Malware on my pc - help!

[ny biker]

My old laptop is showing signs of age, so I bought a new one last week. It's an HP laptop running Windows 7 Professional. I have managed to infect it with ad malware and when I do a search for information on how to get rid of it, I see a bunch of links for websites that may not be legit. Can anyone recommend a trustworthy website that provides info on how to remove malware?

Here's the long story...

I installed Microsoft Security Essentials on the new laptop, since it seemed to work well on my old laptop. Then I wanted to install Firefox for my browser. I searched for Firefox on Bing.com and clicked on the first link it returned. I don't know if I was just too tired to realize I was doing something wrong or if somebody did a really good job of spoofing Firefox, but I ended up installing something else -- I think it was called Vosteran. When I realized the new browser was not Firefox, I uninstalled it (using the program uninstaller on the Windows Control Panel) and then found and installed the real Firefox.

Things worked fine with secure (https) websites, but with others I got pop-up ad windows that froze the screen. I checked that the Firefox pop-up blocker is on. Then I saw the words "dynamo combo" on the top of the pop-ups. I did an internet search, found a bunch of results saying it was ad malware. I think it was installed along with the bad browser. Through the Windows Control Panel I found and uninstalled Dynamo Combo. The Control Panel uninstall list showed a second program installed at the same time, I don't remember the name but it began with an E, and I searched Bing for that and found it also was malware so I removed it. After each uninstall I rebooted the laptop. Then I did a full scan with Microsoft Security Essentials and it found nothing wrong. I was able to browse various websites using Firefox with no problems and no sign of malware.

Then I was searching for some hotel information on booking.com. My search completely froze the browser and the pc. I couldn't get the task manager to open (for some reason Microsoft changed the way to open it with this operating system, which I didn't know at the time) so I pressed the power button to turn the pc off, then turned it back on.

And now the pop ups are back. But dynamo combo is not showing up on the Control Panel list of programs that I can uninstall -- there's nothing there except Firefox, Microsoft Security Essentials, some software I downloaded for work and some Microsoft updates. So I have no idea how to get rid of the malware.

I can do a search on "dynamo combo removal" and it returns a bunch of results, but none of the results is for a website that I've heard of before. I'm reluctant to click on any of then and follow their advice because I'm worried they will just end up exposing me to more bad software.

I tried to find advice from Microsoft's website, since I'm using their security software, but can't find anything there.

I appreciate any advice. Thanks!!

[Sylvia]

Looks like Norton has a forum where people discuss stuff like this.

By any chance do you have a System restore point from prior to your malware install?
If you do, you might try taking it to that restore point.

Otherwise, HP PCs typically have a hard drive partition containing the OS image. You should be able to create a windows install DVD/CD from the partition. Or get the system back to the original factory install. I know that's a royal pain, but it's the cleanest way to remove it.

[ny biker]

I have the Windows 7 disk but I don't know how to remove everything and re install the operating system, plus I don't know how to get back the other pre-installed software like the thing that works the webcam.

Two people have suggested Malwarebytes to me, and that is also the recommendation from the Norton forum, so I will try that.

Thanks!!

[Becky]

Definitely Malwarebytes.

[Sylvia]

I have the Windows 7 disk but I don't know how to remove everything and re install the operating system, plus I don't know how to get back the other pre-installed software like the thing that works the webcam.

Two people have suggested Malwarebytes to me, and that is also the recommendation from the Norton forum, so I will try that.

Thanks!!

If for some reason Malwarebytes doesn't do it, then here are the instructions for system restore. Windows 7 does periodically create system restore points for you. They should have a date associated with them, so you should be able to look for one that is prior to your Malware install. However, anything that you have installed or uninstalled since that date will need to be reinstalled/uninstalled again after the restore.

[ny biker]

If for some reason Malwarebytes doesn't do it, then here are the instructions for system restore. Windows 7 does periodically create system restore points for you. They should have a date associated with them, so you should be able to look for one that is prior to your Malware install. However, anything that you have installed or uninstalled since that date will need to be reinstalled/uninstalled again after the restore.

