spybot

cherokee

cherokee

Pillar o' t' Community
Tackler
Few weeks back had a few probs with my pc so ran spybot and it came up with alsorts of stuff inc malware called win32 .agent.pz which i managed to clear .
however just done another check and this win32 thingy is still lingering , how / can i get rid of it .? Is it serious and what does it do?

I have zone alarm , spybot and adaware on my pc and all seem to do a good job of protecting bar this one thing thats hatched itself to my files..
 
sorry aint a clue, but i have spybot, and also ccleaner, which i was told by a guy that runs a site is better, have used for about 8 months now before n after spybot to see which is best, if i run spybot AFTER ccleaner there is always nothing, when i did it the other way round there was always there was always stuff still left which ccleaner picked up. worth trying cos theres a free version.:)
 
cheers cashy will look into it . was hoping ian would be on as he may know about this win 32.
 
AVG is a programme i use - it either heals or deletes any viruses - not sure if it only for viruses though-it is free so worth a go .
 
If you suspect you have spyware on your machine make sure you don't do any only shopping where you might enter passwords credit card details etc.
 
yeah i also have avg forgot to mention that.
what is the difference between spyware and malware???
 
Heh, Cherokee, I'm up at 5;30 for work so 22.37 is usually past my bedtime :D

AVG is purely Anti Virus.

Spyware/Malware is totally different to viruses.

With the joy( OK only if S&M is your thing) that is Windows you need protection on so many levels

AV
Firewall
Malware - programs that try to do damage or just hog system resources
Spyware - programs that report info back to comapnies e.g. how long onlibe, what sites you visit etc.


The problem is that it is nigh on impossible to find a single app that will do the job and in the case of malware/spyware you seem to need at least 2 apps of each type to get full coverage.

The one you mention is called Hi-Jack this and is a particularly nasty one. There are many articles about removal and I'm afraid they aren't easy for teh non techie user to follow. You effectively need to boot your PC without using the hard disk, so thats either your windows rescue disk or a Linux live CD, then in c:\windows\system32 there is a file called ntos.exe remove it ( linux booted CD) or rename it to ntos.aaa( Windows booted). On reboot, if you had to rename it then now run a fully upadted Spybot and it should remove it. If you used Linux your done.
 
Thanks Ian i will give it a go . will get back to you.

Just one thing though this system dont have a start/boot disc . it came with all that already installed in the start menu will that make a difference?
 
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so you haven't any rescue disks? Every PC with legitimate copy of Windows should come with some form of rescue disk

You will struggle without them unless you do the Linux route
 
entwisi said:
so you haven't any rescue disks? Every PC with legitimate copy of Windows should come with some form of rescue disk

You will struggle without them unless you do the Linux route
Click to expand...

I didn't get any discs with my brand new laptop. All I have is a picture of a CD which says "Restore your system without discs - your computer includes a new system recovery feature that does not require CDs or DVDs"

I am not exactly impressed by this but it's something you don't know until you've got the thing home and started setting it up.
 
so when your hard disk dies just how are you going to restore it.

You should be able to pop a new disk in and restore to it
 
My last two computers have been Dell which never supply an OS installation disc.
Whilst still under guarantee, (fortunately, ) I lost power supply during a System Restore, and got the message that my version of Windows was not legit and would not load.

I lost everything -and Dell talked me through the wipe out and reformatt - this was free because of the guarantee but would have cost me otherwise.
I dont think I will buy Dell next time.
 
All i have in my menu (all programmes) is packard bell system recovery and it reformats from that .
 
cherokee said:
All i have in my menu (all programmes) is packard bell system recovery and it reformats from that .
Click to expand...

and if your windows is broken ( as will probably be the case when you want/need to reformat) how will you be able to do it as you won't be able to get to run it?
 
entwisi said:
and if your windows is broken ( as will probably be the case when you want/need to reformat) how will you be able to do it as you won't be able to get to run it?
Click to expand...


well that happened not long back and i was given a tel no to ring the techie guys who talked me through it all and if that had failedf they would have taken it in but like already said on here it was still under garuntee then so future may prove to be costly .
honestly ian these new pc,s dont come with installation discs.
 
entwisi said:
so when your hard disk dies just how are you going to restore it.

You should be able to pop a new disk in and restore to it
Click to expand...

Tell that to HP! As I said I am not a particularly happy bunny about this but it never occurred to me to ask if there was a recovery disc before I bought the thing. I did ask everything I could think of asking and some of the questions got very vague answers from the sales staff who obviously didn't know what I was talking about. eg:

Me: And what about the grsaphics card?
Them: I think it's got one, oh yes there's a sticker on it says 'NVIDIA'
 
So NVidia only make graphics cards do they :D

Muppets, I feel sorry for all the people who have to trust these people with their money.

I wouldn't mind but its not like a blank DVD costs the earth now is it.
 
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