With hundreds of new viruses being created each day, it is possible for your PC to get infected even if you have an antivirus installed on your system. The way most viruses work is that they create an auto run entry on your computer to ensure that they are executed whenever your system boots up. So, the virus will keep on doing what it is supposed to do, no matter how many times you restart your PC. Today, we have a tool called FireTower that can be a lot of help to you in tackling this issue. It is an application for Windows that performs an analysis of all existing auto-run settings and automatically validates the legitimacy of the auto-run entries through a web validation check. When the analysis is complete, all entries are displayed in different threat level categories. More of FireTower after the break.

Other than checking the auto-run settings of all existing applications and services, FireTower also works in real time, and alerts the user when any application or service tries to create an auto-run entry on the PC. The application has a very simple interface with tabs for different categories of entries, including General, WinLogon, Explorer, IE, Providers and Monitors, Services, Drivers and Startup Files. For each category, Entry Name, Command Line path, Company, Last Changed and Who Changed fields are available.

Under the Command Line field, click View to to open the Process Information dialog box. It lets you view extended details about the file, such as time stamps for Created, Modified and Accessed date, File Version Description etc. It also gives you the option to look up the file on the web validation tool.

Clicking the Lookup button in the Process Information dialog box opens up the File Analysis report of the selected file. It contains information about the file, such as its description, common facts and its variants and usual default locations in the system.

The application keeps working in real time, a notification pops up every time an application is detected attempting to change any settings in your system.

FireTower works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download FireTower

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Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper is a malware removal utility by Microsoft. It can help you create a bootable USB, CD or DVD for reclaiming a system from viruses and other malicious agents. This can be quite handy for people who might not be able to boot from their system due to a malware infection. System Sweeper thoroughly scans and removes viruses from such computers by booting itself (from a media device) at system startup. To use it , you will require saving the app on a media device such as a USB, CD or DVD. Just Launch System Sweeper, select a media device (CD, DVD or USB) and click Next. You can also choose the ISO option to create an ISO image of the app which can be burned to a CD or DVD later on.

System Sweeper will be automatically downloaded and saved on your selected media device or in the form of an ISO image (as selected).

The next time your PC is infected and your anti-virus fails to locate the malware or you are unable to login due to an infection, simply boot the PC from a device containing System Sweeper.

This will allow you to perform a full scan to remove the malware. It must be noted that Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper is not a replacement for an antivirus, instead, it is meant to be used in situations where you are unable to start your PC due to malware infection.

Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Download Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper

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We all know about VirusTotal which is an online service that scans files from multiple antivirus applications. JottiQ is another freeware, developed by one of the coder named worseje who participated in DonationCoder’s NANY2011 (New Apps for the New Year) challenge, that uses Jotti’s malware scan service to verify the integrity of selected files and currently running executables from the best antivirus services. This can be particularly useful for checking suspicious files and to verify if an installed program has been infected. JottiQ is available with an installer package and in portable format.

To start the scanning process, simply drag and drop files to be queued and click the Process Queue button (or press F5). This will scan your files turn by turn and display a result from numerous antivirus programs used by the Jotti service.

To scan the currently executable files, click on the Scan Executables button (next to the wrench icon) or press Ctrl+P.

Scanning preferences can be set from the Settings button (Wrench icon) or by pressing F6. From here you can also choose your scanning result criteria, automatically remove safe files after scanning, choose the maximum number of files to be scanned simultaneously, add JottiQ in the context menu and manage queuing options.

JottiQ provides the utility to use many trusted scanning software simultaneously to identify malicious files and applications on your system. However, it must be noted that JottiQ is designed to handle small files and is by no means meant to replace your antvirus software. Instead, it provides the option to identify infected files by scanning it with robust protection programs. It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, provided you have .Net Framework 4.0 and x86 or x64 versions of Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (depending upon your operating system type) installed. We tested it successfully on Windows 7 64-bit system.

Download JottiQ

[via Cybernetnews]

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Virus Cleaners are essential as the web is bursting with a lot of elusive viruses which are crawling 24/7, ready to pounce on your system. Anti-virus tools are also in numbers and very efficient in relative attributes & areas. The portability factor is one which seems useful when it comes to such virus cleaning tools. Rizone Virus Cleaner is one which offers mobility and simple interface to quickly find out & clean viruses/malwares from the system. Furthermore, if you’re using other feature-rich Anti-virus suite like: Norton Antivirus, McAfe Antivirues, Microsoft Security Essentials,etc.,  it will not erupt any conflict with them and let you scan the system for viruses & malwares seamlessly.

