please help ASAP

[pentium]

i'm have winXP SP2 pc and it's infected with a virus, could be malware.
Everything was working fine until I plugged a flash stick on my USB port.
Now, everytime I open IE, it would automatically go to redtube.com, which is
an adult site. Ive tried changing the homepage but it won't let me, the
buttons for changing the homepage are grayed out under internet options on
control panel.
I've tried system restore to no avail.
I can still surf the internet but with a slow speed now and on the very top
left hand corner on my internet window (the blue bar) says "Huelar Browser"
instead of "Internet Explorer". (ex. Before it was, "Google - Internet
Explorer" , now it's "Google - Huelar Browser")

This had happened before and I did a clean install to get it back on track.
But I don't want to do it again.
Is there an anti-virus software that could get rid of it? Can someone please
give me a link? And what should I do to avoid this from happening again? I
still want to use my USB flash stick. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rey Santos]

Try AVG Free:
http://free.avg.com/

Some readings:
W32/MyWife.gen@MM!EAA62016 (McAfee)
http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_148973.htm

ThreatExpert
http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=5f0268468b306a6673c9f1e0c68e2e99

 

[Ronaldo]

You have the W32.Heular Worm.Virus... Have you scanned with your antivirus?
If you have and it didn't delete it, install another antivirus, Kaspersky
will probably delete it.

Check the link for a full description on the virus.
http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=5f0268468b306a6673c9f1e0c68e2e99


W32.Heular
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2007-112717-3949-99&tabid=1

 

[Mick Murphy]

If you have NO Anti-virus installed, install Avast.
Also, download, install, update and then scan your System with Malwarebytes
and Spybot Search & Destroy.
Do the scans in Safe Mode if necessary.
All info below.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Avast Anti-Virus is XP and Vista compatible (32bit and 64bit Versions),
FREE, auto-updating, and a low resources user of your computer.
And, only have 1(one) Anti-Virus installed / running on your computer at any
one time..
Conflicts may occur if you have more than 1(one).

http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html

Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6 is a very good, FREE Anti-Spyware Program.
Download, install, update, and immunize your System with it.
Then SCAN with it.
Update it, and scan your System once a fortnight.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
For the Free version scroll down their page to either download from
Download.com, or Major Geeks.com

Download, install, and update.

Important re: Safe Mode
If you happen to find a problem that you can’t uninstall / delete, reboot
the computer, and go into Safe Mode.
To get into Safe mode, tap F8 right at Power On / Startup, and use UP arrow
key to get to Safe Mode from list of options, then hit ENTER.
RESCAN your computer with your Anti-Virus, Malwarebytes and Spybot S & D
while in Safe Mode.

If unable to install above Programs in Normal Mode:
Sometimes Trojans, Viruses, Malware, etc stop you installing and/or updating
Programs to remove them.
If that happens, reboot into Safe Mode with Networking (from F8 list of
Startup Options), and install, update and scan from there.

 

[Mick Murphy]

And once you get rid of the rubbish(if you are determined to use that flash
Drive):

Right-click on USB Drive in My Computer>Scan it with your Anti-virus.

Also open Malwarebytes>select Perform full Scan>Next>Select the USB Drive
letter>Scan it.

 

[pentium]

i've ran avast on the usb drive and the files are gone!!
what happened? how can I recover them?
i've check on the "avast virus chest" and it's there, i've tried right
clicking on it to restore it but nothing happened!!
what should I do???

 

[Mick Murphy]

You said the infection was on your Flash Drive.
Avast removed the infection!

 

[pentium]

yes, that's right but now i can't open my files on the flash drive. is i
thought it would just remove the infection and it will go back to
normal....i'm lost...please help me understand

 

[Mick Murphy]

Avast gives you a choice of what you want to do with the file, clean it, put
it in vault, etc.
You have to make that decision.
You are the one sitting in front of your computer, running the Program.

And, did you scan your infected computer, or just the flash Drive.
If you only scanned only the Flash Drive, your computer is still infected.
The computer's infection came from the flash Drive.
BOTH have to be cleaned.

 

[HeyBub]

i've ran avast on the usb drive and the files are gone!!
what happened? how can I recover them?
i've check on the "avast virus chest" and it's there, i've tried right
clicking on it to restore it but nothing happened!!
what should I do???

Evidently the files on your stick were infected. If so, you have two
choices:

1. Live with the virus infection, or
2. Live without the files.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

i've ran avast on the usb drive and the files are gone!!
what happened?

Clearly, they were infected and the A/V program removed them.

Clearly, that USB drive is the source of the infection on your other sytem,
and any other systems you plugged it into.

how can I recover them?

Go back to the original source of the files.

USB drives should *never* be used as sole storage of anything, they are only
suitable for transferring files that exist elsewhere. This is because they
have a habit of suddenly and irretrievably failing. I have a drawer with a
section for failed thumb drives. Perhaps some day I'll figure out how to
magically fix flash chips.

i've check on the "avast virus chest" and it's there, i've tried right
clicking on it to restore it but nothing happened!!
what should I do???

Sometimes it's necessary to consider lessons learned, and move on. This is
the case if you don't have those files elsewhere.

A similar lesson is learned by those who use XP's EFS encryption and don't
back up the account certificates.

It's possible that you could use data recovery software to try to dredge
files back from the stick, but be aware that they were likely hoplessly
altered by the malware that infected them.

HTH, and sorry there isn't better news.
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

i'm have winXP SP2 pc and it's infected with a virus, could be malware.
Everything was working fine until I plugged a flash stick on my USB port.

This is an extremely huge clue, leading to the conclusion that the files on
that stick are badly infected.

And it leads to these questions: Where else has that USB drive been? How
many other systems have you infected with it?

HTH
-pk

 

[Ronaldo]

Since the antivirus has already cleaned the drive, it should be safe to
recover any hidden files that may be hidden. A file recovery application
may be usefull


USB Flash Drive Files Recovery Applications
http://www.sharewareconnection.com/usb-flash-drive-files-recovery.htm
http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/system/fwdatarecovery.html
http://www.download.com/Recover-Files/3000-2094_4-10715455.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10715456

How to retrieve lost files in flash drives
http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-28692-how-to-retrieve-lost-files-in-flash-drives

Help! How Do I Get Deleted Files Back? (including from USB Flash)
http://www.getdeletedfilesback.com/



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[pentium]

thanks everyone. my pc is now cleaned and i just got to live without those
files in my USB drive. by the way, where do you suggest i should save my
files in the future?

p.s.
i tried running the usb file recovery, didn't work