How to remove malware
My son downloaded MSPaint but it appears the download was infected with malware. It downloaded several programs that weren't approved including the Bucksbee Loyalty plugin. I thought that when I removed it I would be able to use Google once again as my default search engine. But somehow Bucksbee is still the default. Google is also listed as my default search engine in about:config. SO somehow the malware has hijacked that setting as well.
When I do some searches by clicking on Google search results it takes me to sites like Match.com rather than this site for example.
I've found the MSPaint software in my Windows/System 32 folder. When I try to delete it I get an error saying Trusted Installer won't permit it.
I ran my Spybot software hoping it would catch & remove the program. But it didn't.
Anyone have any idea about how to neutralize & remove this nasty bit of malware?
Valgt løsning
I will comeback and post further info but first of all
- have you seen
- do you know whether
- This is affecting only Firefox, or also other browsers and other aspects of the computer
- do you think all original malware has now been successfully removed
Resolution will break down into a number of stages and may necessitate require obtaining advice from specialist malware sites/forums (I can make a suggested listing of sites/tools)
- identify and quarantine or remove original malware files
- change or reset settings & alterations caused by the malware
- preventing this from re-occurring
Alle svar (5)
Valgt løsning
I will comeback and post further info but first of all
- have you seen
- do you know whether
- This is affecting only Firefox, or also other browsers and other aspects of the computer
- do you think all original malware has now been successfully removed
Resolution will break down into a number of stages and may necessitate require obtaining advice from specialist malware sites/forums (I can make a suggested listing of sites/tools)
- identify and quarantine or remove original malware files
- change or reset settings & alterations caused by the malware
- preventing this from re-occurring
Thanks. I downloaded Malwarebytes as suggested at the link you posted & it found a bunch of Trojans and other vulnerabilities. After I restarted the computer AVG also detected something which I removed. Now Firefox & my search engines are performing as usual.
Thanks so much.
Thanks for posting back. Glad you solved the problem. Sometimes you may also later need to reset some things, as depending what you had settings may have been messed up by the malware.
One added issue I noted that wasn't fixed by Malwarebytes. As you noted above, I did need to fix a setting altered by the virus. It had changed my about:config settings so that keyword.url was set to serp.freecause.com the BucksBee search engine URL. Annoying.
Now BucksBee is blessedly gone!
Ændret af Richard Silverstein den