While I have what I thought was good virus software, AVAST still let something called Vundo, which is about as nasty a Trojan as there is, into my system. I knew it was there but AVAST couldn't get rid of it and neither could Spybot which is usually pretty reliable. Symantec's Vundo Fix said I didn't even have the virus.
Things slowly got worse. First I lost my wireless print capability, then occasionally my internet connection and all the while the system ran slower. I kept trying thing to get rid of Vundo but nothing worked and if you Google all the tech sites, you'll see that it is a very difficult thing to dump. After I started getting random web page pop ups, and my automatic software updates from Microsoft as well as the XP firewall could no longer load leaving a red balloon in my system tray harping at me that my system was vulnerable (no shit, Sherlock) I resigned myself to re-loading XP. Finally, I figured when I booted this morning and got no desktop, simply wallpaper, the end was at hand. I re-booted in safe mode to copy a bunch of files I hadn't backed up and after I finished, I decided to take 1 final look for a solution before I started the dreaded system reload.
I found a tech forum where several people with similar problems were raving about a piece of free software called Malware Bytes. With nothing to lose, I downloaded it and tried it. It found a mess of Vundo files and when I quarantined them, it asked to reboot the system. Hallelujah, it worked!!
There was my desktop, the system was much faster, the wireless printer worked, no more red balloon and no more popups. I'm going to give it another few days and if all stays as is, I'll be dumping AVAST and going with their recommended Anti-virus, Avira and the PRO version of Malware Bytes for $24.95 for further protection. The best part is that if you are really stuck you can send them some files from your system that they will analyze and tell you how to fix.
By the way, who are these A-holes who write software like Vundo? And what about the sites that the pop-ups take you to? Do they really think anyone is going to buy their product when they land there because of a virus?









