Other > Viruses and worms

General question about rootkits and paranoia

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lucasbuck:
I recently ran a bad installer and got a warning of bpfull and allurion. I run avast, which picked it up, and so did windows security. It said it contained the deleted them. I then ran DrWebCureIt, it was clean. TDSSKiller, nothing found. Avast boot scan check was clean.
Back in the day, anytime anything popped up about a rootkit (or even a really bad virus) on my system, I would just spend a day, wipe the drive, and reinstall everything. I recently upgraded to Win 7 64bit, and really hate to go through that trouble. But I'm really paranoid about my work emails, credit card info, etc.
Nowadays, is it really worth the trouble of doing a clean install, or if windows and avast are coming up clean, am I safe? Just looking for some opinions (and cure for my paranoia). Thanks!

GrandPrixGXP:
Since you are on a 64 bit OS getting a rootkit infections is slim to none. Can it happen..........Yes but rarely. Instead of being so paranoid just create a system image onto an external HDD. Windows 7 does this for you.

lucasbuck:
Thanks for the reply. I didn't know 64 made a difference with that. What's the difference in terms of a rootkit?

essexboy:
You can still get rootkits with a 64 bit system, but they are rare.  Even more so now that MS has put a block on TDL bootkits, however, give it time and they will get around that.  But notwithstanding a 64 bit 7 system is very secure as long as you do not do anything silly 

lareinatortura:
Hi guys,

I can sympathize with lucasbuck.  I am also running windows 7, and my avast reported that my system had "Win32: KillAV-AHY [Rtk]."  I presume that "[Rtk]" is rootkit?  After completing a scan, I was prompted to move the two infected files to the "chest," and then run a boot time scan.  I did.  After moving the infected files to the "chest," I ran a scan during boot up and no infection was found.

I'm still scared.  I'm afraid to look at any remotely sensitive information.  :-[

I've been looking around the forums and I've come across a few threads with issues very similar to my own.  Some people think it is a false positive.  I want to know for sure that it is not anything malicious before I dismiss it as a false positive.

Any advice or help you guys could offer is greatly appreciated.

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