February 20th, 2012 
Sophos After noticing my roommate took my computer to look at porn, my browser started acting funny and freezing.
I scanned it with mcafee, and almost immediately, it said that there was activity in the registry and it might be a rootkit, and suggested that I use either Mcafee Pre-scan or run the antivirus again in safe mode. I googled pre-scan but couldnt find out even what it was, let alone a legitimate place to download it. I ran mcafee in safe mode and it didnt find anything.
I then ran AVG free, and it didnt find anything but tracking cookies.
I then ran Sophos anti-rootkit and it found a lot of hidden programs but no clear threats (they were files in my game folders and such, and didnt suggest I do anything).
I had been using mozilla, so I uninstalled it, but internet explorer kept freezing too. At the moment I am using safari, and it has been working so far.
I ran ad-aware free and it didnt find anything but a couple more tracking cookies.
At this point im going to try hijackthis, but at this point, im not possitive if I have one. I am running Windows xp on bootcamp on a mac, so If it comes down to it i can wipe my hard drive without losing anything too important, but I would prefer not to because I have games on it. any help would be appreciated
Chosen Answer:
AVG has a rootkit scan too. Try searching with it. Or better download Norton 360. If it doesn’t finds anything then there is no risk.
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on: 14th December 09
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The best way is to reformat your computer
A rootkit is a program specifically designed to hijack the control of your operating system. A rootkit will typically be programmed to alter its own installation to prevent you from removing it through standard methods. Rootkits can also conceal running processes, applications and system data from your operating system.
Almost all computer operating systems have rootkits. If your PC is infected by a virus, adware or spyware, you can usually delete it with a basic antivirus program. However, a malicious rootkit will often install itself as a driver or kernel module and link itself to a rootkit. In this case, the deletion process will be far more difficult.
Secure Blacklight is one way to scan your computer for malicious rootkits and get rid of them.
Step 1Download Blacklight at the official F-Secure website. (See “Resources” below for the download link). You will be prompted to select what to do with the file. Save the file to your desktop, so you can easily access it later.
Step 2Once you have downloaded the file, double-click the file “blbeta.exe.” A license agreement will now appear. Click the radio button to accept the agreement and click “Next.”
Step 3You will now arrive at the scanning screen. Click the Scan button to begin scanning your computer. Blacklight will now scan your computer for any hidden rootkits. When the scanning process is complete, you can click Next to proceed to the next step.
Step 4If there were no hidden items found, you will see a screen telling you that there were no hidden items found on your computer. Press Exit to close out of the program. If hidden files were found by Blacklight, you will be presented with a screen showing all the files and process hidden on your computer. You can double-click each of the hidden files to view more information on the files.
Step 5Click OK on the confirmation screen that appears. You will be prompted to restart your computer, so click “Restart Now.”
AVG has a rootkit scan too. Try searching with it. Or better download Norton 360. If it doesn’t finds anything then there is no risk.
If you have mcafee, then you probably bought a subscription for it. You should know that mcafee’s detection rates are somewhere around 92%. AVG’s is near that too but its spyware detection is 85%. You should install Avast 5.0 beta (internet security found here avast.com/files/beta/5.0.259/setup_ais.exe). What’s good about it is that it has a sandbox feature(process virtualization) allowing you to run programs isolated so that Windows is not harmed, and software is not acutally installed.
As to malware on your computer, Avira is most likely the only way to go( it has 99.8% detection rate). Or you can backup your data and perform full system reformat and reinstall. Partition your dirve to two drives (C: and another drive which should be called D:). D: should store all your documents and all that is precious to you. Invest in some imaging product (must get either Acronis or Norton Ghost). Install Windows, install software, configure the computer to the way you like it, create system resotre point, then finally restart computer, do a full system image with Acronis. contact me for how to. I have done this routine hundreds and hundreds of times, I have almost perfected it. If you want to do Hijackthis, post the log on to http://www.techsupportforum.com.
As few removal toos such as McAfee Stinger, Avira AntiVir Removal Tool, and Avast virus ccleaner won’t hurt. STAY AWAY FROM AVG. I don’t know how it was before version 8.0, must have been good since people stand by it but since version 8.0, it has become just software that takes up space and resources, better not have any antivirus than hav AVG.
To ward off any dubious activities and to combat viruses already present on a computer system, I suggest you take a look at:
http://www.pcthreat.com/removers.html
If your system has been infected, you will be informed as to which PC threat is prevalent on the system, and be provided with removal instructions accordingly.
Remember to always keep your antivirus and anti-spyware applications up to date and fully functional.