I don't know whats going on with my laptop lately but past couple weeks this thing barely works because all this stuff pops up and runs the computer at 100%. Only way to stop it is to restart computer and 1 out of 5 times it will work fine a few hours before going nuts again and running a bunch of weird programs. I end the process on all the stuff but it pops back up immediately . I have nod32 antivirus and it has worked very well and shows no viruses. I have included screenshot of the processes that pop up. I usually have about 85 processes running but well over 100 when the computer starts going nuts.
save my computer :)
- Thread starter dude3.0
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- Feb 13, 2011
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Sounds like its time to format your drive and start from scratch.
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I would recommend scanning with MalwareBytes before going to the extreme. If you run MalwareBytes and nothing changes and you don't feel up to the task of going through the labor of removing the virus through other attempts, then your best bet is to just wipe your hard drive clean like CrossCheck suggests.
If you do decide to go to the extreme and wipe it clean, I would suggest that you do not back up any files downloaded from the internet.
If you do decide to go to the extreme and wipe it clean, I would suggest that you do not back up any files downloaded from the internet.
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Ok, if your getting pop-up's left and right that means your infected.
Not all antiviruses are equal and I rarely use one.
Lately my fathers PC had this problem and I was able to fix it easily even with connecting remotely after he calmed down of course. It was very simple.
Download this program if you have not yet, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
Here is a direct link to help you get stated too
https://www.malwarebytes.org/ Both version's are very good, If you've never used this. You will get the pro version for 30 days with helps out big time.
Reforming your hard drive should allways ALLWAYS be last case.
Years ago i got infected with something similar to what you described, when my pc got into windows desktop i got barraged with pop-ups to the point where pc would crawl at 100% usage. The virus would not let me use any antivirus or any software, nor would it allow windows update etc.
I got computer cleaned of that nasty virus by turning it on normally from cold start, and spamming ctrl alt delete as windows was booting, to instantly get to task manager right when desktop appeared, once i was able to see task manager i located a couple of processes that were odd, and forcefully stopped them. Walla i had control of pc again and could run all antivirus, malwarebytes etc.
Pretty sure i had to manually find and remove certain files to completely remove and or stop that nasty virus though.
Dont reformat you shouldnt have to, try and stop the process thats launching all the popups first, you just have to be fast!!!
like others have said reformat is last resort. Also for some reason launching in safemode did not accomplish anything, as if the virus was hidden and didnt launch making it almost impossible to find until you launched pc normally.
Identify and confirm each process in task manager is legit one by one until you find it, its in there just hiding. Find what triggers it, what software starts the popups if it doesnt automatically launch itself when pc launches, it has attached itself to something else that you launch.
I got computer cleaned of that nasty virus by turning it on normally from cold start, and spamming ctrl alt delete as windows was booting, to instantly get to task manager right when desktop appeared, once i was able to see task manager i located a couple of processes that were odd, and forcefully stopped them. Walla i had control of pc again and could run all antivirus, malwarebytes etc.
Pretty sure i had to manually find and remove certain files to completely remove and or stop that nasty virus though.
Dont reformat you shouldnt have to, try and stop the process thats launching all the popups first, you just have to be fast!!!
like others have said reformat is last resort. Also for some reason launching in safemode did not accomplish anything, as if the virus was hidden and didnt launch making it almost impossible to find until you launched pc normally.
Identify and confirm each process in task manager is legit one by one until you find it, its in there just hiding. Find what triggers it, what software starts the popups if it doesnt automatically launch itself when pc launches, it has attached itself to something else that you launch.
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If it's a persistent virus that's embedded into the OS, your only option IS a reformat. Force closing the processes is only useful in identifying what the virus may be, and if you're lucky, downloading a patch or fix to remove the virus. However, some viruses can replicate itself despite being initially removed.
Stick with the original advice given; use the link. If all else fails, do a complete reformat.
Force closing certain processes (malicious ones) stops pc from becoming overloaded allowing you to be able to find and eliminate certain viruses, i dont believe the one i dealt with is the same as the op. But thats how you stop a spam bot popup style virus and the only way aside from a reformat. Why discredit my solution when it clearly works and may work for his problem as well!!
