Removing a virus

[Adebisi]

I have this virus on my computer.
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.yaha.f@mm.html

It stops any attempt to use anti-virus software or firewalls. I can't remove it that way. It occasionally slows down my computer so much that I cant use it. Therefore I will have to remove it.

It's in the folder C:\recycled. It doesn't show up in the recycled bin but it does in the folder itself. I cant delete it because it is "in use by windows". I tried to go into dos but it didn't look like the file was there at all when I went that way.

Is there a way to delete the file from DOS?

Also, does anyone know any other way to get rid of it?

I have Windows 98 (not SE).

 

[starlifter]

Yes.

Procedure:

1. Boot into DOS mode (do not boot to Windoze)

2. Use a non-inflected floppy to boot, if at all possible (BORROW one, if you have to) !!!

3. Change to the c: drive, type:
c:

4. To see the recyled directory , type:
dir /ah /p /v

5. Change to the recycled directory:
cd recycled

6. See what is in the directory:
dir /ah /p /v

7. Decide what you wanna kill.

8. To delete, you need the attrib command (use "attrib /?" for help); start with:
attrib

9. To the left of the filename will be one or more of the following letters RASHD. Lets get the ones that matter - type:

attrib -r -s -h FILENAME.TXT

(Obviously, you change FILENAME.TXT to the file you are after!)


10. Now do a plain dir command:
dir

11. You should now see the file you wanna delete - type:
del FILENAME.TXT

12. File should be gone.

13. Repeat for any other files you want gone.

 

[Adebisi]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I did as you told, deleted the virus, booted into windows. I noticed I couldn't run exefiles (as the virus had set itself to run all exefiles). So I followed the instructions in the link I posted above.

No more problems!

Again, thanks!

 

[damunzy]

Ah, I got hit by that one also, my first virus in over 10 years of computing! Good ratio for all the programs I DL.

I solved the problem by reinstalling windows! (I needed to do it anyways so why not just wipe the virus out the easy way).

 

[starlifter]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I did as you told, deleted the virus, booted into windows. I noticed I couldn't run exefiles (as the virus had set itself to run all exefiles). So I followed the instructions in the link I posted above.

No more problems!

Again, thanks!

That virus is a new one, BTW!

Glad to help .

 

[starlifter]

by PH 76:

I solved the problem by reinstalling windows! (I needed to do it anyways so why not just wipe the virus out the easy way)

Windows reinstalls are a pain for me. Do you use a Utilites Suite? If not, I recommend Fix It 4.0 for someone who is pretty good with computers like you. Among other things, it will back up, compress, and restore your Registry. With a virus scanner & a safe copy of your registry, you can usually restore your OS with no worries! Also, backin up your registry before trying DL programs is a good way to restore your registry, including keeping it compact (e.g., greatly reduces registry fragmentation when you unistall programs).

 

[Adebisi]

Originally posted by PaleHorse76
Ah, I got hit by that one also, my first virus in over 10 years of computing! Good ratio for all the programs I DL.

Seems like many people are getting it.

Myself, I was stupid. I have gotten hundreds of viruses by mail but never installed them, but this one seems to come from a friend and without thinking I opened the attachment.

But some people who also got it (many people I know since it spreads by contact list) say it "just got onto my computer somehow". Seems to be a nasty one.

 

[damunzy]

I got an email from an unknown person. The file looked to be a .gif file...the way Outlook Express showed the file was what made it look that way. The file real was named:

 "picture.gif                                                                   .scr".

there was an absurd amount of spaces between the .gif and the .scr. Well I tried to open it instead of saving it to disk first. When nothing happened I got suspicious. I then saved it to my desktop and that is when I slapped my head. Oh well, learned something new and since I needed to reinstall windows because I setup my partitions incorrectly I was not too worried.

On backing up the registry: The reason I reload windows is to get rid of the bloated registry! Why would I want to back it up?

I will look into Fix It 4.0, sounds interesting.

 

[starlifter]

On backing up the registry: The reason I reload windows is to get rid of the bloated registry! Why would I want to back it up?

I will look into Fix It 4.0, sounds interesting.

Fix It 4.0 will also compress the registry. you back up the registry so you can restore it if a program messes it up, does not uninstall correctly (a common occurrance), etc. This saves a window re-install.

Properly done, install/unistalls will not affect the registry size very much, after compression to remove the gaps caused by deleted entries. Restoring a backed up registry after an install/uninstall will revert the registry back to it original size, BTW.