VeeshanVault

Share your tools, please provide links where available!



Go to google, tools and services -> near the bottom get the google toolbar - handy search feature, beautiful popup blocker (also http://toolbar.google.com ) - FREE

Go to http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ and get AdAware - run it...often. - FREE

Go to http://security.kolla.de/ and get Spybot S&D run it after AdAware - FREE

Go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com - free online virus scan via an activeX control that is updated everytime you visit - FREE

Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com - Keep up to date on the Critical and Security patches - FREE

Go to Start -> Run -> msconfig - Go to the startup tab and remove things that look odd or unusual or outright what you don't want loading. Will have you reboot - if there are any problems you have the option to put things back the way they were, if there aren't tell it you're fine, and those items will no longer try and load.

I have found this site to be both educational and helpful for learning about and protecting against various security vulnerabilities.

They offer a number of small programs to test your system for holes. I also like the ShieldsUp! to test your firewall.

Gibson Research Corp:

http://grc.com/default.htm

PestPatrol has a nice free scan that finds a lot of leftover install crap on your computer:

http://www.pestscan.com/Scan.asp

As for removal of what it finds, I'm looking for a free app for that.

Test your anti-virus software!

The EICAR file is not an actual virus, but it is designed to simulate one for the purposes of testing your anti-virus software. It's pretty amazing to follow a file you know is "infected" and find out exactly when your AV program finds it (or doesn't find it, in some cases.)

The site itself:

http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm

There is also a site that will allow you to email the file to yourself, testing your POP3 email clients like Outlook and Eudora. Does your AV program scan properly? you can also test the AV of webmail sites like Yahoo! and Hotmail.

Find out now:

http://www.testvirus.org/

Test your browser!

http://bcheck.scanit.be/bcheck/sid-3564 ... 89e191c5c/

In my 7 years of techsupport I have aquired 100's of useful links. Here is 10 of them, enjoy

Someone send you a .VV file? find out more here

http://filext.com/

Tweaks to increase your internet speed.

http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=119

Good Certs group

http://www.certtutor.net/Forums/

Direct X giving you headaches? Kill it Denmark styzle

http://www.directxbuster.de/index_e.html#download

Don't format or fisk....Debug.

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0 ... asp?ID=174

How to use MSCONFIG with pictures:

http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

Free stuff from Microsoft in your area:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/globa ... ture=en-US

Registry Entries IE:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tmcd2/IE.htm#Ic ... 20Internet

Check any email account anytime:

http://us1.thatweb.com/index.html

Create a Windows boot disk:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

Handy tool to combat spyware/adware or just optmize system resources.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html

Autoruns helps control many of the finer aspects of your computer. I DLed it mainly to get rid of Quicktime at startup but found many other uses as well. It's also good to see various bits of info that most people may never see or know about. Great little program.

http://www.ccleaner.com - CrapCleaner, an excellent registry/hardrive cleaning util. Allows you to setup custom cookie clearing on every bootup, keeping the ones you want and flushing all others out. Clears out old defunct registry entries (reduced the size of mine by half the first time I ran it) and does it fast.

Doing tech support really helps you find a lot of neat tools to fix/clean computers.. Figured since its been a while since any were put on here I'd add some that I use on a daily basis that have helped me get rid of the worst virus imaginable.


http://www.malwarebytes.org - Free Anti-spyware. Works better than any other one I've used. Auto updates, can schedule it to scan etc.

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus- ... d=10880275 - AVG 8.0 Free Edition - Free Anti-virus + Anti-spyware software. Automatically updates, real time protection. Can schedule scans daily. Does both virus and spyware, works great.

http://www.hijackthis.de - HijackThis - Scans system processes among other things to find malicious software/browser hijacks etc. Very easy to use. Run a scan and copy the log file. Paste into the analysis site, go down the list and check off anything with a red X.

http://siri.geekstogo.com/SmitfraudFix.php - Smitfraudfix - .bat file that can help take down even the nastiest viruses ive seen.. Run it in safe mode before running anything else and let the other tools clean up the remnants. Simple to use, download, run, select option 2 for clean and let it do its thing.


I have a few more i'll post some other time if needed. But those four alone should help keep your system clean/protected.

Thanks! I really like AVG, although sometimes the updater needs to be manually run (at least for me). I paid for a license, which is really wierd for me.

Yeah I love AVG. I use the free edition on my PCs and install it on pretty much every person's PC I clean out. It works really well.. 8.0 made a lot of improvements over 7.5, the only little annoyance is the updater like you said.. but it's free and works better than Norton and Mcafee so I can't complain.

Updating this a little bit since its been a while..

