Kyle1

After seeing how well Avast! worked for a friend's computer, I decided that I should start using it instead of McAfee. I downloaded Avast! today (6/23/09) and began to uninstall McAfee. In the middle of the uninstall process, I received a message that states "Quarantined files exist on your computer. Click 'Yes' to remove them now."
Will it be safe to remove the files? My computer has suffered viral attacks in the past so having quarantined files doesn't concern me too much but will removing the files cause an outbreak or anything bad to happen? Thank you very much for looking at my post!
-Kyle

tetonbob

Hi -

It's safe to remove the quarantine files, they will not be released onto the machine.

When uninstalling McAfee, it's also a good idea to run their dedicated removal tool afterward, and before installing the new AV.

Download the McAfee Removal Tool.

Double click on MCPR.exe to launch it, then Click Run. A window should appear and disappear, this is normal. A new window should popup and begin the uninstall. When prompted to reboot your computer type Y.

Kyle1

Thanks for the link to the McAfee Cleaner! It did its job and I no longer have any trace of McAfee on my computer! I do, however, have a new problem now. When my computer booted back up from the Cleaner restart, Avast! detected a trojan horse! The file name is C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem\proquota.exe and the name is Win32:Walivun [Trj]

I'm a bit worried about the available options Avast! has given me. The recommended course of action is to "Move to chest" but the description next to the "No action" button seems a bit safer (Note: if you press the "No action" button, the malware will NOT be activated.) Is this implying that if I DO move it to the chest, delete it, or move/rename it, it will activate?
Thank you for taking time to read my problems.

-Kyle

P.S. My computer did feel like it was getting gradually slower but I figured I was just being paranoid since I tend to overreact about this sort of thing. Everything seems to be in ship-shape but if there's a Trojan horse on my computer that (for all I know) could spring at any moment, I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me. I have a few more questions about the (new) nature of this topic.

Should this topic be moved to the malware removal forums? Will I have to run the various scans that are required to effectively analyze the situation? Thank you again for reading my post.

-Kyle

P.P.S. Ah, I accidentally closed the Avast! Trojan Horse Warning. Nothing seems to have happened though from what I can see.

tetonbob

No. Moving to chest, or renaming, will prevent it from executing, if in fact the file is infected. Recent malware has been coopting this file, so I'd not be surprised if it were in fact infected.

At this point, I think it would be best if you did create a new topic in the malware removal section and post the requested logs. You can link back to this topic for background.

Please follow our pre-posting process outlined here:

NEW INSTRUCTIONS - Read This Before Posting For Malware Removal Help

After running through all the steps, please post the requested logs in the Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help forum, not here.

If you have trouble with one of the steps, simply move on to the next one, and make note of it in your reply.

Please note that the Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help forum is extremely busy, and it may take a while to receive a reply.