I need a PC prince to help me fight this stupid Virus/Malware

[MOM24]

So Secunia ran and gave me 93% javara updated the 3 -4 java related versions quicktime adobe/acrobat . so i guess what i need to do is as was suggested back up more often. so my plan now is to reattempt a full backup/reboot if possible and then biweekly back up files and folders. then every 6 mos do a complete back up . i would imagine that a few months of updates and backups are better than a few years worth especially time wise.

[DavidR]

I do weekly hard disk images (an exact digital image of what is on your hard disk partition/drive) and I keep the last 5, anything older than a month effectively is IMHO a waste of back-up space as much can happen in a 5 week period. I could possibly extend the back-up duration to fortnightly giving 10 weeks or retain 6 back-ups giving 12 weeks, anything longer than that really is I feel a waste of time.

It is effectively what is current on your system and I do daily back-ups of may data files (I often run this more than once a day).

-- SYSTEM BACK-UP & RECOVERY
If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
If you have a back-up and recovery plan, you can recover from anything in minutes, not hours or days.

1. back-up all the things that you don't want to lose, data files, like documents, spreadsheets, emails, email account details, registration keys, address book, favourites/bookmarks, downloaded files/programs, etc. the list goes on and on but if you don't want to lose it back it up. There are many back-up programs that can simplify this task and run it every day.

2. Recovery - re-installing your system really is a poor choice and one of last resort. There are tools (Drive Imaging software) that take exact images of your Partitions or Hard Disks and these images can be restored in minutes if you suffer a major catastrophe and that doesn't have to be a virus attack.

I do a weekly image of my partitions and save them to my 2nd hard disk, they can also be saved to off-line storage, DVD, USB external hard disk, etc. as part of my weekly system maintenance.

So if the worst comes to the worst at most I lose:
A. 6 days worth of program updates or new installations, but with my daily back-up I can recover most of that.
B. less than one days data files, emails, etc.
None of these is a problem and much quicker than a system reinstall and I don't have to go on-line to download the myriad of security updates needed to secure my system where there is a chance to get reinfected whilst my system has vulnerabilities because of these missing patches. Not to mention all my system tweaks and program settings are retained and I will have saved myself many hours of work and a huge amount of stress.

Many of these programs cost, there are some free ones, but it will take some research on your part to find these tools and decide on what is best for you from reviews, user feed back, etc. good luck.

[jthomson3rd]

DavidR,
i own an external hard drive.  i'm not sure if i understand all your discussions about particions, but........  just back up everything .. is that what you are suggesting.  i have hijack this, spybot, ad-aware, super anti-spyware, malware bytes.  i know how to run theses in reg and safe mode, but that is how i battle spyware and viruses.. uis there a better way oh yah and i havce Avast too

[DavidR]

You are indirectly backing-up everything as it is an exact copy of what is on the partition/disk, etc. I also go further and do daily 'back-ups' using different back-up software for volatile files (as mentioned above) that could well change more quickly than the frequency of the drive imaging software.

Partitions, are used to split a large hard disk drive into smaller partitions (though many people don't bother and just have one very large partition, the whole disk), C for your windows and installed programs, D for data you can go further and have more partitions say another for your media files, etc. This can make backing up easier.

You can then use disk imaging to copy that partition or partitions and save the image to your external hard disk. If you then experience a problem like this or other catastrophe that would take a few hours or longer to resolve, you can simply restore the last back-up image for the effected partition/s.

As to is this a better way, you only have to look at the length of this particular topic to answer that question. You only need to look at your own particular topic, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=43516.0 and two days is a long time when I could restore my C and D partitions in less than 20 minutes.

This I have done on numerous occasions none related to viruses from simple things that would have taken some time to get back to the previous state, if that duration is longer than it takes to restore, no contest, I use my drive imaging software and restore the partition/s and back in business in around 20 minutes.

[normishmael]

Mom 24:
First I will just say you have been pretty heroic in this fight to reclaim your machine.
While I will certainly allow those more astute in dealing with malware to help you with your main battle,I noticed you had some concern about the number of process's you have on your machine.
I have 20 counting my web browser.
A site that can help you "trim the fat",so to speak is Blackviper:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Stick with the "safe" profile and you will save a lot of resource,with few if any problems.
This is after you get your machine clean.
Single Dad here.
No mystery about "Too much to do when the time runs out".
regards,
normishmael