HOW TO GET HELP IN THIS FORUM - everyone must read this.

Stand alone computers used solely for Home use

• Stand alone means any computer that connects to the Internet via its own exclusive modem or router.
• Home use means it is used for any or all of the following ....
  
  • General internet browsing
  • Playing games
  • Listening to music
  • Viewing photos and videos
  • Communicating with friends and family
  • Any non-commercial activity
  
  
  
• Home use does not include ....
  
  • Any professional or commercial use whatsoever

This list is not exclusive and is for guidance only, on this forum the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes Home use.

We reserve the right to close any topic that in our opinion is from a computer used for purposes other than those described above.

All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.

Computers in Home Networks used solely for Home use

• Home Network means a network of two or more computers confined exclusively within your Home, using a shared router or modem to connect to the Internet. It does not include connection via any Local or Community Networks.
• Home use means it is used for any or all of the following ....
  
  • General internet browsing
  • Playing games
  • Listening to music
  • Viewing photos and videos
  • Communicating with friends and family
  • Any non-commercial activity
  
  
  
• Home use does not include ....
  
  • Any professional or commercial use whatsoever

This list is not exclusive and is for guidance only, on this forum the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes a Home Network or Home use.

We reserve the right to close any topic that in our opinion is from a computer used for purposes other than those described above.

All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.

Stand alone computers used in any type of business activity

• Stand alone means any computer that is never connected to a network.
• Business activity means ....
  
  • Any activity used as a means to derive payment or monies, whether for yourself or for a 3rd party, whether full time, part time, or only on occasions.

This forum was set up specifically to help home users, our volunteer helpers choose not to work on business machines.

Computers used in a business environment often have policies and other modifications made to them. It is impossible for us to differentiate these from ones that have been made by an infection, so in removing what we think is an infection, we may compromise the business set up of your computer.

The scans we run often reveal information that most businesses would not want exposed in an open forum, and there are other legal constraints and ramifications involved with business machines that we are not equipped or trained to deal with.

It is the opinion of the Administrators and Staff of this forum that the only safe procedure for dealing with a major infection (one that is not removed by your on-board Anti-Virus) on a computer used for business is to reformat your hard drive and re-install your operating system.

No clean-up procedure can assure you that all possible modifications that may have been made to your machine have been removed. Only a reformat and re-install can do that. As you are responsible for your customer's data as well as your own, it is essential that your computer is fully secure.

We also believe that anyone using a computer for business purposes should have a fully functioning recovery procedure in place, and that such a procedure should include adequate technical backup provision. It is not the purpose of this forum to redress any inadequacies you might have in that regard. If your computer is important to your business you need to protect it.

On this forum the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes business use.

Any topic where we believe the computer is one that is used in a business environment will be closed, irrespective of whether that business is a large company or a small one man enterprise.

All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.

Computers connected to any kind of business network

• Business network means any kind of network (external or home based) which is involved in any type of commercial enterprise.
• Business activity means ....
  
  • Any activity used as a means to derive payment or monies, whether for yourself or for a 3rd party, whether full time, part time, or only on occasions.

This forum was set up specifically to help home users, our volunteer helpers choose not to work on business machines.

Computers used in a business environment often have policies and other modifications made to them. It is impossible for us to differentiate these from ones that have been made by an infection, so in removing what we think is an infection, we may compromise the business set up of your computer.

The scans we run often reveal information that most businesses would not want exposed in an open forum, and there are other legal constraints and ramifications involved with business machines that we are not equipped or trained to deal with.

It is the opinion of the Administrators and Staff of this forum that the only safe procedure for dealing with a major infection (one that is not removed by your on-board Anti-Virus) on a computer used for business is to reformat your hard drive and re-install your operating system.

No clean-up procedure can assure you that all possible modifications that may have been made to your machine have been removed. Only a reformat and re-install can do that. As you are responsible for your customer's data as well as your own, it is essential that your computer is fully secure.

We also believe that anyone using a computer for business purposes should have a fully functioning recovery procedure in place, and that such a procedure should include adequate technical backup provision. It is not the purpose of this forum to redress any inadequacies you might have in that regard. If your computer is important to your business you need to protect it.

On this forum, the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes business use.

Any topic where we believe the computer is one that is used in a business environment will be closed, irrespective of whether that business is a large company or a small one man enterprise.

All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.

Computers connected to any kind of educational network

• Educational network means any kind of network which is involved in any type of educational activity. This includes but is not restricted to ....
  
  • Schools
  • Colleges
  • Universities
  
  
  
• Computers connecting to educational networks can be ....
  
  • Owned by the school, college or university.
  • Leased out by the school, college or university.
  • Wholly or partially owned by the person connecting to the network.

This list is not exclusive, and is for guidance purposes only.

This forum was set up specifically to help home users, our volunteer helpers choose not to work on educational machines.

Computers used in an educational environment often have policies and other modifications made to them. It is impossible for us to differentiate these from ones that have been made by an infection, so in removing what we think is an infection, we may compromise the set up of your computer.

If you have problems with your computer, contact the IT department of the establishment concerned, who are equipped to deal with the peculiarities and requirements of their network.

On this forum the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes an educational network.

