PC Help/Warning

[littlesprite]

Well this isn't about boats so might be in the wrong section, sorry.

 

I have just carried out a boot scan after advice from a friend (apparently it's a scan before windows starts) and this detected a problem which my normal scans were missing, the problem seems to date back as far as July so has been around for some time.

Paladin you may have the same problem as your username appears in the file somehow (I'm a total techno-phoebe so don't really understand most of this) if I'm wrong sorry to have troubled you.

 

The file/name that came up was:-

c:\users AppData\Roaming\Web Cake\dat\Paladin.dat\ is infected by win32:webcake-A(adw)

 

I don't know what any of that means, I don't know if Paladin has a problem but would advice they have a look.

If any or all of this is rubbish I apologise, just thought I would give people the heads up in case  it is important.

[jillR]

hi martin

 

its all over my head to but im sure peeps like jonzo will understand when they spot

 

your post

 

jill

[Hockham Admiral]

Martin, Hi. I use Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows7. Here's what they say about webcakes:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/threat/encyclopedia/Entry.aspx?Name=Adware:Win32/WebCake

[Hockham Admiral]

Also "Paladin.dat" may have nothing to do with our member.....

 

http://www.digikey.co.uk/Suppliers/uk/greenlee.page?lang=en&WT.srch=1&WT.medium=cpc&WT.mc_id=IQ60966459-VQ2-g-VQ6-24324285386-VQ15-1o2-VQ16-c

 

or

 

http://www.prevx.com/filenames/X1798695903558041113-X1/PALADIN.DAT.html

[Guest]

Also "Paladin.dat" may have nothing to do with our member.....

 

 

I'd agree with HA, it's much more likely to be a coincidence in the name. 

 

The word "Paladin" is defined as " A paragon of chivalry; a heroic champion,  A strong supporter or defender of a cause"

 

It was therefore chosen as the name for an antivrus/anti malware product.

 

These then often become the target name for malware and virus writers.

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/#psj=1&q=Paladin.dat+malware

 

(the second hit in that Google search mentions webcake as well).

 

 

I'd never thought of the choice of a user name being a potential embarrassment in that way, I'm glad I chose "Strowager", it just means an American undertaker who invented the automatic telephone exchange...  

[littlesprite]

Thanks for the replies everyone but my reason for posting was because I had tried all the normal Microsoft essentials, malewarebytes, cc cleaner, and they either weren't finding the virus, or found it cleaned it and then it would return on reboot.

I had also tried the control panel delete a programme option and again it would work but return on reboot, Looking at the Jonzo link it seems I wasn't the only person who experienced this problem.

 

Running the boot scan has worked and cleared the problem, it is something to do with getting the virus before it is running and able to conceal itself or something of that sort. My post was just a warning to other people who might suffer the same problem.

 

Once again thanks for your replies and apologies to Paladin for confusing you with a virus. 

[MauriceMynah]

What is a boot scan?

How do I do a boot scan?

Be gentle with me, I'm not very bright! 

[littlesprite]

Hi JTF,

I can't give you any technical details because I haven't got a clue but it runs the scan when you first turn the computer on before starting windows, I used a programme called Avast (on advice from my friend) it seems that some virus can hide once they are running.

I know I'll sound like the biggest idiot here but another thing he told me that I was doing wrong:-

I have a second hard drive outside the computer for back-up and it backs-up automatically every week, the first thing that I was doing wrong was the auto bit, I should do it manually after doing a virus scan (backing up virus is not a good idea.

The second thing I was doing was not running a scan on the back-up drive.

 

I guess I'm pretty dumb when it comes to technology.

[littlesprite]

Just to prove how dumb I am!

You have to set the boot scan with the computer switched on, then you shut it down and it runs on restart.

Also, you must only have 1 anti-virus running at a time, so if you use Avast disable any you already have running, when finished you can then disable Avast and restart the other.

[Paladin]

littlesprite, i can assure you that no apology is necessary. This isn't the first time my username has been 'cloned', but I am happy to report that I am not, nor do I have, a virus. In fact, I had my 'flu jab just this morning

 

Another coincidence...I ran a full virus and diagnostic scan on my PC last night , as my dvd/cd player has decided not to read discs anymore. The only thing the scan told me was that...my dvd/cd player doesn't read discs. Don't you just love computers!

[Guest]

What is a boot scan?

How do I do a boot scan?

Be gentle with me, I'm not very bright! 

 

Martin has explained it quite well, despite his modesty at not claiming a great knowledge of IT !

 

All computers "boot up" their operating software when they are switched on.

 

The phrase came from the "boot strap loader" program, which was coined by the phrase "pulling oneself up by one's boot laces".

 

That means, quite literally, that the hardware of a PC is quite ignorant, only knowing how to run an initial program as directed by the boot sector on the hard disc.

 

That program is the "operating system", usually Windows itself.  Once that has loaded, the PC screen shows the familiar desktop and awaits the user's instructions.

 

Some viruses infect the boot process, so they manage to infect windows before it loads, and before the main virus program sets up the protection.

 

To eradicate a boot virus, the fixing program has to leave a hook for itself to run when the PC is shut down and restarted, before windows takes over.

[MauriceMynah]

Thanks Strow, and Little sprite, That's the what, now please tell me the how?

I think I have a problem, so how do I deal with it?

Ps, I  am running both Norton and Microsoft Essentials.

[littlesprite]

The only way I know how is using Avast (only need the free version) one of the scan options is for a boot scan which you select and the next time your computer starts it goes into the boot scan, (it does take a long time depending on your file sizes)

 

http://www.avast.com/get/NHCPDcTM

[Hockham Admiral]

Thanks Strow, and Little sprite, That's the what, now please tell me the how?

I think I have a problem, so how do I deal with it?

Ps, I  am running both Norton and Microsoft Essentials.

Is there really any point in running both? I waited until the installed Norton a/v ran out after a year and then just installed Essentials.

 

Can one mess up the other if they're both trying to achieve the same object?

 

I use Avast on my android and it's a good one.

[Guest]

Is there really any point in running both? I waited until the installed Norton a/v ran out after a year and then just installed Essentials.

 

Can one mess up the other if they're both trying to achieve the same object?

 

I use Avast on my android and it's a good one.

 

It certainly used to be strongly advised against.

 

Several reasons, each one slows the computer down, each checking files before running.

 

I use three security programs, but each one has a specific purpose, and all are completely free.

 

Zone Alarm as a firewall, because the Windows one doesn't block outgoing, so with that any program is free to respond with God knows what about your usage, even if it doesn't need Internet access. (Hardware firewalls in routers don't block outgoing either).

 

Malwareytes Anti-Malware - because most antivrus programs don't protect against Malware.

 

AVG, but now changing to Avast, as my main antivirus program.  I used AVG for years, but the free version has become far to "Naggy", and it has so frequent large program updates, a real pain when on slow BB access.

[mjt]

Strowager, I'd be wary of Avast. I and many others have stopped using it because the installer now also silently installs the Google Chrome browser. Ok I suppose if you already use it but a pain in the neck if you don't want it. By 'silently' I mean it doesn't inform you of the install or give you the option not to have it so your only recourse is then to un-install it afterwards and as we all know the Windows un-installer leaves a lot of redundant junk on your hard drive, not least in the registry.

 

I've now switched to MSE. I also used to use Zone Alarm but gave up on that some time ago as I'd started to have problems with certain applications (I can't now remember what they were due to senility setting in ).

[Guest]

Strowager, I'd be wary of Avast. I and many others have stopped using it because the installer now also silently installs the Google Chrome browser. Ok I suppose if you already use it but a pain in the neck if you don't want it. By 'silently' I mean it doesn't inform you of the install or give you the option not to have it so your only recourse is then to un-install it afterwards and as we all know the Windows un-installer leaves a lot of redundant junk on your hard drive, not least in the registry.

 

I've now switched to MSE. I also used to use Zone Alarm but gave up on that some time ago as I'd started to have problems with certain applications (I can't now remember what they were due to senility setting in ).

 

It's good to hear that some other people regard Chrome as being a very invasive browser !  

 

Yes, I noticed the damn thing was being installed silently, but luckily zone alarm spotted it's request for web access, so I knobbled it immediately.  I tried it a few years ago and was very worried at how often it accessd the internet, even when the Chrome browser application wasn't running. I feel very strongly about tracking and privacy.

 

Yes, Zone Alarm does clash occasionally with some apps, but I've found the solution there to use older versions of Zone Alarm. Unlike Antivrus programs, firewalls don't need regular definition updates.

 

Yes MSE is getting good feedback from users, but I find you get more control over third party security programs, rather than Microsoft's options.

[mjt]

In general I'd prefer not to rely on Microsoft for internet security because I can't rid myself of the suspicion that they surreptitiously gather data about my system and usage but I got so fed up with Avast that I didn't feel I had any choice. Apart from the fact that I thought their strategy for installing Chrome was totally unethical I felt that their A-V program was becoming too 'naggy' as well. The more recent versions kept sandboxing software that I'd used for years so I was forever having to set up overrides for them. Then all those overrides seemed to get reset at the next program update. It was all getting just too annoying.

 

The one thing about MSE that I'm not really happy about is the lack of feedback from it. I had Avast set to notify me when virus database updates were available which occurred on a daily basis, sometimes more than once. MSE doesn't have that option.

 

I just took a look at the Windows firewall advanced settings and there's a whole heap of outgoing rules available but I haven't a clue what they are. I wonder if it's possible to set it up to block the same sets of outgoing access requests as Zone Alarm. Any thoughts (I'm running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit)?

 

I have the Disconnect plug-in on my Firefox browser to block tracking.

[Guest]

Yes, me too, Bill Gates's empire is big enough with just Windows, nice to have as much independence as possible with other software.

 

I confess I've only just started using Avast again, having been with AVG for several years. I'll keep an eye on it and will soon dump it if it gives me the same problems you had.

 

I run a number of OS's on several computers, XP, W7 64, Apple 10, and Android.

 

I've never had the patience to experiment with windows firewall, my worry would be that even if I could trust it to block outgoing requests from third party programs, I'd never be sure what it was doing with Microsoft components, (back to your first point again).