Running MalwareBytes may not be enough. Run all eight steps here. The folks on that board are very knowledgeable and helpful. There’s usually more junk to get rid of that they’ll see from your logs and they’ll tell you how to do it.
Also, it is possible to get rid of the virus, but not all the changes the virus made. (ex: registry changes). Something to keep in mind if BitDefender doesn’t fix the issue.
I’m beginning to feel like Captain Ahab, with this virus being the White Whale.
Ran BitDefender rescue disc scanner and the Rootkit scanner that comes with it. Picked up a few things and baleeted them. The good news is that it seems to have solved some issues; Folder options have now returned and I can see hidden folders.
I can also update all my malware scanners without difficulty; before I always got some variation of ‘Server access forbidden’ or somesuch. Updated AVG free, MalwareBytes, Spybot, SUPERantispyware to the latest version and ran them for a fair few hours, didn’t dare go on the internet. When I tried connection was incredibly slow.
All of the updated scanners found something (trojan horses, some registry changes, a rogue impersinator of Avast, SUPERantispyware found a couple of rootkits), deleted everything found and reset.
Uninstalled Firefox and shredded overlay.xul, hopefully for the last time. So far…so good. Although My desktop folders now have a weird white border around them. If this doesn’t work I’m giving the experts where I posted my HJT log a couple of days to respond, then taking it in to see if the computar machine shop can do anything.
Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering virus; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all harddrives and all browsers to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned virus! Thus, I give up the scanner!
It sounds like the infection is gone, but the changes made by the virus are still fucking things up. If it were me, I’d backup everything I wanted to keep and reinstall Windows. Sucks, I know, but it sure beats taking it into the shop and having them say “dude, we need to reinstall Windows. Gimmie $100”
I feel a bit rude not having responded to all of the advice given so far. My frustration level rose to the point where punching nuns became my favorite activity.
This is what finally worked for me. Thanks!
Being too smart to get infected with viruses is practically a thing of the past, although there are ways to minimize your risks. For one thing, the Conficker virus works by exploiting a Windows vulnerability that was patched in October. That’s just one vulnerability from one month, and Microsoft releases patches for anywhere up to a dozen vulnerabilities that could allow a remote attacker to pwn you completely each month. If you haven’t updated your Windows, do so now.
More web applications are discovered with code-injection issues all the time, and this could make your trusted web sites betray you. There is no fix for this, though keeping your browser up-to-date is at least a guard against it. You’re still better off working with trusted sites if you’re on the net at all.
The easiest way to get yourself infected of course is to download and execute anything someone tells you to. Teenagers are easy marks for this kind of thing, because they hit the social networking sites frequently and are always happy to try to install a codec so they can see the video that inspired the tagline “OMFG, SHE DID WHAT!?!” or some other trick. They also tend to get their myspace pages hacked, because they think “password” is a clever password.
Hackers analyze Google to determine which key phrases you’re likely to look up and set up sites which will execute malicious script code on you, or try to convince you to download and execute a program.
McAfee Reveals Most Dangerous Search Terms
Searches for pictures of celebrities or pop stars will often get you directed to a malware site. Don’t go casually browsing for screensavers or ringtones.