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vbgagnon

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I can't seem to get rid of this stupid thing. My antivirus program can't find it, spybot found it and got rid of it, but a day or so later it was back.

Its called dropper.small

Any advice?
 
So far, it looks like it's going to be a hard one to remove.

Which Antivirus package do you use?
 
I'm assuming its' up to date. Odd, it should catch the infection. Have you ran a system test, making sure to scan all files?
 
Slightly different situation; VBs' system, I believe, is far more salvageable. Granted, trojans are no laughing matter, but they're not as serious as say, file table corruption.

That being said, which version of dropper.small is it? A cursory glance at google reveals there are many different sub-variants.
 
i just put that up cause i remember in the other one it said the virus kept comming back. just trying to help. good luck getting rid of the virus.
 
yes avg is up to date. It finds it, just can't get rid of it. and it seems to be the footer version of it.
 
My search of this virus on Google says that it's actually a sophisticated spy-ware.

Try using spybot or something similar.
 
When I searched on Google, Spybot was mentioned, but Ad-Aware is another great tool. Also download a copy of HijackThis, which shows all system processes loaded, including the hidden ones, and allows you to disable them.
 
The problem I had in that thread was caused by a specific website that somehow gained access to my computer. It would populate with pop-ups and other random crap and it was really, REALLY hard to get rid of- a complete system overhaul was long in the works so I just bit the bullet.

In your case "Dropper" does just what it says. it is finding certain areas of key interest to whomever is responsible for the software and dropping DRM software. Either to send, receive or generate information of some kind. In most cases it will be simple stuff, like your age, general location and search terms.

This might be kinda hard to understand- but if you ever go to some site (like RCNT or some other site that relies on advertising to make any kind of money) you will usually see ads. these ads can be for millions and millions of different products. If you ever see an add that is from, say.. Match maker.com that says "Meet girls in Dallas!" you have a dropper on your computer.This thing is simply telling match maker you live in Dallas and may be interested in finding someone from Dallas.


Either way- they are annoying. If you use any kind of P2P or torrent software you almost certainly have a couple kinds of small, unintrusive spyware/malware DRM's on your computer. First things first tho. Open your task manager and under "processes" look for stuff like "Internet Explorer Tool bar" or "when you save" sometimes it can even be named something you would never think to get rid of like "System 32.dll"


In most cases, if you find something in your task manager that you think might be causing a problem, shut it down. If it was a bad guy lurking in the shadows you just killed it. it it was a needed, viable system process your computer will just reboot and restart it. After you stop any suspicious stuff, find the root folder and/or registry keys and delete them for good measure.

If you are still having problems post here again and I will try to help you some more.
 
I use Norton, Spybot S&D, Spyware Doctor, AdAware SE and Spyware Blaster. Norton, of course is a purchase, but you can get the others as freeware from several sites.
You might be able to get more info from Answers That Work.com. It's an excellent site for finding out what certain things do and how to correct them.
 
I have never really been very fond of Norton. Granted- it does what it is supposed to, it kills bad guys... But it is such a resource hog some people have trouble using it. I usually tell my customers to shy away from all the free ware stuff out there and simply pay the 20 dollars or so to purchase a good, lean all in one program like AVG. Once you make the initial purchase you have the license for life, all the updates and access to other goodies like rootkit eliminators and such.

Another think to keep in mind- last month when I had that virus I actually found out that the biggest problem was what I had done. the virus found it's way into my system folders and I went crazy with three different antivirus programs- this led to the programs seeing malicious code in my windows folder and ultimately deleting those folders. If you purchase a program and it has an adverse effect on your computer you should have some kind of access to a knowledge base or other services related to disaster recovery provided by the program maker.
 
I've used Norton for years now, I found AVG was just to crappy, kept wanting to auto-update every damn day, so I just uninstalled it and never had any issues yet.
 
I've used Norton for years now, I found AVG was just to crappy, kept wanting to auto-update every damn day, so I just uninstalled it and never had any issues yet.



Not trying to sound rude... but wouldn't you rather have an antivirus/spyware program that updated to the newest definitions rather often?