I think Malwarebytes was successful -- their scan found and removed 23 items. I've only had a chance to browse the 'net for a few minutes now but so far things look good -- there's no longer any sign of "Vosteran" on IE like I saw yesterday, and I've checked several non-https online stores with firefox and have seen no popups.

RE: reinstalling things after a restore -- Microsoft installed 100 updates the first day I had the laptop and since then I think they have installed almost 100 more. Every time I reboot the pc to finish installing updates they notify me I have to do it again because there more updates. I really hope this is just because it's new so they are catching up with all the updates they released since the laptop was set up by HP. A pc is not much good if you have to reboot it constantly!

At any rate, I will bookmark the link on how to do a system restore and then hope I never need to use it!!

Thanks!!

[ny biker]

Okay then. I think the malware was successfully removed, but I still had problems with the laptop spontaneously rebooting while I was doing things online (like searching sites where I could buy Windows Office and writing an update on Facebook). I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Firefox but that did not help. So I went ahead and reset the laptop to the factory settings. After the factory reset, I immediately checked for Windows updates, of which there were 104. It took about 2 hours for those to be installed. Then I just kept rebooting and checking again for updates -- I think there were 10-15 more installed over three batches. Hopefully it is now all up to date, at least for a day or so. Microsoft really does seem to push out a ridiculous amount of updates.

I've also uninstalled the McAfee Antivirus that came with the laptop, and downloaded and installed Microsoft Security Essentials, which I prefer because it's free and unobtrusive and seems to have worked well on my old laptop. I also installed Firefox, my preferred browser, but to avoid reliving the malware problems I went straight to mozilla.org instead of trying to access it through an internet search. I've also installed the VPN software that I need for work and installed the driver for my printer. So the new laptop is now back to the way it was before the factory reset, except for the whole malware adventure.

Let's hope it works well now without spontaneous reboots or any other problems!! If not, my next step will be to contact the store I bought it from to exchange it for a new one.

Of course my IT adventures are not yet over. I still need to import photos, music, browser favorites, and other files from the old laptop to the new one, and I'm trying to figure out how to adjust the color settings on the new screen because everything looks too blue. And in order to eke more life out of the old one, I've bought a monitor and wireless keyboard to use with it. I have to provide my own computer for work, and have been hauling my laptop to and from the office every day for over a year now. But now I will set up the old laptop with the new monitor and keyboard in my office and will keep the new laptop for home use. This will make my life much easier.

I need to keep reminding myself of the benefits of having this technology, because getting it to work right really is quite the time suck and it can be overwhelming to try to figure out how to do everything that needs to be done.

Thanks again!!

[snapdragen]

I've had better luck with AVG Antivirus as opposed to McAfee. I had to totally wipe and restore my laptop a little over a year ago, it's not fun.

[Sylvia]

Been there done that. And not just for my own laptop.

You might want to make a restore point now. And give it a name that you will remember.

[ny biker]

Okay I give up! The laptop spontaneously rebooted again tonight. I am returning it. Which means I get to start all over again and set up a new one for the third time.

Meanwhile the black blotches on the old one's screen are getting bigger and earlier today its power cord stopped working for a while.

Have I mentioned that I am required to provide my own pc for my job? If I can't get a new one to work reliably very soon I will be forced to waste vacation time or take leave without pay.

Meanwhile my printer has gone haywire. I have brand new ink cartridges in it but for some reason the blue and magenta are empty. So I selected the grayscale setting and it printed out everything in orange. And p.s. those ink cartridges were not cheap!! I could seriously buy a new printer for less than I paid for the ink.

It's late, I need to go to bed and I am really angry at these machines. [insert your favorite cuss words here.]

p.s. I'm going for a bike ride tomorrow!!!!!!!!

[Irulan]

How come your machine isn't updating automatically? Did you turn that off for a reason?

[ny biker]

I didn't wait for automatic updates -- since it was a brand new pc and I knew it would take several hours to install all the updates, I went ahead and did that first.

My laptop adventures have continued since my last post. I ordered one directly from HP and it arrived with a hole in the box courtesy of UPS. So I called them and said I wanted to return it. I am still waiting for them to approve the return. For some reason it takes up to three business days to send a return label.

