The other day I fixed a computer infected with Privacy Center. The name made me laugh since the privacy offered by this rogue program is like walking naked downtown and handing out your credit card numbers, e-mail address, and cell phone number at the same time. Malwarebytes cleaned it up quite easily. All you have to do is download, save, and run Malwarebytes. It should update automatically the first time you use it but after that you’ll need to click the Update tab manually to get the updated malware definitions. Run Malwarebytes once a week or more to protect yourself.

And as always your comments are very welcome.

Ms. Ducktoes really feels for the readers whose computers have the Hallmark card virus. So many of you are still coming to this blog for a fix. This has been going on for months.

Since so many of you are still getting infected, today I went on-line to do a more research. I was wondering if there were any new variants etc.

What I found troubled me:

The links lead to a Youtube video which pretends to be a Tutorial but really is an ad for AntispywareOn.com, a rogue anti-virus site that will give you–you guessed it–more spyware and viruses. You can play the video without getting infected but don’t go to AntivirusOn.com. The video’s not much to see; it’s mostly obscured by big letters telling you to go to AntivirusOn.com. Click here to see the video.

Now here’s a video that’s more interesting. The video maker “Video search engine” infects a virtual machine with what you get on AntivirusOn.com and makes a video of the result. And, oh dear, the result looks surprisingly familiar: like another variant of the Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009!

Ms. Ducktoes wants to stamp her (web) foot, she’s so sick of the Hallmark card virus and the Windows XP Anti-virus!!!

If you have the Hallmark virus, don’t go to AntivirusOn.com and even get more spyware and viruses. I’m sure some of you have already.

If you need to remove the Hallmark Card virus, the Windows Xp Anti-virus 2008/2009 or any other spyware, try this first.

If you already have bad spyware problems and can’t download the anti-spyware abovego here for a fix.

Good luck and as always your comments are most welcome.

A botnet uses spyware and malware to lure you into being one of its zombie computers. And then uses your computer for spamming, storing credit card numbers and other personal data such as passwords and account numbers, distributing illegal types of porn, and creating a its own captive and huge search and advertising network. If you are part of that type of botnet, you can’t search on Google or Yahoo or other legitimate search site, you are captive to that botnet’s search engine and their dedicated services and ads.

Also as a zombie your computer will be strange and slow. You’ll be forced to use a bogus search engine and ads you don’t want. It will seem as if something has taken over your computer. It has. A botnet!

Here’s a free tool RuBotted from Trend Micro that will remove your computer from the botnet, and the botnet from your computer.

Ms. Ducktoes used it on a computer that was so slow it took 20 minutes to boot. And found and removed a botnet from Russia caused by Windows XP Antivirus 2008!

So try it out and let me know if you discover a botnet on your computer. Click here to leave a comment. Ms. Ducktoes wants to hear from you.

This year Ms. Ducktoes has added more free anti-spyware to our regulars: Spybot and Ad-Aware SE, which have been on our best anti-spyware list for years.

At Ducktoes we fight spyware on computers everyday and these are our the most potent and useful.

1. Malwarebytes
Our top best free anti-spyware of the year is this newbie (at least to us).
This free-antispyware is the newest and trendiest trick Calgary techies have up their sleeves. At all the tech workshops I’ve been to, everyone’s talking about it. And what’s more, Malwarebytes lives up to the hype, since it is like an avenging angel against potent malware. It nails it!!!

2. SuperAntiSpyware
Here’s another new-to-me and probably new-to-you anti-spyware that is true to its name. It’s a Super hero – really effective against the Hallmark card and other difficult malware.

3. Dr. Web Cureit. Dr. Web Cureit is a dynamo against some of the new malware. Dr. Web is from a Russian company and is endorsed my the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Since so much spyware and malware is coming from Russia these days, I imagine the Dr. Web people have prior first-hand exposure to it and fight it effectively sooner than some other anti-spyware fighters. It worked well against many nasties for me.

4. Spybot Search and Destroy – Some techs talk about this tried and true anti-spyware (an experienced anti-spywre, no actually, the archetype) as no longer as effective as the newer malware fighters. However this just ain’t true. Spybot’s version 1.6 has a much improved detection and faster scan speed. And the new version 2–almost ready for release–will knock our socks off!

5. Ad-Aware 2008 Another familiar favorite that has gone through a major overhaul. Ad-Aware is the most popular anti-spyware on CNET’s Download.com, no mean feat! All those people must know something we ought to get in on.

And of course there are a few best anti-spyware that aren’t free. But I’ll have to save those for a different post.

To use these best anti-spyware, it never hurts to run more than one, or even, run them all. One at a time. In fact sometimes that’s an excellent way to fignt the Worst Spywares of the year Windows XP Anti-virus 2008/2009 and the Hallmark Card virus. See the post.

