for IE-spyad,Thanks for all your help,Greatly appreciated.

kbd_usr

If you're seeing a dialer listed, and sites showing. Then your Registry has been manipulated.
These days, you can be careful, and a buggy ad-server can fling your doors wide open. All you have to do is be on the wrong site, at the wrong time.

Try:

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym

and perform an online check. This is harder to defeat by installed programs, and will show what vulnerabilities you have.
The symantec site also has information on it that can explain how you can get infected, and how you can prevent it.

They have a fee-based live support option, but you can also follow their free advice.


I'm pretty cautious, and I've had this happen to me. In your situation, I'd track out what happened, do a re-install of the OS, and learn what not to do. That's just me, though.

Go The Power

Hello joniebee

It means that only have one Antivirus installed at a time, or other wise it can cause system instability. That would be like Norton, AVG, Antivir etc.

Yea these programs will help keep you computer free and safe from spyware, you properly dont need any more than that to help with the antispyware.

Yes it will always run in th background, it does not take up alot of resources so it should not be a problem.


What Antivirus and firewall do you have installed now?

koala

One firewall, one antivirus, any number of antispyware programs. This is to prevent conflicts and your system grinding to a halt.

SpywareBlaster doesn't need to be running to be active. You just update it once a week and then click 'Enable All Protection' to add new entries to its Block List. Click the ? in the top-right of the SpywareBlaster window for more details.

joniebee

Go the power,As of now my setup is,Norton internet security 2007,Which i installed on day one(thinking that would cover me,how wrong was i),Last night i installed spyware blaster and im about to install IE-spyad.Regarding my firewall protection,I presumed the norton software was cover enough,As the norton website informs me that it is(same goes for spyware,A bit misleading,Im sure you will agree),So if you meant a stand alone firewall protection then its a no,Could you recommend any(free ones)please,Any help would be greatly appreciated,Cheers.

Go The Power

Well first the problem with Norton is that it is a resource hog, The definitions are actually pretty good. But I would not use it.

Here is what I would recommend:(Click on the blue link to take you to the websites)
Antivirus: Avira Antivir
Firewall: COMODO

AntiSpyware protection: The ones you have installed know should do you good, just again they are Spyware Gaurd, spyware blaster and IE-Spyad.

These are all freeware programs and these are all the ones I us eon my computer

joniebee

Go the power,As i have norton int sec installed instead of avira antivir,Do you think i should go to the trouble of changing these?
Following the advice of kbd usr,I ran the symantec system scan,As it would tell me where i need my security improving,After running this it told me i had sufficient cover in all areas,I even ran the virus detection scan and it didnt find a single thing wrong,This can get really confusing,Right?

Go The Power

It is your choice if you want to stick with norton our change. Seeing you have got internet security you dont need another firewall, because like Antivirus they 'Clash'. It properly would be easier to stick with Norton than to change, and just wait until the subscription runs out then swap. But if you experience any problems with it, Then also switch.

koala

Before this gets any more confusing with conflicting advice from different people, post your logs in a new thread in the HJT forum and wait for a security analyst to take you through the cleanup process.

joniebee

Yes you are spot on,Ill get on with that ASAP.Ive just installed IE-spyad.