Any computer geeks out there? (in Off-topic)

:)
I'm not back, just popping in because curiously CB was the first place that came to mind for reliable IT advice.

My computer recently got a virus, because I've been dumb enough to run it without any anti-virus program for a little while and now it's come back to bite me.

I don't know what's being caused by the virus and what's being caused by what little security this computer is using to deal with the virus.
Generally my computer is just slower and the desktop background has changed to say "spyware threat detected on your PC" and I'm getting lots and lots of pop up windows, even when not connected to the internet. Mostly advising that I download anti-virus programs that I don't recognise and that look fishy so I'm not about to type in a credit card number to buy one of these programs with my computer clearly compromised.

So, as I know a lot of computer literate people here to be reliable, I thought this a good place to ask the following questions:

1: Anything I can do to rid my computer of this virus (restarting the computer doesn't do it... and anything more complicated than that, I am unaware of), I don't care if it wipes out any other programs/saved files with it as I can replace all of that.

If not...

2: Any free anti-virus downloads that you'd recommend to remedy this problem?


Any other recommendations would be appreciated also.
Oh and this computer uses windows XP, if that is of any relevance.

Thanks for your time. :)

sounds more like a spyware problem:

http://www.download.com/Webroot-Spy-Sweeper/3000-8022_4-10192729.html?cdlPid=10725132

Try Windows Defender, Spybot search and destroy and another ones, whose name eludes me for a quick check. Windows defender should be free. If not, they also have a 'live' spyware/virus scanner that works from ie that is actually pretty good. Something else you can do is run CCleaner to clean up the PC a bit (Spyware and other such software love a messy computer - they can hide in places that wouldn't even look suspicious...)

Fresh new install of windows XP will take care of it since you don't care about losing anything, =P

If you're rather unconcerned about data currently on the drive and you have access to an OS installation disc, I'd advise the Hicks method of pulling back and nuking the installation from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

If a fresh installation is a problem, or you're looking for a free anti-virus solution for later, I suggest AVG.

These guys (http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/forums.html) will sort you out.

Register on the site and follow the very explicit instructions on how to post a problem and you'll be sorted.
I've forwarded many people to them, and so long as you follow their forum posting rules you'll get a personal walk through from a member of "staff" to solve your specific problem.

If you don't care about files, as has already been stated, format that mess. If you do:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
This found crap on my computer that Norton and AVG didn't find, and I had to pay for those losers (lesson lived/learned).

MrC!! hey there! Hope life's treating you well!

You come into CB and ask if there's any computer geeks here?

Lol!

when you get your spyware sorted out, go to free.grisoft.com and get the new avg anti-virus 8.0. it is free and it is pretty good.

The biggest problem is once your machine has ANY virus or spyware, you can never be certain it's clean, no matter what you do to it, and how many anti-virus/spyware programs you won.

No anti-malware tool has a 100% detection rate, nor do they have a 100% success rate on removal. You will NEVER know if your machine is truly clean, or if a small hook in your network stack causes a few new pieces of malware to appear in a month.

If it's a purely gaming computer...you can clean it as best you can, and hope you got everything. If you do anything that would expect security (buying things on a credit card, checking your bank account), I would recommend you reformat.