And as always, I treasure and welcome your comments.

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The worst spyware of 2008 (in my experience) is certainly Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009 or one of its many variations. This malware invades a computer in one of many ways, usually bundled with a video codec, or freeware or shareware, or sometimes when you accidentally go to (drive by) a bad website.

Infected computers display warnings and scans that look like Window alerts. They lead you–the besieged users–to buy the rogue product for $40. If you buy the rogue software then the fraudsters now have access to your credit card. (Call your credit card company immediately if this is the case.) And the purchase of the rogue anti-spyware does nothing to relieve the infection, in fact it takes over your computer to make it part of its botnet. This is the part I don’t understand. From my experience the infection makes the computer so totally crippled it can’t function, and for this reason I question how well it would serve even a botnet. But that according to this article is the intention.

And here’s another article about it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/technology/internet/30virus.html?th&emc=th

I find Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009 extremely difficult to remove. Sometimes it comes back even after a Windows Repair from the cd.

Here’s a post that tells how to remove it.

The spyware that seems to have affected the most readers of this blog, is the Hallmark Card virus. So it is the 2nd Worst Spyware of 2008. Here’s how to remove it.

And here’s a great slideshow by Channel Web showing the top ten malware in the news.

Sometimes spyware gets so bad, it’s hard to do anything. You can’t go online and download Malwarebytes or Spybot or any anti-spyware (see this post), because your browser–that is, your Internet Explorer or Firefox–is hijacked and redirected and won’t let you go anywhere of use and certainly won’t let you download anything. So you take the next step, and reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking by tapping F8 as the computer restarts. But sometimes even in Safe Mode, the malware keeps you from downloading anti-spyware or, if you manage to download it, running it. So now you face reformatting your hard drive and losing all your data and the programs, at least the programs you’ve lost your disks to, or never had disks for in the first place.

What do you do now? You take the computer to a tech who nine times out of ten will recommend reformatting. Or you find a tech like Ms. Ducktoes who will fight the malware without reformatting. Ask your tech if he or she will do this. Ask if he will use Malwarebytes or SuperAntispyware or Spyware Doctor with Antivirus.

Or…you can do this.
1. Go to the computer store and buy a device that lets your hard drive to another computer by USB. It’s called a USB to IDE/Sata Adapter and costs from $25 to $35 dollars.

2. Find another Windows computer either your own or a friend’s or relative’s. Download and update Malwarebytes and AVG and SuperAntispyware and Spybot to that second computer. (You have many choices, just make sure you use Malwarebytes and AVG among them.)

3. Turn off the power to badly infected computer and unattach the cables. Open up the case of the and remove the hard drive. Some cases will have large buttons to push–like Dell– others will have screws. Remove the case.

Make sure your computer is turned off and unplugged before you do this.

4. The hard drive will have a wide-band white/gray cable attached to it and a four-prong power cable.

Here is the power cable. You can see a bit of the ribbon cable in back of it.

5. Remove the cables. (Take a digital photo with your camera or cell phone if you think you may forget how they are attached.

What a ribbon cable looks like

5. You’ll probably have to unscrew the hard drive from the where it is attached to the case.

6. After removed, attach the hard drive to the right (same size) IDE/SATA adapter and plug in the power.

Here the hard drive is attached to the adapter.

7. Connect USB cable to the USB port of the second computer.

Plug the USB cable into the USB port of the second computer.

The computer should recognize that new hardware has been attached. If you go into My Computer, you’ll see it as a USB mass storage device and listed as a letter such as E, F, G, or H, depending on how many cd/dvd and hard drives are on that computer.

You'll see this alert "Found New Hardware" in the right-hand corner of your computer screen.

This window will appear on your desktop. Choose the "Open folder to view files" option.

Your hard drive is attached!

7. Now run the anti-spyware and anti-virus programs one at a time. If you can, do a custom scan and single out the attached hard drive. Let each anti-spyware run and then remove or quarantine the viruses.

This is the AVG interface. It allows you to pick the hard drive you want to scan. Here E and F are selected.

8. If you have enough skill, go into the desktop of that drive (the one that is connected by USB) and copy and paste the Malwarebytes installer to the desktop of your user. Find the All Users desktop folder and drag the MBAM installer icon into the window.

Drag Mbam icon into the "All Users" desktop folder.

Then you can run it later when you reattach the hard drive in its own computer.

9. Unattach the hard drive from the USB and put it back into its own case. Reattach the cables all the way so they fit snuggly. Start up the computer. You should now be able to go into Safe Mode with Networking and download the anti-spyware and run it. You still will have a lot of spyware to contend with but now you have more of an edge. If you put the Malwarebytes icon (Mbam) on the desktop you can click on it and run it. Make sure that you update it.

Good luck and let Ms. Ducktoes know how it goes. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

See this post for more detailed information on how to download and run the anti-spyware.

