Spyware Warrior

[SpyWarrior]

I hope I post this in the right place.

I just reinstalled my computer. I have no virus, no spyware, it's totally cleaned.

I'm using Windows XP SP1. And whenever I have my firewall (one that comes with xp, the default) off My computer mysteriously shutdown and restart the computer while I leave it on downloading stuff and go to bed. I will not know when it got autorestart windows, infact I'm not sure if it got restarted! All I see when I turn my monitor back on is ... like i just turned on my computer. IF I have firewall on, this doesn't happen.

I've used windows xp sp2 and this never happen because it has firewall and can block a specific program or unblock it. So that mean with SP2 I can leave it on and go sleep. No problem there.

However this story is for SP1 or windows xp pro without SP. And another things happen along the way is the harddrive led. You know if you look in front of your system unti you have two LED light. One is green to let you know that your computer is on and while the red one tells you if your harddrive is spinning (writting stuff or not)... well, I woke up and see the red LED light on just like the green and it doesn't blink! which it should blink! I have this same problem in the past and was never able to solve it myself. I tried restart the computer and reinstall the computer many times that the LED is not fix.

This time I got a new computer and now it happened again and here I am looking for help. Because I know if I reinstall windows it will not fix it and I'm wondering... how does the computer know to turn on that hdd LED light as soon you press the "power" button???

EDIT: Wow. I just used TCPView and found that I got infected by msBlast.exe.... I hope this thing doesn't delete/modify my files..

Anyway about the LED anyone know why it's not blinking? or is this the result of msblast?

[Moore]

Hi SpyWarrior..

Do you have an always on broadband / cable connection ? And you turned your firewall off while still connected to the internet ?

Msblast can easily infect computers unprotected by a firewall , and can easily be blocked if your firewall is running.. I cant say much about those LED lights , msblast may just have your cpu running overtime ..

I think you should take a look here for information on how try and fully remove msblast:
http://www.pchell.com/virus/msblast.shtml


If you get the autoshutdown in 60 secs warning at any time, use this command to stop the shutdown..

go to start -> run -> [ type in ] : shutdown -a


A online virus scan woud also be a good idea from at least two of these sites :

1) Trend Housecall - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
2) RAV AntiVirus Scan Online - http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
3) Panda's ActiveScan - http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/
4) BitDefender Online Virus Scan - http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
5) McAfee FreeScan - http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp


If you dont have an antivirus installed , now would be a perfect time.

You can find more recommended anti-virus tools here :
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=2956


Also look into replacing that limited windows firewall with a proper personal software firewall..

I would recommend Outpost , but if your new to firewalls you may be best to start with something like the free version of Zonealarm..
>ZA FREE Download link<

Some further information on personal firewalls:
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=770



You can also turn off XP's default auto restart settings if you wish , following the information here :
http://www.tweakxp.com/tweak433.aspx


And if you are going to leave your computer connected to the net while your asleep , please dont turn off your firewall.
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[Blinn]

msblast

That was also my "wake-up call" to the world of malware. Within minutes, it turned my naive joy with my new $1300 computer into hours of frustration. Here is what I did if Moore's suggestions don't fix you up:

1. I couldn't get the viruses (had more than just msblast by then) out of my system, so I reformatted the drive. Maybe you don't need to go to this extreme, but I knew nothing about computers at the time so thats all I thought of. The HD was basically empty anyway, so I didn't lose anything.
2. Loaded Windows again but kept the computer unplugged into the internet.
3. Went to my old computer, downloaded ZoneAlarm and burned it to CD. Put it in my new computer and installed ZA. This was necessary because my new install of Windows XP does not come with a firewall.
4. Plug in the internet connection. IMMEDIATELY go to Windows Update to fix up vulnerabilities, get Service Packs. Then make sure you download all other security software and updates (such as Spywareblaster, WinPatrol, Spywareguard, Spybot...) before you do any surfing. Also don't forget your resident anti-virus program.

Don't go roaming around the web until you set up your computer to be ready for the junk floating out there.

[Nick]

Moved from Talk About it
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Nick's Security Ticker

[SpyWarrior]

Wow you guy. Can't believe the reply.

Thank you for putting in alot of your time!!

I'm on dialup because I don't like my data being stolen. That's the main reason otherwise I would have gone highspeed all the way.