The usage is pretty simple, all you’d need is to specify the disk to scan and click Go. At the right-side of the window, you will see scanning process related information in real-time which includes; Scanned files, File scanned per second, and Total Scanned files.

The real usage can be measured when you need to frequently use systems on public locations like; net cafes, libraries, computer labs, etc., before starting out with your work, just run a simple virus scan over the drives to make sure you are on the safe side.

It runs on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Testing was done on Windows 7 x86 system.

Download Rizone Virus Cleaner

For more, you can check out ComboFix and ThreatKiller.

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If a virus attacks your system, the first thing you will do is to remove the virus with an anti-virus software. But what then? Your system will still likely to remain corrupted. This is because some types of viruses usually tweak the system registry and file systems. If you remove the virus, your system registry and file systems will still remain corrupted. Virus Effect Remover is a free opensource tool which helps you to remove the effect of viruses from the Windows Registry and File System easily. Also it can detect the registry error caused by a virus.

You must have noticed that some viruses disable task manger, registry editor, folder options, etc, you can use this tool to enable them back instantly.

You will find various helpful options to clean your registry and file systems. Click System File Checker to run a scan of your file systems.

Note: Make sure you have made a backup of your Registry before doing anything. In case something goes wrong, you can always restore your backup. To backup your registry click Make Reg BackUp button.

Since it is good to disable the USB Autorun, click Block USB Autorun button to do so. You can always revert back the changes easily by clicking that button again. If you are confused about the functionality of any button, hover your pointer over the button and you can read the details in a simple balloon box. Click Run Remover button to begin removing the infections.

Apart from the main functionality, you can also check the processes running with their details and kill any specific process you find useless, block a specific virus, view all startup programs and remove those which you don’t need. All can be done by going to their respective tabs. It requires .Net Framework 2.0 to run. Enjoy!

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Scanning your file online has many benefits over downloadable virus scanner, you can submit any file from any computer, if you have a slow system you won’t need to download anti-virus applications. VirusTotal is an online service that scans your file with 39 different anti-virus applications. Sounds Impossible, right? Read on to find out how to scan your file online.

There are 3 different ways with which you can scan your files online.

Online Uploader

This is the default method for scanning your file online, just select the file that you want to scan and click the Send File button. You also have an option to send a file through encrypted channel by checking the SSL checkbox.

Email Uploader

You can send your file to be scanned by email. Simply create a new email, write SCAN in the subject field, attach the file that you want to scan(file size should not exceed 20MB), and send it to scan@virustotal.com. That’s it.

Windows Uploader

Download VirusTotal Uploader for Windows here. Once you have installed it, an option will show in your right-click context menu under Send To option. See the screenshot below to get a more clear view.

Right-click any file that you want to scan, select Send To and click VirusTotal. This will upload your file to their server for scanning and a new browser window will open with the scanning process. If your file is infected, delete it immediately, otherwise you can spare it’s life. Enjoy!

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In Windows, NoFolderOptions policy hides the folder options from control panel and even disables the Show Folder and Search options from the command under Tools Menu in Windows Explorer. If your computer is not a part of an office environment or any other organizational network than you might be having a risk of a virus which disables these options as a part of infection. This policy in the registry also hides the file extensions to known file types so that the virus may infect your system in stealth. To enable this option, follow these simple steps.

The Show Folder And Search Option is grayed out like this:

To enable it follow one of these methods, it is always advisable to backup your registry before making any changes if your not familiar with backing up of registry, you can learn it from here.

Using Registry Editor

Click Start menu button and type regedit in the Search bar.

If User Access Control window pops up to ask for permission, click Continue.

When Regedit.exe is launched navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

And navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

Delete the NoFolderOptions value (if found any) from the above locations and exit the Registry Editor.

Using Group Policy Editor

Group Policy Editor is as vital component as Registry Editor but unfortunately is not available in Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Vista Home Editions, for all other editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista, you can use the registry editor method to remove the Policy setting.

Launch Group Policy Editor by Clicking Start menu and type GPEDIT.MSC in the Start menu search bar.

Or you can type GPEDIT.msc in Run dialog box.

If User Access Control window pops up to ask for permission, click Continue

Navigate to the following branch:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer

Double-click Removes the Folder Options menu item from the Tools menu

Set it to Not configured.

This will make your option re-enabled if disabled by any virus, keep your suggestions and comments coming.

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Have you ever attached a USB to a computer and later found out that the drive is infected by a virus? I have definitely faced this situation many times. If you attach your USB drive to the infected computer the virus is transferred to the drive in no time infecting all the important documents in USB drive too, depending on the nature of the virus you may loose important data from the USB drive and never recover them back. But there is a solution to protect your USB drive from virus infection when it is connected to already infected computer.

