Echoing what Bruce said I suggest you do a thorough system cleanup using
MICROSOFT means, not 3-rd party means. I am going to post a set of
instructions I've written for myself but before doing that I want to amplify
a comment by another poster who said that Vista has none of the problems
you've run into. They are ALL of your own making. Most likely some of the
users of this computer are browsing juicy websites indiscriminately, perhaps
UAC was turned off, only God know what you did to your Vista.
Vista is an IQ test and you definitely scored low.
My policy is not to use any 3-rd party anti-malware except Spybot S&D.
Windows Vista offers sufficient protection against malicious software
writers some of them I am sure watch this forum very carefully.
Download Microsoft Windows Baseline Security Analyzer. It is Beta 2.1 for
Vista and I think it is safe to download. Run it.
<
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...AF-9DBE-4DCE-889E-ECF997EB18E9&displaylang=en>
It will give you all your vulnerabilities, especially in your firewall
settings. You should read the report and if it suggests any changes, you
should consider them.
Your Windows firewall setting will be analyzed.
Download Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830). It
will want to run upon install. Choose the FULL scan although it may give you
a threatening message that it might take a few hours. It will scan your
entire computer in about half an hour or less if you do not have a lot of
stuff in it.
<
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...e0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356&displaylang=en>
Some reassuring information: Malicious Software Removal Tool
<
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx>
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool helps remove specific,
prevalent malicious software from computers that are running Windows Vista,
Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=890830
You can also go to Protection Center (Microsoft)
<
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-US/center/howsafe.htm?s_cid=mscom_msrt>
and click "Protection Scan." There will be a dropdown menu and a button:
"Launch Full Scan or Vista." You can do it if you wish.
Download and install Spybot Search & Destroy, a great piece of software
which is free for individuals but corporations pay fees. You may be asked
for donations but it is up to you. It is very up to date and every week you
will have to download new updates, sometimes even more often. You should
check for updates every time you run it. It will give you all su*kers
leached into your registry and ask you if you wanted to remove them. Many of
them have masqueraded themselves under MS Windows names like
Windows.something. Do not hesitate to kill them all. You can trust SB S&D.
http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html
It also allows you to IMMUNIZE your system. It means that when you go to a
website and they try to download some kind of a Trojan to you SB S&D will
either kill it silently, or ask you if you want to do it or will kill it and
give you a notice. It is better to let it kill them all in silence.
Listen to Mark Russinovich's (MS) webcast: Advanced Malware Cleaning
<
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/sessionh.aspx?videoid=359>
Downloading any 3-rd party "free" anti-spyware program (with teh exception
SB S&D) is an invitation for a disaster.
The AV (antivirus industry) is on the way to the cemetery:
The slow death of AV technology:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/08/death_of_av/
Vista did it in.
Last note: it has been suggested around here by some unscrupulous trolls
that the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) and SB S&D do not
clean the registry. MSRT and SB S&D work on different principles. MSRT in
full mode reads RAM memory and detects patterns in the files that match
known viruses and other malware configuraions. This is why it takes so long
to run. If malicious code is detected it is also quite likely that it has a
representation in the registry. The only way to remove a particular piece of
malware is to CLEAN the registry off of this key.
SB S&D works by going thru the registry and locating known names that match
its database of malicious software. After all culprits are found the user is
asked if he/she want to remove the malicious software. If you say OK, then
the registry IS CLEANED of this set of malicious execs. The execs themselves
are killed in the respective folders.
In this sense both tools do CLEAN the registry. They do not do any
"housekeeping" which is absolutely superfluous and unnecessary. It is NOT
recommended by MS and most of the experienced users as well.
*******************************
Additional security measure
To prevent unauthorized breaks into your computer, go to Computer
management, and disable Disable "Internet Guest Account." Make sure "Guest"
account is disabled. It should be disabled by default.