Theres been a lot of these rogue anti-virus floating around lately (Antivirus 2009, AV360, MS Antispy 2008, Spyguard 2008 etc.). Whats been making them more annoying than most is that with it theres a variant of the TDSS.sys rootkit that disables certain programs from launching such as malware removal tools like the ones i listed above.. So since I deal with this on a daily basis i've learned a few tricks and found a couple new tools to combat these fuckers.

The first is called ComboFix: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofi ... e-combofix

This little guy works like a charm at finding these rootkits and also installs the Microsoft recovery console if you dont have it installed already.. You can also decline to install it if you dont want it. It'll scan for any malware and rootkits, reboot, finish scanning and remove them.. Usually takes about 10-15 minutes total depending on how screwed up the system is..

Another trick I've stumbled upon regarding this rootkit is that it makes a driver file that seems to be the cause of blocking internet access or the ability to update your AV/Anti-malware. To disabled it do the following:

* Click on Start, click Run, and then type devmgmt.msc and click OK
* On the View menu click on Show hidden devices
* Browse to Non-Plug and Play Drivers and you should see something like TDSSserv.sys
* Highlight that driver and right click on it and select DISABLE - NOT uninstall.
* Now RESTART your computer.

Should be able to update your av/malware removal tools after.


The other tool I found for cleaning out your system that works somewhat like Ccleaner but with better features is Glary Utilities found here: http://www.glaryutilities.com

Cleans out the registry, temp files etc. If you go into Modules section theres a bunch of other neat little tools that I've found useful at times..


Any questions feel free to PM me or leave it here..

I recently got infected by one of those programs you mentioned above, and for the life of me I couldn't get rid of it until I reformatted. This would have been helpful back then, thanks for posting it!

Yeah sorry it took so long to post.. been meaning to do it for a while now.. i get literally 5 of these a day.. they've been getting worse lately... havent really met one yet that i've had to format for so these tools should do the trick.

Haha, I bet Sueven would have loved your post when he got the anti-virus thing during his finals week =P. Somehow I talked him through cleaning it (we didn't think it worked, but when he brought me the laptop, I could find no trace of it, and everything was working again). Going to run these checks when he randomly comes over tonight though, thanks.

they've gotten a lot worse over the last month or two.. the Antivirus 2008 and those would just annoy the shit out of you.. these new ones have the damn rootkit in it that locks the system down pretty nicely..

Anyone have any free antivirus programs they would reccommend? It looks like most of the ones I look at online are unreliable. I need some advice!

When it comes to free ones I usually recommend AVG or Avast!

Symantec and McAffee are bloated peices of crap that do more harm to your system that the malware they prevent. Crazy resource intensive.

I've been using the beta od Microsoft security essentials now and the thing is nice and light and seems to do the job. Defs are downlaoded through Windows Update so no extra overhead either.

OK, too many people saying AVG, so I'll give it a DL. Thanks!

Don't use them! Back up your OS partition once a week using Acronis True Image.

I hate anti virus apps. The chance of getting something is so slim if you use your head. I try out plenty of hacked software and also have to deal with a lot of ad/spyware sites when I'm searching for artwork but have only had one problem and that was from accidentally opening an exe when I misclicked on a file in Newsleecher. I then installed the best hacked Antivirus ap I could find, cured the problem, then promptly removed the antivirus app.


Obvious rule of thumb: don't click any "OK" or "Cancel" buttons on pop up windows or web pages that won't let you do anything else besides hit "OK" or "Cancel/Close". Close out of your browser, even if it means using the task manager to do so. I saw a cool fake "can't find page" the other day that was actually spyware. It looked exactly like a standard error page generated by Firefox/IE but the search for help button launched spyware install. (viewing the page source is your friend)

I've had two issues in 15+ years of using Windows. One was that nasty virus many years ago that rebooted your OS before you could do anything. Fixed that one. The other was my own fault for accidentally clicking one of the bazillion fake exe files on the newsgroups. I have Newsleecher set to automatically open files with a doubleclick so I can quickly sample images, movies, mp3s, etc. One misclick in 15 years isn't bad, and even then, I knew it right away so could fix the problem without it doing much harm.

The only people that need anti virus apps are those with non tech spouses/partners/roommates and those with kids.

-back up OS partition weekly (you should have small, (less than 100GB) OS partition for this reason with apps etc stored elsewhere.
-always keep windows updated. Can't emphasize enough hoe useful a current backup of your OS is. I'll usually back t up manually before any major App installs just in case. Takes 10-15 mins and it runs in the background (less than ten if you have SSD Drive!)