MILLIONS, yes- millions of new DRM, Spyware, Virus and malware programs are created and set lose every single day.
 
Not trying to sound rude... but wouldn't you rather have an antivirus/spyware program that updated to the newest definitions rather often?

MILLIONS, yes- millions of new DRM, Spyware, Virus and malware programs are created and set lose every single day.


Actually, the AVG was conflicting with the Norton, my Norton auto updates every Monday, whereas the AVG wanted to do it every day and every time I used the internet.
 
I don't know if it will work on this one, but C-Cleaner has helped me get rid of some hard to remove spyware/malware programs. You can get it free at filehippo.com
 
The problem I had in that thread was caused by a specific website that somehow gained access to my computer. It would populate with pop-ups and other random crap and it was really, REALLY hard to get rid of- a complete system overhaul was long in the works so I just bit the bullet.

In your case "Dropper" does just what it says. it is finding certain areas of key interest to whomever is responsible for the software and dropping DRM software. Either to send, receive or generate information of some kind. In most cases it will be simple stuff, like your age, general location and search terms.

This might be kinda hard to understand- but if you ever go to some site (like RCNT or some other site that relies on advertising to make any kind of money) you will usually see ads. these ads can be for millions and millions of different products. If you ever see an add that is from, say.. Match maker.com that says "Meet girls in Dallas!" you have a dropper on your computer.This thing is simply telling match maker you live in Dallas and may be interested in finding someone from Dallas.


Either way- they are annoying. If you use any kind of P2P or torrent software you almost certainly have a couple kinds of small, unintrusive spyware/malware DRM's on your computer. First things first tho. Open your task manager and under "processes" look for stuff like "Internet Explorer Tool bar" or "when you save" sometimes it can even be named something you would never think to get rid of like "System 32.dll"


In most cases, if you find something in your task manager that you think might be causing a problem, shut it down. If it was a bad guy lurking in the shadows you just killed it. it it was a needed, viable system process your computer will just reboot and restart it. After you stop any suspicious stuff, find the root folder and/or registry keys and delete them for good measure.

If you are still having problems post here again and I will try to help you some more.

Not all of the ads work this way; Some do a DNS-based search, resolving your ip address. Key example, I live in Anderson, but when those ads sometimes crop up, they can say Redding, Redbluff, even Chico and Oroville (the last two being 60+ miles away, and where my ISP is ultimately routed through).
 
Agreed. If your ISP is based out of say, Gurneville Chicago, but you live in Libertyville some servers will actually host a sub-net mask for your computer, effectively giving it a completely useless IP address.

A lot of times if you use the bigger name companies they will do this to protect your information while online.

Still- Ads aren't dangerous, nor are DRM kits (Just ask SONY- they dropped them into MILLIONS of CD's just to prevent "pirating" But if you happen to click the wrong link and download an unauthenticated active X content frame you are pretty much at the sites mercey.
 
Agreed. If your ISP is based out of say, Gurneville Chicago, but you live in Libertyville some servers will actually host a sub-net mask for your computer, effectively giving it a completely useless IP address.

A lot of times if you use the bigger name companies they will do this to protect your information while online.

Still- Ads aren't dangerous, nor are DRM kits (Just ask SONY- they dropped them into MILLIONS of CD's just to prevent "pirating" But if you happen to click the wrong link and download an unauthenticated active X content frame you are pretty much at the sites mercey.

Agreed. However, the term you are thinking of in this case is "rootkit". Sony got the living daylights sued out of them for it. To this day, they still admit no wrong doing. Gee, go figure.

Now, while I'm on the subject, you (VB) may want to download and run a rootkit detector. The Microsoft Malicious whatchamacallit (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...E0-E72D-4F54-9AB3-75B8EB148356&displaylang=en) supposedly does the job, but there are other free solutions that work just as well, if not better.

This site will give you some good reading on what constitutes a rootkit, how to find it, and how to get rid of it: http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/rootkits.htm

It even has a link or two on how to prevent them.

Good luck VB!
 
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