If you make your USB drive into non writable mode then any kind of data can’t be written to it which means that if a virus infected computer is going to transmit any virus to drive, it won’t be able to because USB drive is write protected.

Write Protect Switch

Certain USB flash drives comes with write protector switch in them, using which you can write protect the USB flash / pen drive or make them read only drives. If the write protect feature is missing in the USB flash / pen drive then you can use USB Write Protector utility.

ThumbScrew

Thumbscrew is a freeware application that lets you write protect your USB drive so that virus, Malware, Trojan or any kind of infection from host computer would not be able to write anything on your USB.

Now right click the system try icon and choose  Make USB read only. This would make the USB drive write protected which makes it completely protected from infections to to spread onto your drive.

USB Write Protector

USB Write Protector is another free utility that allows you make write protect your USB flash / pen drives just like Thumbscrew mentioned above. This is a very small utility that you can always carry with you in your portable drive.

By these applications your pen drive would be protected on that shared system but it is still recommended for you to use a quality antivirus software, and keep it updated regularly.

Editor’s note: I am currently using AVG antivirus, and my readers prefer NOD32, both are great antivirus software. So you can use any one of them.

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Note: This tip is for beginners who want to test their antivirus software. You will have to create your own virus. Don’t freak out yet, just read the post carefully.

There are no doubt plenty of free antivirus software out there, half of which don’t even detect important viruses. If you think your computer has a virus, but your antivirus software is not detecting it, then the best way to test it is to create your own virus and then scan it. If virus is detected then it means your antivirus is just okay, if not, this means you need to download a new antivirus software. I am using AVG Free Antivirus and I will recommend this to everyone,keep it updated and I can guarantee that no virus will ever infect your computer again.

To create your own virus, follow the steps below,

Create a new Notepad or Text Document in your desktop and open it.

In Windows XP: Right click on Desktop, select New, and then click Notepad.

In Windows Vista: Right click on Desktop, select New and then click Text Document.

Now open it and paste the following code,

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

Once you are done, save the document as EICAR.com

Now scan this file with your antivirus software and it should detect a virus. If it doesn’t, this means you should download a new antivirus software.

Got any Question, Comment or a Suggestion? Feel free to post a comment.

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Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is basically a free tool which helps to remove specific malicious software from computers which run Windows operating systems, including all versions of Windows Vista. After it is installed, it silently runs in the background and removes the malicious software that it finds. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool generates a report describing the outcome of the scan. It’s actually a free but basic anti-virus, anti-worm and anti-Trojan security utility that provided by Microsoft to protect and secure Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 system by way of post infection removal.

Where To Find MRT.EXE

By default, the tool can be found in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Once you open this location, search for a file called mrt.exe. If you don’t find this file, it means that this tool is not installed on your PC. In this case you can download it directly from the Microsoft Download Center. The 64 bit version can be found here.

How To Use It

After opening MRT.EXE, you’ll see the Welcome window, click Next.

Now you need to select the type of scan you want the tool to perform. You have three possible options: Quick scan, Full scan and Customized scan. If you did not scan your PC before and you don’t have a reliable antivirus solution installed, you might want to select Full scan. Once you selected the option you prefer, click Next.

It will start scanning your computer and show you the status of the scan. If malicious software has modified (or infected) user files on the computer, the tool will prompt you to remove the malicious software from those files. You can choose to clean specific files or all infected files found. Note that some data loss is possible during this process and that the tool may not be able to restore some files to the original, pre-infection state.

When finished you will see the results. In my case, no malicious software was detected. Now click Finish and the tool will close.

A few days back, my computer was infected by some virus which even corrupted my antivirus, firewall, registry editor etc, at that time this tool was my life saver, it may not be useful for everyone. The point of writing this post was that when everything fails to disinfect the virus in your computer, you can give this tool a shot.

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A few days back my “Show hidden files and folders” option was not working at all even if I selected the option Show hidden files and folders from the folder option window, the changes would just disappear upon closing the dialog. It was probably some virus attack after which the Windows registry was not being updated properly. So here is what I did to restore it back.

Method 1: Registry Editing

Click Start  > Run… (or press Windows key + R)

Type regedit and click Ok.

Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHOWALL

Look at the CheckedValue key. This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.

Now open My Computer, on the toolbar go to Tools > Folder Option and click on the View tab.

The Show hidden files & folders check box should now work normally.

Method 2: Application

If you don’t want to apply the above method, download Smart Virus Remover from here. Using this Virus Remover you can restore your Windows settings, your “Show hidden files and folders” will be set to default.

Do let us know in the comments if these methods helped you or not ?

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