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avoid the confusion that often occurs when trying to help two or more members at the same time in the same thread. Even if your problem is similar to the original poster's problem, the solution could be different based on the kind of hardware, software, system requirements, etc. you are using and the presence of other malware. Further, posting for assistance in someone else's topic is not considered proper forum etiquette.
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The BC Staff
Darth Muerte wrote:
I downloaded AVG's virus remover for win32 virut. Even after the files are getting cleaned, I cannot restore them to their proper spots
I'm afraid I have very bad news.
Virut is a polymorphic
file infector with
IRCBot functionality which
infects .exe, .scr files, downloads more malicious files to your system, and
opens a back door that
compromises your computer.
With this particular infection, the safest solution and only sure way to remove it effectively is to reformat and reinstall the OS.
According to this
Norman White Paper Assessment of W32/Virut, some variants can infect the
HOSTS file and block access to security related web sites. Other variants of virut can even penetrate and infect .exe files within compressed files (.zip, .cab, rar). The
Virux variant is an even more complex file infector which can embed an iframe into the body of web-related files and infect script files (.php, .asp, .htm, .html, .xml ). When Virut creates infected files, it also creates non-functional files that are corrupted beyond repair and in some instances can disable Windows File Protection. In many cases the infected files
cannot be disinfected properly by your anti-virus. When disinfection is attempted, the files become corrupted and the system may become
irreparable. The longer virut remains on a computer, the more critical system files will become infected and corrupt so the degree of infection can vary.
The virus disables Windows File Protection by injecting code into the "winlogon.exe" process that patches system code in memory.
CA Virus detail of W32/VirutThe virus has a number of bugs in its code, and as a result it may misinfect a proportion of executable files....some W32/Virut.h infections are corrupted beyond repair.
McAfee Risk Assessment and Overview of W32/VirutThere are bugs in the viral code. When the virus produces infected files, it also creates non-functional files that also contain the virus...Due to the damaged caused to files by virut it's possible to find repaired but corrupted files. They became corrupted by the incorrect writing of the viral code during the process of infection. undetected, corrupted files (possibly still containing part of the viral code) can also be found. this is caused by incorrectly written and non-function viral code present in these files.
AVG Overview of W32/VirutThis kind of infection is often
contracted and spread by visiting remote,
crack and
keygen sites. These type of sites are
infested with a smörgåsbord of malware and a major source of system infection.
...warez and crack web pages are being used by cybercriminals as download sites for malware related to VIRUT and VIRUX. Searches for serial numbers, cracks, and even antivirus products like Trend Micro yield malcodes that come in the form of executables or self-extracting files...quick links in these sites also lead to malicious files. Ads and banners are also infection vectors...
Keygen and Crack Sites Distribute VIRUX and FakeAVHowever, the
CA Security Advisor Research Blog have found
MySpace user pages carrying the malicious Virut URL. Either way you can end up with a computer system so
badly damaged that recovery is not possible and it cannot be repaired. When that happens there is nothing you can do besides
reformatting and reinstalling the OS.
If your computer was used for online banking, has credit card information or other sensitive data on it, you should disconnect from the Internet until your system is cleaned.
All passwords should be changed immediately to include those used for banking, email, eBay, paypal and online forums. You should
consider them to be compromised. You should change each password using a clean computer and not the infected one. If not, an attacker may get the new passwords and transaction information. If using a
router, you need to reset it with a strong logon/password so the malware cannot gain control before connect again. Banking and credit card institutions should be notified of the possible security breach. Because your computer was compromised please read:
Since
virut is not effectively disinfectable, your best option is to perform a full reformat as there is
no guarantee this infection can be completely removed. In most instances it may have caused so much damage to your system files that it cannot be completely cleaned or repaired. In many cases the infected files
cannot be deleted and anti-malware scanners cannot disinfect them properly. Many experts in the security community believe that once infected with this type of malware, the
best course of action is to reformat and reinstall the OS. Reinstalling Windows without first wiping the entire hard drive with a repartition and/or format will not remove the infection. The reinstall will only overwrite the Windows files. Any malware on the system will still be there afterwards. Please read: