Expert: Lorry - 10/8/2010

Question
I am now on my third second hand laptop which has a trojan or virus or spyware that no security system cannot find and am getting pretty upset about the fact that the previous owners watched alot of porn. what is it about those sites that simply get into a computer and nothing one can do will correct the problem? what is so special about porn sites and what they leave behind?

I know my computer is infected because of all the recent ' windows explorer has stopped working - tab recovered ' stopagges.  

Answer
Hi Peter,

Using Internet Explorer, go to:

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/WelcomePage.asp

Click on Continue to Symantec Security Check. Under Virus Detection, click Start, accept the End-User Agreement. It will ask you a few times to permission to install Active X Controls, answer yes. Once you see that the program is actually scanning, leave the computer alone until the scan is finished.

Once the scan is done, write down exactly anything it finds, then go to:

http://www.symantec.com/search/  

and do a search for what was found. Symantec usually has a removal tool and/or directions for removing manually. Make sure that you follow the instructions for removal, step by step, especially the part regarding disabling System Restore.

I would also suggest downloading Malwarebytes Anti-Malware  from:

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?tag...

Check for updates after downloading Malwarebytes before running a scan.

As to why there is a good chance your computer will be infected by going to a porn site. The problem is with the way media is shared - the software, intentionally or not, can pass along viruses or other malicious software.

Depending upon the method of sharing, files can be modified so that watching/listen to the multimedia will install software that can download further software.

Hope this helps!
Lorry