Its another thing to try before a reformat which is a pain.
If its like what snipeye said embedded in OS, most likely there is a patch or fix, which your pc wont run very well if its pegged at 110%. Find it stop it patch it remove it and go game lolz!!
Its another thing to try before a reformat which is a pain.
If its like what snipeye said embedded in OS, most likely there is a patch or fix, which your pc wont run very well if its pegged at 110%. Find it stop it patch it remove it and go game lolz!!
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Snipe was not trying to Discredit your idea he was pointing out that the way you described it was not 100% correct and would not necessarily remove it. Suggesting something cuz it worked on 1 virus does not mean its the way you should handle every situation. Each one has there own things the first that needs to be done is Identify it with a scanner that detects it then move from that.
Also i just noticed something in the screen everyone seemed to miss. Dlhostdll.exe is the culprit its a known trojan process my guess is this or some variant of it is responsible for the issue. http://community.norton.com/forums/...hostexe-32-processes-and-powershell-windows-7. Judging from this you basically will need to get a good ANTI trojan before you will be able to remove the spyware itself. I will need to do a bit more research with a more definitive attack method as this particular one from what i been reading can be a pain.
*edit found this appearently this is the removal process you will need to follow to get rid of it. I highly suggest finding me in TS while doing this in case anything happens that needs quick thinking which usually can happen with these type of issues* http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2014-111020-0511-99 After running the tool you will need to scan the pc with Malware bytes or another antispyware program to make sure any spyware it was masking is found. IF everything goes easy it should fix it with out needing a format if not we may have to proceed with bit harder method to get rid of it.
Also i just noticed something in the screen everyone seemed to miss. Dlhostdll.exe is the culprit its a known trojan process my guess is this or some variant of it is responsible for the issue. http://community.norton.com/forums/...hostexe-32-processes-and-powershell-windows-7. Judging from this you basically will need to get a good ANTI trojan before you will be able to remove the spyware itself. I will need to do a bit more research with a more definitive attack method as this particular one from what i been reading can be a pain.
*edit found this appearently this is the removal process you will need to follow to get rid of it. I highly suggest finding me in TS while doing this in case anything happens that needs quick thinking which usually can happen with these type of issues* http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2014-111020-0511-99 After running the tool you will need to scan the pc with Malware bytes or another antispyware program to make sure any spyware it was masking is found. IF everything goes easy it should fix it with out needing a format if not we may have to proceed with bit harder method to get rid of it.
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It is 100% correct for virus my pc got, dont know where your going with that. All i suggested was a tip for help worth a shot. An embedded virus is not unstoppable, op's is not malicious so cleaning it is not hard, no need for reformat.
Nice find matt I was suspecting that process as well from ops task manager.
Nice find matt I was suspecting that process as well from ops task manager.
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An "Embedded" virus is unstoppable. Some hide deep within system32 roots and cant be removed without removing important and potentially infected files. Reformatting would be the safest an most effective way of removing any virus.
Many times you can clean virus, trojans, malware and spyware with out having to. The format option is always the NUKE option, not the first choice.
PS I believe we got rid of dude3.0 issue it was trojan / spyware combo took bit more then just malware bytes to remove
PS I believe we got rid of dude3.0 issue it was trojan / spyware combo took bit more then just malware bytes to remove
Actually, it's not. You have to know what you're looking for, and where to look to get rid of them, so the term "unstoppable" is not correct. The average joe will not be able to get rid of such virus', however. If you know where to locate them, and remove them. Then you're fine.
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Many times you can clean virus, trojans, malware and spyware with out having to. The format option is always the NUKE option, not the first choice.
PS I believe we got rid of dude3.0 issue it was trojan / spyware combo took bit more then just malware bytes to remove
I curious why malwarebytes didn't fully remove everything. What else needed to be done? I only ask because I'm majoring in Network Security and I'm trying to soak up any and all information about the removal of malicious programs. :w00t:
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Dude, easiest way is format and wipe the hard drive clean and do a clean install. Once you do a clean install pay $20-$30 and buy an good antivirus/firewall (imo, buy Kaspersky). Don't believe in free antivirus/malware scanners as they don't do much to block infections. They might detect when you scan your system but wont stop infection from happening.