-if you do suspect something, install the best anti virus/spyware you can find (hacked or free, not the bloated big named ones as mentioned above), let it run through it's check twice (usually takes one round to find initial batch and then another scan to find the leftovers after first spyware removed) then uninstall it again and slap whoever caused the issue in the first place.

Winnow wrote:The only people that need anti virus apps are those with non tech spouses/partners/roommates and those with kids.

The resources used by AVG & Avast are trivial, I've had a couple sites attempt to install "stuff" that avg caught and Windows didn't.

To not run an anti virus is a waste of my time. Yes I could fix anything that crops up, but I'd rather not have the issue in the first place.

Winnow's tip seems like saying "Don't bother with condoms, just only have sex with hookers you know are clean!"

oh, and replacing your cock every 6 months.

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:Winnow's tip seems like saying "Don't bother with condoms, just only have sex with hookers you know are clean!"

oh, and replacing your cock every 6 months.

That would be true if there was a cure for STDs. It would be wise to not hit the OK button with a ho-bag even if you have protection since you never know if that condom will rip. Maybe just have sex with girls that own Apple Computers.

My past 2 viruses have been from Newsleecher. The last one I opened I was just stupid. The one I recently opened and prompted this discussion was an accidental click!

My HD has Windows XP, WoW, Dawn of War 2, and DVD Profiler installed on it and that's it. I no longer game on my PC if I can help it. It takes me about an hour to format and reinstall everything. I haven't had anti-virus protection in over 5 years and I've had 3 known infections in that time, all of which I could've prevented if I had been paying better attention!

Animalor wrote:Symantec and McAffee are bloated peices of crap that do more harm to your system that the malware they prevent. Crazy resource intensive.

The Enterprise versions of Mcafee and Symantec/Norton are just fine.

Enterprise version of Symantec I agree. Never seen the McAfee version.

I was referring purely to the home versions.

No experience with Norton, we run McAfee at work. It's a huge resource hog contrasted to AVG. They've also released signatures that have nuked commonly used programs twice this year.

Kaspersky nuked my Windows Live! executables a few months back so I uninstalled it and installed AVG.
A few weeks after that, AVG nuked itunes.

McAfee Enterprise 8.5 uses roughly 50 of RAM on a base install and it rarely spikes to 1% CPU usage.
With additional components installed (EPO, AntiSpyware) it will grow to a 100 meg footprint.

It's commonplace for PCs now to have 3+ gigs of RAM and dual/quad core CPUs.
The resources used by the Enterprise versions of McAfee and Symantec are inconsequential.


Running any windows PC without a virus scan is just foolish... running XP without a virus scanner is just outright stupid.
You may think that your system is virus free but you could potentially have dozens of real viruses sitting undetected, spreading to other unprotected PCs.
I'm not talking about spyware, malware, browser hijacks and trojans that exist for the sole purpose of annoying the fuck out of PC users. I'm talking about viruses that propogate while undetected to deliver a payload on a specific date or event.

5-6 years ago running a PC without an AV was a possibility. Identity theft wasn't as prevalent as it is now and it was all about showmanship and getting stuff to appear/run on the system or send out massive amounts of e-mail.

Nowadays with trojans/botnets etc etc running moderns versions of Windows(Vista/7) without AV is foolish. Running Windows XP or earlier without it is foolish^2.

You people would make great right wing neocons spreading all of this paranoia!

Vista and 7 are far more secure than XP will ever be.
Up until SP2, if a fresh install of XP was connected to the internet it would be infected within an hour.

I'm not trying to say that Vista and 7 are rock solid secure but at least with UAC and IE's sandbox mode, many driveby trojans/malware/spyware installs are harmless... and those cause the majority of problems these days.

Winnow wrote:You people would make great right wing neocons spreading all of this paranoia!

Only a fucking retard would listen to your opinions on computer security.

Winnow wrote:You people would make great right wing neocons spreading all of this paranoia!

Neocons spread fear and paranoia because they have something to gain from it. We have absolutely nothing to gain by giving sound computing advice to people on this forum other than a bit of gratitude.

I haven't had anti-virus protection in over 5 years and I've had 3 known infections in that time, all of which I could've prevented if I had been paying better attention!

3 that you actually know of...
A few months ago, I had a test box running XP SP2.
I tested a port scanning app and a couple of encryption apps and I think I also had itunes installed on it.
A few weeks after building it, I got around to installing a virus scanner and was pretty suprised to see that it had a couple of pretty interesting viruses. One of them was a botnet worn and the other was conflicker. This was on a PC that was not used for web browsing and had never had any pirated software installed.
I would probably never had known those were on the PC had I not installed mcafee.

I've had a couple drive bys get blocked in the last year, as has the wife. Prior to that the previous catch was in ~1996, and a DoS virus years before that. I'm quite anal about what I'll install, don't do torrents, surf porn, warez, etc.... so my exposure is very low.