I’m concerned. Today while researching the Hallmark card and postcard.exe virus, I got these results on Google.

Image of Google Results

The highlighted result in the middle leads to a download site for Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009, a rogue Antivirus that is really a deadly virus for your computer. I mean a nasty.

So this is the dramatic scenario, my innocent ducklings, you receive a Hallmark card or other e-card e-mail. You know you are not supposed to open attachments on e-mails especially those ending with .exe or .dll but on this e-mail there are none. So you feel safe. There is a link, however, for you to see the Hallmark card (or other e-card) someone sent you. You click the link. Instead of an ecard, your computer fills with the Hallmark card virus, and depending on what variant you download, a pretty bad virus.

Your computer is now looking and acting strange. You’re worried. You search online for solutions. You search for “Hallmark card virus removal”. You get results such as the ones above. You may luck out and click Ducktoes or another legitimate antispyware site or you may click a link to the fraudulent rogue anti-virus Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009 above. Immediately your computer starts to fill with an even more lethal virus. So now you have one bad virus and one very bad virus.

The fraudulent website looks like this:

Bogus Antivirus Site

Now Ms. Ducktoes has to go to her day job fixing computers and get back to this later. Please be careful until then. Let me know what’s happening to your computer right now, so I have more information on what new variants there are and the type of frustation and problems you’re having, so I can help you more effectively.

Click on the Comment or No comment tag below. Or e-mail me at admin@ducktoes.com.

And the virus removal techniques in yesterday’s post about How to Fix Vundo in Safe Mode should also be quite effective agains the Hallmark Card and Windows XP Anti-virus. Give them a try. Until later.

Also I’m curious. What spyware or virus are you struggling with right now? Or if you don’t know, what symptoms do you have? I invite your comments. Comment here.

People often think that if they have an antivirus software such as Norton they are safe against malware. This is a dangerous misconception that creates a lot of work (and $!!!) for techies like Ms. Ducktoes.

Most anti-virus programs fight only viruses and provide very poor protection for the increasingly dangerous and sophisticated malware and spyware on the web.

It never hurts to have more than one antispyware. Thousands of malware and spyware are developed for the first time or re-versioned everyday (to elude detection) and no one antispyware can catch it all.

If you want real time, effective protection that just runs automatically on your computer without effort or knowledge on your part, then buy Spyware Doctor. Otherwise you need to run many antispyware and learn how to use them.

Below are the best ones for you to try:

• MalwarebytesAntiMalware – Malwarebytes removes most malware quite effectively. Many techs now use it as their first defence against difficult spyware.

My son at university called and asked how he could remove some bad malware that his antivirus and anti-spyware couldn’t catch or remove. His computer was so bad he was thinking of reformating his drive. I told him to try Malwarebytes, and it fixed the problem.

I’ve used it against a bad case of Windows XP AntiVirus 2008. I had to use it in combination with other anti-spyware applications, but it did most of the work.

• Dr. Web CureIt

This is a feisty little program that got rid of some potent meanies on clients’ machines. I encountered it in my search to find effective anti-spyware solutions for some of the BAD malware out there. It seemed quite useful against Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009. Dr. Web Cureit is created by a Russian company and is endorsed by the Ministry of the Defence of the Russian Federation. Now there’s an endorsement most antispywares can’t claim.

• SuperAntiSpyware

Whoa. This one really caught a lot on the spyware tests I put it through.

Antivirus Tools

AVG 8 Free for Personal Use
Avast!

“What’s the difference is between spyware and viruses?” people often ask.

A virus is vandalism. Or rather self-perpetuating vandalism. it doesn’t really do anything for anyone, including it’s creators. No one makes money on viruses. A virus just breaks into a computer and makes a big mess. It writes grafitti of code all over your data and registry. It damages computers by smashing your OS against the wall, so to speak. It also spreads. But no one makes a profit on it. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and energy.

On the other hand, spyware (including adware and trojan horses) can make money for its creators. Profit’s its aim. It spies on your computer–and therefore, you–trying to get credit card numbers or bank account numbers and passwords. Maybe it forces you (hijacks your browser) to go to a bogus search engine, so instead of Google or Yahoo or Live Search, only the Adware’s ineffective Search Engine, and all its advertisers will open. Your computer and you are therefore captives to the bogus search engine’s ads. Or with less malicious forms, it just collects information on your interests and sends you ads, specialized just for you. Or in the case of rogue anti-spyware, it pretends to be a legitimate anti-virus or anti-spyware, trying to get you to buy it, but really doesn’t work against any viruses or spyware, except ones that it deposited into your computer.

In the case of Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009, it seems to be a combination of spyware and virus. It not only floods your computer with spyware and steals your credit card numbers, it also behaves like a virus and returns after you think you’ve gotten rid of it. It also, left untreated, trashes your computer like a virus. It’s a nasty.

