Posted by Howard Cheek on December 5, 2014 at 9:14 AM
Has anyone had to deal with the adware/malware "Desktop Temperature Monitor"? It got into my system downloading a shutter count program off the internet. Norton said it was 'safe' when I checked it prior to download (I never download free software off the net, but I took a chance this time. Big mistake) It has caused both my Firefox & I.E. browser to crash on occasion,& pop-ups/videos that sometimes dominate my screen. All the conventional attempts at removal have failed. A Dell tech has remotely accessed my system & used 'Malewarebytes' software, but it persists.
Sorry to hear about this--Malware is a scourge that we've all had to deal with, unfortunately
There is a free program called ComboFix that should do the job. I've used it before when other methods failed. Be sure to read the tutorial and follow the directions to the letter.
I hope this helps!
--P
Posted by Jim Deasy on December 5, 2014 at 12:18 PM
Hi Preston,
I had a similar problem a month ago and none of the usual programs could get rid of it. I spoke to a windows guy I used to work with and when I said video he asked me if I had adobe flash for IE and Foxfire. I told him yes and he instructed me to un-install the flash for any/all browsers, then uninstall flash for windows. Re start the system and everything was fine. He told me that someone had found a way to get something inserted into the flash code after it was installed and that was causing the video and pop ups. Since I told him I needed flash he told me to go to adobe and make sure I downloaded directly from there and reinstall flash. I did that and everything has been fine since then. This might not apply to your problem but it might be worth a try if you have flash on your system. I hope this can help.
Jim Deasy
Posted by Lance Warley on December 5, 2014 at 12:30 PM
Malwarebytes has helped me a ton, but not with this specific issue. They have a free download if you want to try it.
Before you go through the reinstall epic, do check out Combo Fix. It's not that difficult. It was recommended to me by a tech at my ISP: they use it all the time for removing crud from customer's systems, and it worked for me to get rid of a pesky fake antivirus program.
If you run a backup, don't backup any system files, drivers, or programs--the malware, or bits of it could be lurking. If you then restored the backup after the OS reinstall, you could re-infect the machine. So, I'd suggest backing up image files and documents only.
--P
Posted by Craig Myers on December 5, 2014 at 11:39 PM
When I had a persistent malware problem I was told by a tech to erase the system restore files after I had removed the offending program. It seems the malware I was trying to eliminate also inserted itself into the restore files. I followed his advice, rebooted, and was finally rid of the program. Don't know if that applies in your situation, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
Posted by Ed Cordes on December 6, 2014 at 9:22 AM
Howard, I would follow Preston's advice before doing anything like a total system rebuild. As was mentioned, the malware could even have inserted it into your back ups. I would also strongly suggest that once you re-stabilize your system buy a copy of Acronis and make a total back up of your system. Acronis will back up your OS and all your programs as well as your files. This can be used to restore your entire system to the way it was when you did the back up. Of course you may have lost anything new since the back up, but it will still save you a lot of grief.
Craig, that's an excellent idea to delete any System Restore Points after cleaning the malware.
I'll second Ed's suggestion about getting Acronis True Image. It's excellent. Not only will it do a full system backup, or back up other disks on the system, it can also do a 'file backup' of files you choose. I'd suggest the Premium version, since it also has a 'clone' routine for cloning one disk to another. This is very handy if you decide to upgrade your OS drive.
I'll add that once you get your system cleaned up, download and install the free version of MalwareBytes. There's also paid version that will detect malicious websites and block them in real time.
Lastly, enable User Account Control (UAC) on your system, if it's not already enabled. It will alert you to potential changes and give the option to proceed, or not. A lot of folks turn UAC off because they find it annoying, but doing so puts their system at risk.
I hope you can get this sorted out without having to resort to the 'nuclear option'.
Edit: If you have to reinstall Windows, here's an article from How To Geek about how to download Windows with the updates.
