Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 10/23/2006

Question
You guys have helped before...so this time I'm really in a jam...My computer has been infected with the following :
Dialer.DialPlatform & Trojan Galloper how can I get rid of these...it seems I can't even get into the Internet, and my webpage is unavailable...HELP! We would leave the computer on all day and i think this was a mistake for what I've read in your forum. I have HP, Windows XP and use Microsoft Outlook for my e-mails (I'm not an expert so try to go easy on the instructions...):(

Answer
You are correct that leaving the computer on all day with the current situation was risky.

Now for solutions:

First thing -- get your phone company to send you a copy of current charges to your bill. If you don't have a fax they can send it to, it is worth getting it sent to a business that offers fax service. This will tell you whether those Trojans have already charged expensive calls to your account. The sooner you can find out whether this has happened, the easier and faster it will be to get those charges deleted. In the U.S., Federal law requires telephone service providers to remove fraudulent billings such as these.

Next, here's how to delete these Trojan dialers.

1. Try System Restore. It probably won't work, but if it does you will get a fast, easy solution.

2. If that didn't work, disable System Restore. This is important because otherwise these Trojans could hide out in System Restore, and antivirus removal techniques can't reach System Restore.

How to disable or enable System Restore in Windows ME:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001012513122239?OpenDo...

How to disable or enable System Restore in Windows XP:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001111912274039?OpenDo...

3. Next, you'll need to get on a computer that is able to access the Internet and download one of these free antivirus programs, one or more of which will probably be able to eradicate these Trojans:

* The free version of Avast! antivirus, from http://www.avast.com
* AVG, free from http://free.grisoft.com
* F-Secure Internet Security, which offers a free trial version at http://www.f-secure.com/home_user/support_and_downloads/evaluations/

4. You can only run one antivirus program at a time, so you will have to uninstall whatever is your existing antivirus program first before trying any of these.

5. If one of these eradicates these Trojans, then you can turn System Restore back on.  If not, please email me and I'll give you far more painful instructions -- hope we don't have to go through all that! You can reach me fastest by emailing me at carolyn.meinel@techbroker.com

6. 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 Firefox, free from Mozilla.org . Instead of using Outlook for email, you could use Thunderbird, free from Mozilla.org, or Eudora, free from Eudora.com .