Riddled with ramnit

GunJack

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

Combofix does't run on vista as well...

Yeah, I had noticed this with the later versions of CF a couple of months ago, but latest outing seemed to have sorted the bugs out

The_Grandmaster wrote: »

You're being given good advise from closed and GunJack which is good to know!

we do try

Closed's point above about the damage done by infections is a good one, especially where ramnit is concerned. The regeneration can infect all file types and you may find that a lot of pics/music/docs are more likely to be destroyed/lost after a ramnit infection than most others :mad:

Cadi

Thanks guys.

I ran Dr Web yesterday: the first express scan picked up a possible virus (can't remember the name) and the complete scan detected two probable viruses (an Adware and another thing) but not ramnit. I'm running another avast boot scan this morning. IE still isn't working, although firefox is fine, and fortunately I haven't noticed any damaged documents / photos etc yet and my bank account hasn't been emptied (well, it has but by me...).

GunJack

Cadi wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I ran Dr Web yesterday: the first express scan picked up a possible virus (can't remember the name) and the complete scan detected two probable viruses (an Adware and another thing) but not ramnit. I'm running another avast boot scan this morning. IE still isn't working, although firefox is fine, and fortunately I haven't noticed any damaged documents / photos etc yet and my bank account hasn't been emptied (well, it has but by me...).

That's a good sign you can always uninstall IE (which should revert you to the previous installed version) and download and re-install the version you require. Note:- on vista, IE8 was installed as an update, so you have to remove it as such

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/internet-explorer/downloads/ie

superman909

Cadi wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I ran Dr Web yesterday: the first express scan picked up a possible virus (can't remember the name) and the complete scan detected two probable viruses (an Adware and another thing) but not ramnit. I'm running another avast boot scan this morning. IE still isn't working, although firefox is fine, and fortunately I haven't noticed any damaged documents / photos etc yet and my bank account hasn't been emptied (well, it has but by me...).

Hi Cadi - it looks like you have exactly the problem as me - my Dell is also infected with Ramnit - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3617075

I don't have access to a CD or DVD driver - is this necessary?

Please could you go through exactly what you have done so far to sort this, and how you have progressed? What happened after the reformat/reinstallation of Windows if you have done this?

GunJack

^^^ just read from the top of the thread and do the stuff

boot cd isn't essential but can help if you're struggling with downloading & installing, but with avast AV you can schedule a boot scan for the next boot up. MBAM and Dr Web can be downloaded

14Westfield

I had pretty much exactly the same issue recently - and alot of hassle to get rid of it. Running an Avast scan followed by a boot scan identified and killed off the infection, but at a cost...
Unfortunately the Avast boot scan deleted so many infected files that my computer continually crashed!

I found the only way to fix it from there (as system restore seemed to be one of the casualties) was a complete wipe and re-install of hard drive/windows etc which has fixed my problems. Thankfully i keep all photos/personal files etc on a separate hard drive so really only lost software, games etc - but learnt just how destructive these infections can be!

superman909

GunJack wrote: »

^^^ just read from the top of the thread and do the stuff

boot cd isn't essential but can help if you're struggling with downloading & installing, but with avast AV you can schedule a boot scan for the next boot up. MBAM and Dr Web can be downloaded

Does this sound like it will should sort the problem, please just tell me yes or no:

1)I will run an Avast Bootscan then.....
2) Upload my documents to ADrive (I haven't opened them yet, but don't think they are infected, as literally only just discovered the virus and Avast seems to have contained it from spreading too far I think) then.....
3) I think I may need to create a Boot disc also (what is this exactly, what does it do and how should I do it - bearing in mind that I have access to a clean PC at the weekend with a DVD writer, and am prepared to buy an external drive if this boot disc is supposed to do the trick) then.....
4) I shall use the built in Dell factory restore image (by pressing F8 on startup, I think it gives you the option of reformatting the harddrive and reinstalling Windows 7 Home Premium....).

Please tell me straight if you can spot any floors with this method, as I seriously have no idea, but to me seems like it should work. The only concern is that photos and documents that I am backing up (25GB worth but those are mainly photos and short HD videos), might be infected when I back them up. Hopefully they aren't, but what is a fool proof way to check for infection before restoring these files back to my system (a Simple Avast check, or something a bit more thorough???).

Many thanks in advance.

superman909

14Westfield wrote: »

I had pretty much exactly the same issue recently - and alot of hassle to get rid of it. Running an Avast scan followed by a boot scan identified and killed off the infection, but at a cost...
Unfortunately the Avast boot scan deleted so many infected files that my computer continually crashed!

I found the only way to fix it from there (as system restore seemed to be one of the casualties) was a complete wipe and re-install of hard drive/windows etc which has fixed my problems. Thankfully i keep all photos/personal files etc on a separate hard drive so really only lost software, games etc - but learnt just how destructive these infections can be!

Hi there 14Westfield. It's reassuring to hear from someone who has overcome this issue (definitely a nasty one!).... I have definitely spotted this early on, and don't use my PC since I have detected it, so hopefully limiting the damage to the PC. Anyway, I definitely can't afford to lose my Word documents and family photos/videos.

Most of them are already backed up ionto a external harddrive like you did, but haven't done so with all of them, since haven't got round to it recently - maybe 2/3 months worth not backed up!

Would you still think that I should store these ones on a fairly reputable free online data storage site known as ADrive, how do I know if they are infected as it's difficult to detect right?

Anyway, did you have WIN32 RAMNIT B something or other? Please go through step-by-step what you did to clear this issue once and for all. What is a boot disc, and would I sort that? Would you still advise me to carry out the avast bootscan bearing in mind your PC kept crashing? Thanks in advance.

closed

14Westfield wrote: »

Thankfully i keep all photos/personal files etc on a separate hard drive so really only lost software, games etc - but learnt just how destructive these infections can be!

If that's your only copy, it's also risky, as a worm or hard disk could infect/delete those - make a copy to dvd-r as well to limit the risk

GunJack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/41653210#Comment_41653210

list of boot disk links here, you download the file (an .ISO normally) and burnit to a cd as an .ISO, so you'll need to use a burning prog that can do this, like nero or imgburn

http://www.filehippo.com/download_imgburn/

but, as you currently don't have a drive on the lappy in question, you'll have to create it on a USB stick and set the BIOS to boot from USB disk first