Luder-F virus

[hermes]

My son's pc, running xp home, is infected with this virus. I have used avast, adaware and spybot but it keeps coming back, and in trying to eradicate it I have messed up loads of .exe files so some programmes no longer work.

I'm wondering if the best thing I can do is to format the disc and re-install windows or is there another option. There is no vital stuff on the pc but there are loads of old programmes and stuff that is no longer used. If I need to start over again do I just put in the xp disc and follow instructions?

 

[wanleg]

I'd format and reload to be sure it's gone....especially if you've now got correupted .exe's. Pop the XP CD in the CD drive and boot up...i'm fairly sure you'll get the option to format the partition prior to beong able to reload.

 

[wanleg]

Also did your PC come with a recovery CD provided by the manufacturer or did you purchase a retail or OEM copy of XP with the machine ?

 

[hermes]

no recovery cd.

 

[wanleg]

Go for it with the XP CD then.

 

[JohnD]

Did it help to disable System restore before running the virus tool?

(assuming you have a CD writer) copy all your data - incl Mail, favorites, Addressbook, documents - before you start. If you have been taking regular CD backups you will be half way there.

Don't copy them back to the rebuilt machine until after you have installed your antivirus, and scan the disk before copying it in.

 

[eggplant]

A couple of questions,

You say it keeps coming back, what is telling you this? your antivirus? WHY didnt your AV stop it in the first place? or did you not have any and installed AV when you had problems?

I would usually say to fix it but because you say you have "messed up loads of exe files" I would also say the best thing may be to wipe it.

 

[hermes]

I had av installed and it found the virus initially but then after a reboot I couldn't start the av. I ran adaware and it found more virus each time.

I uninstalled and re-installed the av and when it did it's first sytem scan it found a copy of the virus attached to just about every .exe file on the machine. Thousands I would think. It gave me various options and I set it to Move To Chest but after about 1/2 an hour it said it couldnt do that any more as the disc was full, so I set it to delete all. The trouble is I think it waS deleting the .exe files as well as the virus.

Some things still work but most don't. I never thought of a sysrestore, I'll try that later.

 

[pchelpman]

In view of your comments in the previous post I would echo eggplant's comments. Reformat to make sure you have removed the malware.

If you want to try something else here's what to do.

#First

Download and install AVG Anti Spyware (formerly Ewido) from here ....

http://www.ewido.net/en/

[It's a trial version but fully working; it still makes a good "on demand" scanner even when the trial is over]

Boot to safe mode ... scan with AVG AS and let it fix what it wants.

#Second

Go through all the steps here carefully ....

http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Pr...yware,_Adware,_and_Web_Browser_Hijackers.html

If the problem still isn't fixed, and you don't want to reformat, post a HijackThis log here for more specific removal advice.


PCH

 

[eggplant]

so I set it to delete all. The trouble is I think it waS deleting the .exe files as well as the virus.

doesnt sound good, if that is the case then no amount of antivirus or spypware scanning is going to put your system back to how it was and you are likely to see problems day ater day.