Degraded Performance after Virus Removal

[valt]

My computer was unprotected for a period, and got seriously infected with
Virus and various spyware. I have been unable for sometime to make a System
Restore work at all. I think I succeeded in getting the computer clear with
PC Tools Spydoctor and AVG 8.0, but in the process have had some unknown
changes in registry or otherwise that make the computer exceedlingly slow and
very prone to locking up.

Running XP Pro SP3 on Pentium 4, 2.67GHz, 512 Mb Ram

Is there anything to do short of reinstalling the operating system?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My computer was unprotected for a period, and got seriously
infected with Virus and various spyware. I have been unable for
sometime to make a System Restore work at all. I think I succeeded
in getting the computer clear with PC Tools Spydoctor and AVG 8.0,
but in the process have had some unknown changes in registry or
otherwise that make the computer exceedlingly slow and very prone
to locking up.

Running XP Pro SP3 on Pentium 4, 2.67GHz, 512 Mb Ram

Is there anything to do short of reinstalling the operating system?

If those two utilities is all you have used to 'clean' your machine - I
seriously doubt it is clean.

Start with this:

Download, install, run, update and perform a full scan (separately) with the
following two applications (freeware versions are the ones to use for this):

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Reboot.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net stop wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\regsvr32 %SystemRoot%\system32\wups2.dll
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net start wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer Windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Log on as a user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer and
visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
(Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)

Once the scan is done, select just ONE of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one. I would completely avoid the Optional
Hardware updates.

Come back - let us know if that worked.
.... Really - come back and let everyone know if that worked.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My computer was unprotected for a period, and got seriously infected with
Virus and various spyware. I have been unable for sometime to make a System
Restore work at all. I think I succeeded in getting the computer clear with
PC Tools Spydoctor and AVG 8.0, but in the process have had some unknown
changes in registry or otherwise that make the computer exceedlingly slow and
very prone to locking up.

Running XP Pro SP3 on Pentium 4, 2.67GHz, 512 Mb Ram

Is there anything to do short of reinstalling the operating system?

It is extremely difficult to know the answer to your question,
especially without knowing the specifics of your infections.

However, bear the following in mind:

1. A virus is not simply a nuisance thing that just sits somewhere on
your computer until you remove it. A virus is malware--malicious
software--that is designed to do irrevocable damage to the files on
the computer. Unless you remove it quickly after getting infected, it
may have already done its dirty work.

2. You say "Virus and various spyware," plural, but you don't say how
many. If you have multiple infections, your chances of successfully
removing them all and putting the computer back the way it was becomes
small.

If you truly had lots of infections, your best course of action at
this point is probably to reinstall Windows cleanly, reinstall all
your programs, then reload all your backed-up data (I hope you have
backed up your data).

In the future be aware that the best way to deal with malware
(viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, etc.) is to prevent them in the
first place. You do that by a combination of good software tools
(firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware), staying up to date with Windows
updates, and using care in everything you do on-line (avoiding dodgy
web sites, downloading pirated software, opening attachments, etc.)

 

[Leonard Grey]

Probably not. In the first place, malware can cause irreparable damage.
Second, even if you are successful at removing the infection, the
removal can cause irreparable damage, because malware can be deeply
entrenched. ("The surgery was successful but the patient died.")

 

[Laid Back Farmer]

Shenan Stanley,

Thank you! My machine was infected with the "Real Anti-Virus" virus that
McAfee, Norton and Microsoft OneCare could not detect and remove. The
utilities you recommended below finally removed the malware after I suffered
with trying to remove it for 2 weeks using other utilities.

Kind regards,

LBF