No. Bulls**t. The automated scan on Spybot hasn't been anything to write home about for a long time; I haven't used it in years myself. But that's not what makes Spybot great. It's the fact that it has a bunch of advanced tools in one package that normally you can only get from several different programs. But since none of these tools are automated "press the start button and let it run" dealies, most people don't realize how much you can get done through Spybot. Exactly what I suggested on page 1, lol...
I have to say Malwarebytes is pretty solid. I have picked up a lot of stuff on a lot of different machines with it. One of the better scanners I've ever used.
Guys, I am doing a system restore, hoping that all the programs I have installed in the past 2 days since this problem has arised would be undone. Do you think a system restore will help? If it does not undo the new software I installed in the past couple of days then it will be of no use. I hope it does take care of that issue, it is probably last thing I will do before using a restore CD. Also, anyone know if Spybot has some known issues with Vista? That might be a reason as to why it won't work, even after I was able to install it, it just won't start (could be the virus, I know).
I run 64-bit Vista, and Spybot works dandily. Note that I don't install or use TeaTimer, so perhaps there is an issue with that part of it. It's highly likely the virus is keeping Spybot from running. It wouldn't be the first virus to do that, and it won't be the last, either. As for System Restore: I could give you a more involved explanation, but the short story is that in the end it won't do you any good with a virus this invasive. "Great" viruses like Vundo (shudder) have ways to hang around and do damage after a system restore. Even if it seems to lessen your problems overall for a short time, the virus still needs to die in the end, and System Restore won't kill it.
Even though it's likely to be B.S., make sure you guys watch out for the April 1st virus that's supposed to destroy us all. Update your anti-vir/anti-spyware stuffs.
Oh wow! I did a windows system restore, and found out that most of the programs I downloaded are no longer there. Also, I downloaded Spybot online and installed it all over again, and this time I WAS able to run it, update it, immunize the system, and am in the process of scanning the system. I don't want to get my hopes up here for nothing, but I think my system is no longer infected with the Confik virus. Keep your fingers crossed!
Again, check your BHOs & ActiveX in Spybot to see if there's anything suspicious or vague-sounding. Check your startup list for anything suspicious. Check the hosts file to see if there are a million phony-sounding entries in there. After you've checked your hosts file and it hopefully has all of one entry in it, use Spybot to lock it. If system restore really "fixed" this, then this isn't Conficker, or Conficker is a lot wimpier than the media is making it sound. Vundo laughed at system restore and made system restore its b****. Keep in mind though, even if system restore "fixed" it, the malicious files are still sitting in system restore. So make sure you scan with a real virus scanner and get rid of it. Spybot won't necessarily catch it if you just use the scan utility.
What is the big deal with TeaTimer? I did install it without TeaTimer. It is running now, thank God! It may well be misplaced faith, but for whatever reason I trust pretty much nothing but Spybot to take care of this issue. I just want to run a scan and see what I get first. Yeah but pretty much all the software I installed has disappeared after the system restore. I am back to where I was 3 days ago or something like that, before all this madness started. I installed Spybot and it ran and updated and everything this time around. Oh, and unlike every other time, this time Windows Defender and Windows Firewall were NOT disabled by the virus. So if it is still there, then it is not doing its job properly. It is no longer blocking my programs or altering my browsing. It could be the calm before the storm, but I will take what I can get right now.
Good to hear, but remember if the virus dumped a bad BHO on you, or your hosts file has screwy entries in it, or there's even one bad module of one system process, you're not that far off from going through this whole thing again.
Yeah I hear ya. Unfortunately I am just not advanced enough to know how to check all that stuff. If there is a way to develop a log or something I can post it here and give you guys a look at what my system looks like at the moment. It may have already been mentioned here in the thread, but bear with me, I am all over the place trying to address this virus issue. I have tried just about every single software out there.
