XP Anti Virus and Vista Total Security Virus Removal (Trend Micro Housecall vs Malwarebyte Anti-Malware)

XP Total Security, Vista Total Security Virus

Dad Fix Tip #5: How to Remove a Google Redirect Virus

As previously blogged, this is a quick tutorial on how I removed a virus I found on my home computer. Turns out, there were over 27 viruses on my little Dell PC. For the record, I've found NONE on Wifey's Mac but we also don't let our teen and pre-teen daughters use the Mac (I'm sure that's just a coincidence WINK WINK.)

So, the symptoms were simple. I couldn't get any of my browsers to surf the web. Not Safari, Chrome, Maxthon, IE or Firefox. Any URL I typed in showed me a page that warned of an unsafe destination and that I should use the XP Total Security program to get me there safely. Right.

A quick google search for "XP Total Security virus" fetched me several results. I found the one HERE (thanks to Bleeping Computer) to be 100% effective. Follow the directions step-by-step and it should work for you too. NOTE: if you have this virus, you might need to visit my blog on your smart phone, secondary laptop, work computer or something other than the infected computer. I used my Droid Incredible.

Either read through the instructions and follow along on a second sytem or print out the instructions. HOWEVER, you will need to download some programs. There are instructions on how to download the necessary files onto your phone and then transfer. That is exactly how I did it. If you have to use a secondary computer, just download to a thumb drive or equivalent.

Before downloading these, read the directions eluded to HERE.

FixNCR.reg (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/reg/FixNCR.reg)

RKill Download Link - (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)

FixNCR will fix your registry. RKill will stop the virus from running. Malwarebyte will find and remove the virus completely. NOTE: it took over an hour for Malwarebyte to completely search my C: drive and turned up with 27 viruses (all of which it fixed).

Prior to this method of fixing the virus, I ran Trend Micro's Housecall twice. It found 6 bugs the first run and two bugs the second run. Even after deleting or fixing the bugs, I STILL had the XP Total Security virus. I had also ran HiJackthis and did everything it recommended but still had the viruses. Both of these programs are free and USED TO BE fairly successful. Not so much anymore.

So there ya go. That should help you rid your computer of the XP Total Security virus, or for Vista users its the Vista Total Security 2011 virus. Either way, good riddens!

I GOTS NO KLOUT!

CAN I GETS A BAILOUT? I GOTS NO KLOUT!

Sorry for the poor grammar in the title, I just couldn't help myself. I picked up a really cool linkback gadget from Bacon and Eggs.  The linkback gadget automatically posts linkbacks to everyone who visits my blog. Likewise, it lets me see who has been here.

Yesterday, while checking out the linkbacks, I noticed a URL that I didn't recognize. So I did what any other person would do that doesn't worry about downloading viruses, I clicked on it :-).

Turns out, Claire Wolfe over at Backwoods Home gave me a flattering shout out in a recent blog about Situational Awareness. Thanks Claire! This one blog post has sent over 60 people to my blog and it is really exciting to think that someone else is enjoying my writings. If you read my work you'll see that I'm still developing a writing style but I'm having a great time in the process. I'd also like to think that all those English classes in college might turn out to be useful after all (my fav was ENG 301 Writing For The Professions.)

Anywho, while soaring on cloud 9 thanks to Claire, I happily clicked on another unfamiliar blog analytic URL. This one, turns out, was a reader brought to my blog by Google. This reader went to Google and typed in the search terms "dad blogs." Another Hooray! I was #6 on the Google results for Dad Blogs. This is all silly, of course. I'm somehow justifying in my mind that the popularity of my blog would indicate that my writings are worthy of reading. I can dream, right?

Sure enough, I poked around long enough to find out how NOT popular I am. In the same "Dad Blogs" search mentioned above, and in a result higher than my #6 placement, was a blog post titled The Top 50 Dad Blogs. Was I listed? Of course not. I haven't been blogging for years and years like most successful bloggers so I chalked that loss up to being new in the field. But wait, as I read the Top 50 blog post, the capitalized word "Klout" keeps getting mentioned. Klout?

Turns out the Top 50 Dad Blogs were picked solely on their Klout scores. What's a Klout score? That's what I said...so I had to Google it. Appearantly there's some sort of ranking system based on your activity on Facebook and Twitter. I don't know about anybody else but I was sick of Facebook a year after it came out. I thought for sure people would be sick of it by now. Guess not. I don't even have a Twitter account and haven't planned on getting one.

So, just when I thought I was all that and a bag of chips, turns out...I ain't gots no Klout at all.

Using TDSSKiller To Remove The Google Redirect Virus

Google Redirect Virus On The Prowl.

After my refreshing weekend off, I came back to work to find a lovely computer virus waiting on our main Windows PC. I didn't notice it at first. What I DID notice was that every time I did a Google search and clicked on one of the search results, I would immediately be taken to some strange website made to look like a search engine. Problem was, I wasn't trying to get to a search engine.

I began to test my Internet Explorer browser (yes, I don't like IE either) by running some queries. Google search for "drudgreport" netted me several results linking to the Drudge Report. But when I clicked on the result links, I was taken to what looked to be fake search engines. Some even had script error codes on the page, lame script kiddies.

First thing I did was restore the computer to a prior date. This is a low-level fix but has worked at home when the kids accidentally messup some settings. I had worked on this computer last week and didn't have this issue so I restored the computer to a date last week. Rebooted and tried the Google Drudge query test again. Same problem.

Second, I visited Trend Micro's HouseCall and ran a diagnostic. TM is a global leader in cloud security. All you do is download their HouseCall program and run it. It scans the computer and gives a report. If it finds something, it will attempt to fix it. If it can't fix it, atleast you know what the name of the culprit is so you can google it. HouseCall did NOT find the problem and I uninstalled it and deleted the install folder.

TDSSKiller worked in under 3 minutes.

Third, I searched "Google Redirect Virus" and received numerous results. After reading through a few posts, I found a simple narrative on using a tool called TDSSKiller. This is an anti-root kit offered by Kaspersky, a trusted online anti-virus software provider. I downloaded TDSSKiller, ran the program, and within 3 minutes it found the problem and isolated it. A quick pop up told me to reboot the computer so I did. The next time I logged in, I performed several Google Drudge search queries and haven't had a problem since. It worked like a charm. Then I uninstalled the TDSSKiller and deleted the install folder.

And mom said watching Wargames 78 times when I was a kid wouldn't pay off. Pshhahh.