--P
Posted by David Bostedo on December 6, 2014 at 9:04 PM
I just spent a couple of days getting rid of very persistent malware off of my parents computer. (It was one that hides in the registry and download other malware... very sneaky.) A couple of things to look at :
-- Boot into safe mode when running the malware removers, and check your running programs and kill any that look suspicious if you can. The malware could be running something to re-install itself as the programs remove it
-- I had good luck running an additional virus scanner (AVG in my case), in addition to Malwarebytes and Roguekiller... I needed to run them all as they all found different things. (Granted, this was because the primary offender had been downloading all sorts of other malware as I went.) And I had to clean the registry with CCleaner.
-- Make sure when you think it's gone you get a clean run through everything in regular boot mode.
Posted by Howard Cheek on December 7, 2014 at 6:40 PM
I just got done with the OS re-install, working my way back.
It's been a learning experience, no doubt. As I said I'll never download from the internet again, unless the source is squeaky clean. And I won't rely on an antivirus program so heavily, will do some research first.
I'm getting too old for this sh*t, it tests a mans patience in a serious way.. to say the least.
It was suggested that some alone time with the originator and a baseball bat's in order.
I second that emotion
Sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations with this. Reinstalling everything is a pain, but the upside is you have a squeaky clean system that will likely be more speedy.
As you stated, "I'll never download from the internet again, unless the source is squeaky clean. And I won't rely on an antivirus program so heavily, will do some research first." this really is your first line of defense against the bad guys. Antivirus and malware programs do a pretty good job these days, but they can't catch everything.
The other piece is to have a robust backup solution that will keep your stuff safe and allow you to recover easily when another baddie wrecks havoc.
Glad to hear you're getting things up and running again!
--P
Posted by Howard Cheek on December 10, 2014 at 9:25 AM
Everything's up and running again Preston. Had a problem with the Norton back-up of favorites & email contacts, lost them apparently. Still trying to work it out
Also lost quite a few of my saved 'as shot' original raw image files over the last 6 months.. I was focused on the OS install & all that it entails. I should've made one more pass to make sure I had EVERYTHING on the external drives.. Keep too many files in a series anyway I suppose.
But all the final output are at Photoshelter were I have 120gigs of storage.
Nothing left to do but go forward
Posted by Harley Goldman on December 10, 2014 at 5:58 PM
Man oh man, what a pain. I am glad to hear you are moving forward once again, but such a hassle and time and energy sinkhole. At least you have a new camera and lens with which to add new images to the portfolio!!
I'm so sorry to hear your troubles. I got hacked earlier this year...and got a call telling me, that I had to wire $2000.00 to an address in China to get control of my PC back But, I was prepared....2 external hard drives and 2 cloud services! My computer was old, so I told them I could get a really nice new one for $2000.00....thank you very much. Then, they said, they'd take $1300.00. Fortunately, my "life" was backed up to date, so I was pleased to tell them to "take a hike"!
It was wild, though, and they kept calling me for months....I just quit picking up. Then, a month or so ago, I saw an article telling about this hacking/extortion scheme from China......The article said, that 85% of the folks paid up, as they had not backed up their data
Word to the wise---back up everything, every day, and you can laugh at them, too....if this happens to you!
It was a "pain in the a$$" to have to load EVERYTHING into a new PC. I wasn't able to get a snapshot of my old computer...So I do feel your pain!
Discussion
15 repliesAny suggestions other than a OS re-install?
Sorry to hear about this--Malware is a scourge that we've all had to deal with, unfortunately
There is a free program called ComboFix that should do the job. I've used it before when other methods failed. Be sure to read the tutorial and follow the directions to the letter.
I hope this helps!
--P
I had a similar problem a month ago and none of the usual programs could get rid of it. I spoke to a windows guy I used to work with and when I said video he asked me if I had adobe flash for IE and Foxfire. I told him yes and he instructed me to un-install the flash for any/all browsers, then uninstall flash for windows. Re start the system and everything was fine. He told me that someone had found a way to get something inserted into the flash code after it was installed and that was causing the video and pop ups. Since I told him I needed flash he told me to go to adobe and make sure I downloaded directly from there and reinstall flash. I did that and everything has been fine since then. This might not apply to your problem but it might be worth a try if you have flash on your system. I hope this can help.