On my fios connection it's very rare to see any incoming connection attempts at all. Port scanners, worms, etc... seem to be trapped & blocked very quickly and effectively. Between the provider side filtering and my local firewall I can't see an idle system getting compromised.

In marked contrast to the idiocy from the local cable provider, you're totally on your own there. They expect Mom & Pop to have the knowledge to lock things down, which generally isn't going to happen.

Vista and 7 are far more secure than XP will ever be.

You haven't been watching the new I guess, in re-writing the IP implementation for 7 they're created new versions of old problems. That statement may be true in a couple years, but not likely before that.

I've been using AVG for the past few years. Good stuff! I even pay for it now.

miir wrote: It's commonplace for PCs now to have 3+ gigs of RAM and dual/quad core CPUs.
The resources used by the Enterprise versions of McAfee and Symantec are inconsequential.

Agreed, but why are *both* so fucking worthless in the non-corporate variants? They're doing the same tasks and yet consuming *much* more CPU/memory/IO, it's stupid.

A few things i put on my PC to make it run faster and better for gaming/overall.

Advanced SystemCare - Free.

Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 35 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning, free PC repair software is a "must-have" tool for your computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.

Game Booster - Free

Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother, more responsive game play in the latest PC games with the touch of a button, Game Booster helps achieve the performance edge previously only available to highly technical enthusiasts. It works by defragmenting game directories, temporarily shutting down background processes, cleaning RAM, and intensifying processor performance. That means you can keep all the features of Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ and XP® ready for when you need them, but turn them off when you are ready to get down to serious business – gaming. Game Booster makes it simpler to enjoy the latest games and take your experience to a new level. All systems go!

I used to use AVG Free but it interfered with too many programs i use. I used to pay for BitDefender, and i heard they had a free version out so i grabbed it. Works really well.

BitDefender Free

I also use S&D and Ad-Aware to make sure i get everything.

That whole package is free and super efficient.

There is also a pretty cool open source antivirus, including a portable virus scanner for USB drives. I don't use the actual program, but i do have the virus scanner installed on a USB drive for any emergencies.

Open Source ClamWin - Free

ClamWin Portable - Free

For the portable, u need to install it onto the USB drive, not place the downloaded file on it.

I used to use BitDefender as a paying customer myself, but they're just too damn expensive now. What's annoying is the lack of Windows 7 programs as of yet. So far the best AV program for W7 I've seen is Avast. And I don't like it much myself.

I put Linux on my laptop so I wouldn't have to worry about this shit. I use Bitdefender on my PC and for my wife's laptop... well, she is Shiva the destroyer of computers. It doesn't matter what I put on it; she will find a way to deny it updates and/or bypass what security it offers in order to fuck up her laptop beyond all repair by the time I get my next bonus so she can ask for a new one. I think I'll put Linux on her next one and tell her to deal with it - if it won't work on Linux it's something she doesn't need anyway. I offered her a new Macbook and she refused.

There's plenty of Trojans and botnet software out for linux and the numbers of infections are steadily growing. It's the dream platform for them to compromise. It's a common enough platform today and it's becoming more and more a target.

Given a choice between dancing pigs and security, users will pick dancing pigs every time.

Ms Security Essentials is officially out today.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Free AV and it's not a ressource hog.

Somehow I have doubts about letting Microsoft protect my computer.

But they've done so well over the years.....

If it was from a company they've bought it might be OK for a year or so.

I think Microsoft has a vested interest in keeping people's opinion of Windows positive and would put all their resources in not to screw this up.

This is a re-branded Live OneCare and as far as I know, that one was pretty well regarded.

You could say they've had that vested interest since they started, it hasn't helped them much.

Animalor wrote:Ms Security Essentials is officially out today.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Free AV and it's not a ressource hog.

I have been running AVG free 8.5 and adaware for the last 2 years or so and have had no issues that I knew of until today when I installed Security essentials and it found a Trojan that apparently has been there a while. That's enough for me to give this product a shot.

It seems like a decent tool so far.
The amount of resources used is trivial.

sarlen wrote:

Animalor wrote:Ms Security Essentials is officially out today.

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Free AV and it's not a ressource hog.

I have been running AVG free 8.5 and adaware for the last 2 years or so and have had no issues that I knew of until today when I installed Security essentials and it found a Trojan that apparently has been there a while. That's enough for me to give this product a shot.

Always hard to know if that's "an infection that was missed" or a false positive.

That said, a new player wouldn't be known by an old virus, so it's harder to hide. There's quite a few viruses that will hide quite successfully from Symantec for example.