Question:
Antivirus programs wont find viruses?
Kishion Jones
2014-01-20 14:11:39 UTC
I have run multiple programs and scans but they have found nothing. My laptop is suffering from high CPU usage from basic tasks which eventually results in overheating and it runs extremely slow and it keeps blue screening. I thought these were symptoms of a virus but maybe i'm wrong. I just ran Norton before I posted this and it didn't find anything. I'm 17 so I don't really have any money to buy programs. My dad however has a laptop that is no longer working but it's about a year older than mine. Would swapping the hard drive fix the problem? If not is there anything else I can do? I'm pretty computer savvy so any suggestions no matter how difficult will be greatly appreciated.
Five answers:
tumbleweed_biff
2014-01-20 14:37:10 UTC
Start by cleaning out your computer - literally -> Open it up and remove any/all dust. You will probably want to do this outside or in the garage.



Dust is a major cause of overheating and may well be the cause of many of your problems.

Next, make certain that all the fans in the system work properly. If any aren't working, you need to replace them.



I tend to think that if you had a virus Norton would have found it, however, it never hurts to try something else. Here is my guide to virus removal:

Top 3 free AV products

Avast

Avira

AVG



Best Paid:

My recent survey of several independent testing labs shows Kaspersky and BitDefender as the top 2 paid AV products.



How to remove a virus -

I) The best solution is to back up your data and perform a factory restore. Install a reputable AV program after the restore and download the latest updates before restoring your data.



II) That not being practical for many, try either of the next two methods:

(Please note that it is important to use one of these two methods as you need to boot and scan knowing that no viruses are already in memory. If you try and install an AV product on a machine already infected then there is a decent chance that the virus will be able to hide/relocate from the scanner.)



A)

1) On a clean computer, download 1 or more free bootable AV products. Five I know of are Avira, AVG, Avast, Kaspersky, and G Data.



(There is a handy product called sardu (www.sarducd.it) which will create a flash drive/Cd capable of having multiple AV products built into it. It isn't perfect yet, but it does do the job pretty well. I keep a copy on a flash drive for whenever I go to someone's house to help with computer problems and I have a number of other diagnostic tools included as well.)



2) Create the bootable media and include the latest virus definitions

3) Boot the infected/suspect computer by using the bootable media and run a full/complete/deep scan of the computer using preferably at least two different ones. No AV product gets them all, but 2 different products should find and remove just about anything.



B) second alternative method:

1) remove the hard drive from the infected computer

2) slave the drive to a clean computer which already has at least one AV product already installed with the most current definitions. You can do this by installing it into the case (for a desktop) or by putting the drive in an external drive case which you can get for the low teens $. These can be USB (get at least USB 2.0) or eSata - if the 2nd computer has an eSata connection.



3) From the clean machine, run a full/complete scan of the slaved hdd. The computer should already be booted when you connect the external drive, with the AV product already in residential memory (it will have an icon down next to the clock). Then open the AV and run it on the drive. In an ideal world, you should really use two different AV products.



III) If you are unable to do the above, then download and install an AV product and then run it at its deepest level scan. This is not the ideal method as many viruses can hide from AV products if they are already in memory and running before the AV sofware is executed. There are numerous free ones. I strongly recommend two different AV products and one Adware/Spyware product. For free AV, I would typically recommend Avira, AVG, or Avast as the installed resident (always running) AV solution and Malwarebytes as a secondary, on demand AV product which I run on a weekly basis. For Spyware and Adware, the two top performers there are AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy (adaware is a product of lavasoft and safer-networking.org produces Spybot Search and Destroy) Both offer a free and paid version. The free version is good, the paid version offers more bells and whistles, just like with the AV products.



Once the virus(es) is/are removed, change any and all passwords having to do with anything important like e-mail, financial-banking logins, etc. as those have probably been captured and sent to the author of the virus.
mrforged
2014-01-20 14:28:17 UTC
First of all, REMOVE Norton from your computer. Although it remains one of the most popular anti-virus applications, Norton is bloated. By nature, all anti-virus applications will slow down your computer, but in my opinion, Norton does so excessively.

Once you have COMPLETELY removed Norton, make sure you don't have other anti virus programs installed. Things like Avast, AVG, McAfee, Microsoft Security Essentials, NOD32, just to name a few, should all be COMPLETELY removed.

Next, press WINDOWS+R on your keyboard and type MSCONFIG then press ENTER. Uncheck EVERYTHING and click OK. The program will then ask to restart your computer. Do it.

Once the computer reboots, it should be running significantly faster. If not, you will probably have to restore your laptop to its original configuration and the procedure for doing that varies from vendor to vendor.

Remember to re-install an anti-virus program. I highly recommend the free version of AVG above all others.
robert
2014-01-20 14:35:36 UTC
Look in your processes and see if there is anything that shouldn't be there, or that is running abnormally high. You can do a search for each .exe process and most times it will tell you whether a program is something you're familiar with or that shouldn't be there. Sometimes you can kill the process, sometimes they are persistent. Sometimes a killbox does the trick. http://killbox.en.uptodown.com/



Try running MalwareBytes with no other windows open. http://www.malwarebytes.org/free it is NOT an antivirus (so no conflicting processes), but works with your antivirus to provide you with additional protection.



If you are still blue screening, try scanning with MalwareBytes in safe mode.

If you'd like to learn more, I recommend http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ and http://www.geekstogo.com/
Nathaniel
2014-01-20 14:18:18 UTC
First of all, only run one anti-virus program on your computer. If you run, multiples, it screws up the computer. Download Microsoft security essentials. Just google it, it's free to download and won't give you any extra goodies.
?
2014-01-22 13:22:23 UTC
always use only one Av on device .



purchase a good AV : trend micro , symantec , mcafee or webroot .



now scan system with trend micro attk and then install good av



maybe you need reinstall OS .



Regards ,


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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