At that point I was beside myself. I'm still waiting for the refund from the first laptop, I've got a second one waiting to be returned and I need to buy a third one. That's three laptops charged to my credit card and they won't be refunded before I get my bill, so I'll have to pay for them and then wait a month to get the credit on the bill. And I still had no working laptop.

I decided I needed to remove shipping from the equation. A co-worker had recommended Micro Center to me, since they have a store not far from our office. I looked at their website and found a laptop that had good specs, was in stock and had a lot of good reviews from other customers. And it was on sale. I bought it on Friday. When I got it home it told me it had 150 updates to install. It downloaded them all, but then many failed to install and the network adaptor stopped working, even when it was plugged in with an ethernet cable. So I exchanged it for another one on Saturday. For that one I only chose to install the 144 important updates, not the 6 optional ones. Three of them failed to install, and one had an error message that said a file was corrupt. I called the store and they said I could exchange it again. But by then a snow squall and dangerous high winds had moved in so I couldn't go anywhere. So I went back to the Micro Center website, had an online chat with a tech support person, then called their tech support and had one of their people remotely connect to the pc. He fixed the problem -- kept installing additional updates, then removed one update that was not needed and was causing an error.

Since then I've been trapped in my house thanks to the very cold weather and icy roads, so I spent much of the day yesterday using the laptop. And it's working well!!

The big lesson here is: shop at Micro Center.

[smilingcat]

??? three laptops getting infected. I wonder if your router has been hacked with malware. Unfortunately, this can happen. Just glad that your laptop from Micro Center is working fine.

I always wondered what an average PC users have to do or what they do to get the problems fixed. You are the fifth person or so who had major major problems with PC. One gal took her PC to a PC guy and spend $$ get it fixed. Norwegian next door had a contract and paid a monthly fee to have his PC running.

I also do not like McAfee. I use Malwarebyte. It updates often. And I do a complete scan. One downside is that there are few malwares that target the Malwarebyte software.

Never did like HP for PC. Printers and test equipment thumbs up but not their PCs. I prefer ASUS PCs and monitors.

[Pax]

People like me who can't fix anything on a computer... buy macs. Or in my most recent case, buy a chromebook. PC's are a nightmare for me, I end up spending endless hours online with unhelpful tech support.

[ny biker]

Only the first laptop had the malware problem, and based on the absence of protective packaging by the online store I bought it from, the spontaneous rebooting was probably due to damage from mishandling. I never opened the box on the second one, because UPS delivered it with a hole in the box and I didn't want to waste time with it only to find out it is also damaged. With the third one, the main issue was with the network adaptor.

A bunch of people have told me to just get a Mac. But we've got an active thread here about problems that people are having with updates to their Mac OS, so they're obviously not trouble-free. And I really can't afford a Mac, not even a refurbished one.

As for antivirus software, I looked into several of the other popular programs but they all have pros and cons. I've been using MSE for years, since a local tech columnist recommended it. The tech support person at Micro Center who helped me told me that he also uses it. This latest laptop came with MSE already installed instead of McAfee, and I've decided to keep using it.

Throughout this whole experience, I've actually been impressed by sales and tech support people at HP. The people who handle returns for them were far less helpful. My mother and I have used their tech support before for her pc and they've helped her, too. And my old laptop is an HP, and it's lasted for years with no troubles.

I am rather mystified by the Windows update errors, and why the pc would download updates that it does not need and cannot install without errors. I don't argue that Microsoft has its issues.

My next project will be to set up the new monitor and keyboard with the old laptop so I can use it at my office. Due to network issues at work, I've only been in the office a handful of days over the past few weeks, and also wanted to wait for the maintenance people to fix the lock on my office door before I set up the monitor. We're expecting "major snow" tonight (4-8 inches!!! How will we ever survive!!!) so I will have to work from home again tomorrow. I'm hoping that by Wednesday I can get to the office and get everything set up. In the meantime I'm using the new laptop as much as possible to make sure there are no additional problems.