BleepingComputer.com: infected with windows disk fix virus

You may get reinfected in the future after a reformat. No antivirus is 100% effective. New security holes are found all the time, virus creators take advantage of it, then it's discovered and the hole is closed and antiviruses can stop that virus. But, there is always a gap. Most antiviruses are about 50% effective at detecting viruses that are < 2 weeks old, but > 95% effective on viruses older than that. You can greatly minimize your chance of reinfection by avoiding cracked software and Peer-to-peer downloading (e.g. Torrents). Those are the most common vectors of infection. You will, however, be 100% clean to start after a reformat.

Let me know how you want to proceed.

I want to reformat. I meant to ask - that if the router/modem remain infected once i reformat my computer - then I could just get infected right away. Is that a possibility? [your last post said that my router might be infected?? - Is there a way to find that out??]

Also,if i save the documents i want on a USB or something, after first scanning them with mbam & then later save them once ive reformatted - does that sound fair?

This post has been edited by Jadedomar: 01 May 2011 - 02:21 PM

If your router is infected it's not contagious. A router infection means that something (typically from your computer) changes settings on the router that redirect you to other sites. It's not a malware file that can be transferred back, so you wouldn't have to worry about that. It may not be infected...I was wondering out loud why you wired was OK but your wireless wasn't. If you were plugging the cable into the modem and not the wireless, I would suggest to do a hard reset on the router. If you were plugging the cable into the wireless router, then it can't be that.

Yes...best to move your files then scan with MBAM (an anti-malware program) and then your antivirus program before you restore the files. Make sure MBAM and the antivirus are both up to date before you do that. Also, don't save programs (EXE, SCR, BAT, PIF, COM files or anything in C:\Program Files\), and don't save any drivers or Windows files (SYS, DLL, anything in C:\windows) to minimize your chance of copying something bad. Just copy your media...photos, videos and documents.

Ok.. do you have any general advice for reformatting? like is it better to have partitions etc??

That's up to you. Some people only run one partition, others have several. I personally just have one partition on my computer. There's pros and cons with both. If you do make multiple partitions, make sure you have enough space in the system partition. I recommend doing a 'clean' or 'custom' install with Windows...do not do a 'repair' install as that doesn't reformat. Immediately install an antivirus then! I recommend the free versions of Avast or Avira AntiVir, but there are other good ones out there as well.

Here's a good article on how to reformat:
When Should I Format, How Should I Reinstall

Also, to protect yourself against malware and reduce your chance of reinfection in the future, I strongly recommend to have a look at following links (giving some advice and tips):

• How Did I Get Infected?
  
• Simple and easy ways to keey your computer safe and secure on the Internet
  
• miekiemoes' prevention suggestions
  
• Hardening Windows Security Guide - Part 1 & Hardening Windows Security Guide - Part 2

It appears that this issue is resolved, therefore I am closing the topic. If that is not the case and you need or wish to continue with this topic, please send me or any Moderator a Personal Message (PM) that you would like this topic re-opened.

This topic has been re-opened at the request of the person who originally posted.

Via PM:

Quote

It is a good idea to have a firewall installed. The safest is one with two-way protection. You can do that with the Windows Firewall in Vista and W7, but in XP it is not possible. You would need to enable two way protection in Vista and W7...it's not on by default. All firewalls keep connections from coming into your computer (e.g. random scanning of the internet IP addresses). However, it doesn't prevent something on your computer from calling out. However, you would need to research each file to know if you should allow it to access the internet or not. If you don't want to do that, just enabling the one-way protection in a Windows XP, Vista or W7 firewall is sufficient. It's not as protected but it is still 1000x better than nothing. See this article for more information:
Understanding and Using Firewalls

WOT is a decent cut at identifying bad sites. However, it is not perfect. So, use it as a guide, but don't assume it is 100% accurate.

In regards to protecting your computer, you should have 1 each of anti-spyware (MBAM, SuperAntiSpyware are good free ones), antivirus (e.g. McAfee in your case) and firewall (e.g. Windows or a third-party one). MBAM is a good one to routinely run.

Does that help? Any more questions I can help answer?

Thanks for you help. Dont have any further questions for now. You can close the thread.

No problem. I'll keep this open for another 3-5 days in case you think of another one. That's what we're here for. Safe surfing!

It appears that this issue is resolved, therefore I am closing the topic. If that is not the case and you need or wish to continue with this topic, please send me or any Moderator a Personal Message (PM) that you would like this topic re-opened.