Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 4/21/2010

Question
McAfee is reporting this, but is unable to clean it. Under "Item Name" it says "IRP_MJ_INTERNAL_DEVICE_CONTROL. Any suggestions on how to clean this bugger?

Answer
Here's what will almost certainly work.

1) Download either Kapersky Internet Security, which offers a free 30 day trial at http://kapersky.com or F-Secure's Complete Internet security suite, which offers a free thirty day trial: https://store.f-secure.com/cgi-bin/dlreg/ml=EN?ID=FSISTB&desid=TRIAL

2) Disconnect from the Internet.

3) Uninstall McAfee. This is absolutely essential because otherwise it and F-Secure or Kapersky will fight each other and might crash your computer. It isn't good enough to just turn off McAfee because it might have been crippled by your virus infection.

4) Install your Internet Security product. Scan your system and follow any instructions it might give you.

5) Connect to the Internet and download any updates available.

6) Run another complete scan of your computer. Follow any instructions it might give you.

7) Reboot.

If this works, you can either keep your new Internet Security product or uninstall it and reinstall McAfee. Be sure to get all the latest updates right away. Usually antivirus companies are pretty good about updating their programs whenever some new attack becomes able to evade or cripple their product.

If you weren't running a version of McAfee that includes antispyware protection and a firewall, then I recommend that you not reinstall your old program. Nowadays we need total protection, and this includes antispyware and a firewall.

8) To prevent future infections, don't use Internet Explorer, as it is susceptible to introducing viruses, adware and spyware into your computer. Instead you could use Chrome, free from http://www.google.com/chrome Instead of using Outlook for email, you could use Thunderbird, free from Mozilla.org, or Eudora, free from Eudora.com .