Any topic where we believe the computer is one that is connected to an educational network, whether frequently, infrequently, or only occasionally, will be closed

All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.

Computers using Operating Systems no longer supported by Microsoft

An Operating System that is no longer supported by Microsoft cannot be patched to secure against any new vulnerabilities, and is therefore wide open to contracting an infection. When an OS is no longer supported, it is the opinion of this forum that it is pointless in trying to clean a computer using that OS, since there can be so many unpatched vulnerabilities in it, that it will be re-infected as soon as we've finished cleaning it of infection. We see no purpose in "chasing our tails" in this way, so I'm afraid we will not work on the following systems:

• Windows 98SE - Support ended on 11 Jul 2006
• Windows 2000 - Support ended on 13 July 2010
• Windows ME - Support ended on 11 Jul 2006
• Windows XP - Support ended on 08 April 2014
• Windows Vista - Support ended on 11 April 2017
• Windows 7 - Support ended on 14 Jan 2020

• If you are using one of the above Operating Systems and you have contracted an infection we recommend that you re-format your hard drive and re-install Windows to remove your infection.
  
  
• After that we recommend you do the following ...
  
  
  • If you are using an OS prior to Windows 8, you should update to a newer OS that can be properly secured against infection as soon as possible.

Please Note: This forum is dedicated solely to the removal of Malware, it does not offer direct support or advice on how to re-format and re-install the different versions of Windows. If you need help or directions in that regard we recommend you post to one of the "general computer help" forums where such assistance is available.

The following sites offer that type of support ....

BleepingComputer
GeeksToGo
WhatTheTech

What to do if you can't post FRST logs

From time to time it will not be possible for you to post the FRST logs we require (FRST.txt and Addition.txt) because for whatever reason FRST refuses to run properly on your computer.

If that happens, then please follow the procedure below ....

Download OTL by OldTimer to your Desktop.

If you already have a copy of OTL delete it and use this version.

• Double click OTL.exe to launch the programme.
• Check the following.
  
  • Scan all users.
  • Standard Output.
  • Lop check.
  • Purity check.
• Under Extra Registry section, select Use SafeList
• Click the Run Scan button and wait for the scan to finish (usually about 10-15 mins).
• When finished it will produce two logs.
  
  • OTL.txt (open on your desktop).
  • Extras.txt (minimised in your taskbar)

Next

• Go to the Infected? Virus, malware, adware, ransomware, oh my! forum.
• Click on the New Topic button found at the top left of the page below the orange panel.
• Enter a title into the Subject box.
• Now go to your Desktop.
• Copy/Paste the contents of OTL.txt and Extras.txt into the main box, along with a description of your problems, and a statement that you were unable to run FRST.
• Click Submit to create your topic.

IMPORTANT:

• Only post the information asked for above. If you have logs from additional scanners mention them along with your symptoms, but do not post any additional logs unless your helper asks for them.
• Do not make any more posts to your topic until you have received a reply from a helper. Helpers here look for topics with zero replies, and if you have replied to your own topic they will assume you're already being helped. This will delay you getting the help you need.

Simultaneous posts for help from a single User for multiple machines

This forum is always busy, there are more people wanting help than we have people able to provide it, and in order to allow our trained helpers to assist the maximum number of people, we will only work on one computer per person.

This is not without reason ....

• People who post for help with multiple computers are tying up helpers who might otherwise be helping others.
• Attempting to clean several machines at the same time could be dangerous .... instructions given by many helpers for many machines can be confusing for the person seeking help, and the likelihood of mistakes being made is considerable.

We therefore ask that you post only one "Infected? Virus, malware, adware, ransomware, oh my!" forum topic at a time.

If you have more than one machine that you need help with ....

• Prioritise which one you want help with first.
• Disconnect all infected computers from your home network.
• Wait till your first help topic is closed by your helper, then open your next topic.

Multiple postings by a single person for different computers will result in ALL your topics being closed.

Problems with Website Security

The helpers at this forum are trained to deal with problems caused by Malware on Personal Computers only, they are NOT trained to advise you on how to secure your website. or how to remove unwanted hacks from it.

If you are having problems with your website being hacked, we advise you to contact your Hosting Company, who will usually be able to assist you.

You may also find the following resources to be helpful ...

• Webmaster Central Help Forum
• Google - Search Console Help Centre
• Google - Malware and Unwanted Software
• How to Remove “This Site May Harm Your Computer”

Ransomware

Dependant on which Ransomware version you have on your machine, it may, or may not, be possible to recover your files, so in order for our helpers to be able to offer you the best help, it is necessary for us to identify your infection.

To do that ...

• Please click on THIS link, and follow the instructions on the webpage it connects to.
• Please note down the identity of your infection, and post it in your help topic, along with your FRST logs.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE YOUR RANSOMWARE YOURSELF

Removal of any part of the infection may make it impossible to recover any encrypted files, even when a decryptor is available for that infection.

What type of help you can expect from us ...

• We are able to remove most Ransomware infections from your machine, however that does not mean that we are similarly able to recover any files encrypted by those infections.
• Where there is a decryptor available to decrypt your files, we will direct you to it.
• Where there is not a decryptor directly available, then when possible, we will refer you to any outside resources where we believe you may be best able to get further help with your problem.