{"id":1477,"date":"2014-11-23T16:48:02","date_gmt":"2014-11-23T22:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/?p=1477"},"modified":"2014-11-23T17:17:08","modified_gmt":"2014-11-23T23:17:08","slug":"computer-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/?p=1477","title":{"rendered":"Computer Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I get asked a lot of questions about the best tools for cleaning an infected computer and thought a quick article might help.<\/p>\n

This article provides a hands-on list of utilities that I rely on for cleaning infected computers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Has my identity been stolen? Are hackers logged in to my bank account? I don\u2019t want to scare you, but anything is possible. Let\u2019s hope everything is fine.<\/p>\n

Please also see: Safe Computing: Best Practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Your computer might be infected if\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are seeing popups all the time or you can\u2019t browse the internet.<\/p>\n

When you got your computer it didn\u2019t have all of these popups and annoyances. What happened? Most likely, you (or someone you know) did something while using the computer that they shouldn\u2019t have. Now something has dug in deep. What is it?<\/p>\n

Who cares? Let\u2019s get rid of it! Here\u2019s how\u2026<\/p>\n

Where do I start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You might need access to the internet. If you are connected to your network but can\u2019t get out to the internet check your internet settings (in Windows: Start > Control Panel > Internet Options). In Windows, unless you are an internet genius, you shouldn\u2019t be using a Proxy Server (for non-geniuses, if this option is checked, it\u2019s BAD). Click on the Connections tab and go to LAN Settings. \u201cUse a proxy server\u201d should not normally be checked. If it is checked, uncheck it. Click OK a few times, close all the windows and see if your internet is working.<\/p>\n

The rest of this article assumes you have access to the internet.<\/p>\n

Start with trojan and anti-virus removal tools.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no idea what you just said. That\u2019s okay, I\u2019m not getting into definitions right now. Also, for reference, all of the newest EXE direct downloads I use are located HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First I use Kaspersky Lab\u2019s TDSS Killer<\/a>. Follow the visual instructions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After TDSS Killer is done my next step is McAfee Stinger. You should use Stinger 64-bit<\/a> or Stinger 32-bit<\/a> based on the same version as your operating system. In Windows, open your Start Menu and right click on \u201cMy Computer\u201d, \u201cComputer\u201d or \u201cThis PC\u201d and then select \u201cProperties\u201d. If you don\u2019t see anything about \u201c64-bit\u201d then your computer is 32-bit. Please follow the visual instructions for McAfee Stinger here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reboot as\/if needed.<\/p>\n

Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up, Malwarebytes Antimalware<\/a>. Full scan here please.<\/p>\n

More to come\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I get asked a lot of questions about the best tools for cleaning an infected computer and thought a quick article might help. This article provides a hands-on list of utilities that I rely on for cleaning infected computers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-1477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/binary-digital.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FmUa-nP","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1477"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sodpit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}