I hope this makes things clearer.

Now be good little duckies and never go without anti-spyware and anti-virus protection…And stay away from porn sites and P2Ps, where you’re guaranteed to pick up terrible computer diseases. If you must go to porn sites, at least practice safe computer sex and use top of the line anti-spyware protection such as Spyware Doctor. Even if you never go to dangerous sites, your computer can pick up spyware almost anywhere and that is why anti-spyware is necessary for all computer. And for those who can’t live with a free P2P please use this one.

Ms. Ducktoes is still in a flap due Windows Xp Anti-virus 2008/2009. Too many people are losing everything on their computers and having to reformat their hard drives. People are losing irreplaceable family photos. Businesses are losing all their contacts and documents at enormous expense.

If your computer is infected, you can fix it without losing your precious photos, music, business data, and files. Spyware Doctor with Antivirus is one easy, no fuss solution. And as a bonus, afterward, your computer will be safe against future infections of other types of malware. Otherwise if the malware progresses, you’ll may lose everything and end up hiring a tech to reinstall your operating system. Save yourself a lot of trouble and cost now and by using this top-rated anti-spyware. It repairs Windows XP Antivirus and many other difficult malwares.

Windows XP Antivirus 2008/2009 is a rogue antivirus. It is made by criminals in Russia. They’re trying to get your money by invading your computer. Their malware manufactures fake alerts about trojans and spyware right on your desktop. Eventually it’ll wreck your operating system. And if you actually buy this fraudulent product, the owners steal your credit card numbers. And then flood your computer with even more spyware and malware. It can be difficult to remove and hides deep in the coding of the operating system. Once removed, it tends to return.

So all you darling ducklings out there everywhere, never buy anything that creates ads or alerts right on your desktop. No legitimate company invades your desktop (nest-top) like that.

The creators of this destructive malware are generating many, many versions of their malware. This is to make it difficult for anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to catch, remove, or heal all the different variants. Elizabeth Rood of PC Tools says, “…last count, we have defined at least 22 variants of the program being offered. They (creators of Windows XP Antivirus 2008) update the program every week, however, so keeping up is tricky. I believe the changes in the program behavior are being randomized via an automated programming method.”

To get rid of this menace once and for all, this is what she and I recommend:
1. Instead of just Spyware Doctor, purchase Spyware Doctor with Antivirus.
2. Update Spyware Doctor with Antivirus and then run multiple scans.
3. After running one full scan, reboot in safe mode (Restart computer, tap F8 as computer starts up, choose Safe Mode.)
4. It typically takes more than one scan to remove it.

I found Spyware Doctor with Antivirus very effective against Windows XP Antivirus. If you just want to get rid of this terrible danger to you computer easily and prevent future dangers of all types, then get Spyware Doctor with Antivirus. It’ll remove Windows XP Antivirus now, at this instant. Click the small ad of Spyware Doctor below.

If you need help with the install, let me know, and I’ll help you via phone or remotely over the computer.

Call 403-483-0105.

Click here for my e-mail.

If you are one of the millions of people whose computers are infested with the nasty malware Windows Antivirus XP 2008/2009, don’t despair. It’s hard to remove but can be done. I’ve fixed it in four computers now. I tried many different things, but I had the greatest success with SD Fix and Malwarebytes.

Download SD Fix by clicking here. Then you’ll need to reboot into Safe Mode by restarting your computer. As the computer starts up, tap the F8 key several times. If you tap it at the right time, you’ll a screen with several options will appear. One will be Safe Mode. Choose Safe Mode. Next, after a list of drivers is displayed in black and white on your screen, you’ll be asked if you want to go into Safe Mode (Y) or if you want to use System Recovery (N). Pick Y for Safe Mode.

After Windows has started. Go to My Computer and find the C: drive. Double-click it, so it will open. Look for a folder called SD Fix. Inside SD Fix will be a file called RunThis.bat. Click on it. It will run a program to clean up the Trojans. Type Y to begin. SD Fix will delete all the spyware or trojans it comes across. Then you’ll be asked to type any key to restart the computer. Do it, type a key.

Your computer will reboot. As it does, it will finish cleaning up the malware it has found.

Next download Malwarebytes. Update it and run it. It is pretty straight-forward.

You may have to run the above two programs several times to finally get rid of this nasty of all nasties.

If, after removal you find you’re missing your screensaver tab, you can go to my this post to fix it. To see if you’re missing your screensaver tab, go to Control Panel, Display. One of the tabs should be Screensaver.

If you were unfortunate enough to buy this rogue antispyware, you need to call your bank and get a new credit card number. Also you should stop payment on your purchase.

If you want help, and your computer still has the ability go on the Internet. I can fix your computer remotely. Call 403-483-0105 during the day (Mountain Standard Time.)