Jim Deasy
Getting ready to back-up everything, and do a OS reinstall.
Jim: Did what your suggested, didn't work.
I would use the online programs you upload the picture file to, avoiding what's happened to me
Before you go through the reinstall epic, do check out Combo Fix. It's not that difficult. It was recommended to me by a tech at my ISP: they use it all the time for removing crud from customer's systems, and it worked for me to get rid of a pesky fake antivirus program.
If you run a backup, don't backup any system files, drivers, or programs--the malware, or bits of it could be lurking. If you then restored the backup after the OS reinstall, you could re-infect the machine. So, I'd suggest backing up image files and documents only.
--P
I'll second Ed's suggestion about getting Acronis True Image. It's excellent. Not only will it do a full system backup, or back up other disks on the system, it can also do a 'file backup' of files you choose. I'd suggest the Premium version, since it also has a 'clone' routine for cloning one disk to another. This is very handy if you decide to upgrade your OS drive.
Edit: Here are two threads in NPN's Digital Imaging forum regarding backup: Averting Disaster-Backup Guide, and A Backup Solution.
I'll add that once you get your system cleaned up, download and install the free version of MalwareBytes. There's also paid version that will detect malicious websites and block them in real time.
Lastly, enable User Account Control (UAC) on your system, if it's not already enabled. It will alert you to potential changes and give the option to proceed, or not. A lot of folks turn UAC off because they find it annoying, but doing so puts their system at risk.
I hope you can get this sorted out without having to resort to the 'nuclear option'.
Edit: If you have to reinstall Windows, here's an article from How To Geek about how to download Windows with the updates.
--P
-- Boot into safe mode when running the malware removers, and check your running programs and kill any that look suspicious if you can. The malware could be running something to re-install itself as the programs remove it
-- I had good luck running an additional virus scanner (AVG in my case), in addition to Malwarebytes and Roguekiller... I needed to run them all as they all found different things. (Granted, this was because the primary offender had been downloading all sorts of other malware as I went.) And I had to clean the registry with CCleaner.
-- Make sure when you think it's gone you get a clean run through everything in regular boot mode.
It's been a learning experience, no doubt. As I said I'll never download from the internet again, unless the source is squeaky clean. And I won't rely on an antivirus program so heavily, will do some research first.
I'm getting too old for this sh*t, it tests a mans patience in a serious way.. to say the least.
It was suggested that some alone time with the originator and a baseball bat's in order.
I second that emotion
Sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations with this. Reinstalling everything is a pain, but the upside is you have a squeaky clean system that will likely be more speedy.
As you stated, "I'll never download from the internet again, unless the source is squeaky clean. And I won't rely on an antivirus program so heavily, will do some research first." this really is your first line of defense against the bad guys. Antivirus and malware programs do a pretty good job these days, but they can't catch everything.
The other piece is to have a robust backup solution that will keep your stuff safe and allow you to recover easily when another baddie wrecks havoc.
Glad to hear you're getting things up and running again!
--P
Also lost quite a few of my saved 'as shot' original raw image files over the last 6 months.. I was focused on the OS install & all that it entails. I should've made one more pass to make sure I had EVERYTHING on the external drives.. Keep too many files in a series anyway I suppose.
But all the final output are at Photoshelter were I have 120gigs of storage.
Nothing left to do but go forward
It was wild, though, and they kept calling me for months....I just quit picking up. Then, a month or so ago, I saw an article telling about this hacking/extortion scheme from China......The article said, that 85% of the folks paid up, as they had not backed up their data
Word to the wise---back up everything, every day, and you can laugh at them, too....if this happens to you!
It was a "pain in the a$$" to have to load EVERYTHING into a new PC. I wasn't able to get a snapshot of my old computer...So I do feel your pain!