I had to restart my computer for other reasons. The "Folder Options" file is now visible (and, of course, I have enabled "Show hidden Files") and Google no longer redirects results links, however registry editing and certain website ("cannot find server") are still disabled. In addition, there is now an error message at computer restart that is SIMILAR TO, BUT NOT EXACTLY "wowinrule". I will edit this when I am able to restart to put in the correct name if necessary, but since the symptoms seem irrelevant to the proposed solutions so far, I am not going to go through that hassle at this exact moment.
Neither "giving "instruction designed for someone who has never used a Windows 95+ computer before" nor the fact that a program produces a log will teem is before I run it. Perhaps you are telling me to download a spyware checker, and they have a preferred software. The proper way to post this is one of two thing: "This problem is usually caused by spyware of a type that most scanners can catch, but that virus scanners often do not catch. If you do not have a spyware checker already installed, I recommend [link]. (Optional:) This particular brand always catches and fixes the particular spyware that I believe you have, so if your current or preferred checker does not fix it, you can also try the one I have linked."
There is no software in the history of software creation is which discussing it's functions is "not allowed". Telling somebody that Microsoft Word is a document creation/editing program may possibly hurt sale to people who had believed it was a spreadsheet software, but since those people will either return the software or sue Microsoft for refusing to tell them what the program is, they will end up not having lost any sales, but gained them from people who previously had no idea what Microsoft Word was.
As a more obvious and real-world example, it would be very stupid for someone to run a commercial virus scanner, such as Norton or McAfee, and not look through the log and uncheck anything that they themselves installed or purposely changed before running the "fix"es. It would also be stupid for an experienced user not to fix certain things on their own, if, for example, Norton;s response is to merely delete a file but the user is aware that this is a remnant of an old program and also checks the registry for related entries before deleting the remananlet (at which point he will no longer have a reminder to go to the registry).
The only possibility that telling someone what a program does would be "not allowed" is if someone on this message board has designed it themselves, in which case it quite obviously is "allowed" as they are the one making such decision.
The only thing the previous program recommended to me did, ACCORDING TO IT'S LOG (which is highly unlikely to have ACTUALLY logged EVERY single thing it did, not to mention this ONLY tells you AFTER it has done so even if it were, by some rare mechanism, telling you EVERYTHING), is delete two files. The poster who told me to do this said he was working "underneath someone else," and since you are both posting everything in bold and red and all that, I am guessing you are that human being. If that is true I can treat this as one long strain of advice, rather then multiple p3eople giving ideas to try and help. The log did not give any information other then the fact that "sdra64" is the malware hat has infected here, and I did not post the results of what the computer was or was not still doing. Since my first post already gives the same information the log does by telling you that the malware is "sdra64," well, I don't know what I was originally going to conclude this paragraph with because the *censored* who lives here has interrupted me two many times, but that is definitely odd.
In addition, I have never downloaded a torrent, nor do you have any idea whether or not I am the human who infected this computer. Also, any file that has ever been voluntarily used any computer I have used with my knowledge, has explained what it's function is. (Whether or not this was a lie is a different issue but explaining the function of a software is generally required if you want anyone to use it, ever. Links that merely say, "Download this! no explanation given!", tend to be infections.)
You are now telling me to name a file "Reset.bat". Obviously, it would be a VERY bad idea to run anything entitled "Reset" without knowing what it does. If my computer is going to he "reset", that should be an OPTION that I have the OPTION to purpose. If any particular program settings are going to be "reset", I should also have the OPTION to keep my current data, either by saving it in a different manner (recording open FireFox ages into Notepad), copying the %AppData% (in case the infection is not located in %AppData%), or saving Word documents off my desktop. In addition, one would need to notify any other users of the computer and finish any current tasks they are wording on.
On the other hand, the name of a file rarely has any effect on it's function, although I am aware there are cases in which it does (if, for example, this file is supposed to imitate another file, in which the original file has been infected and I am now creating a clean version of it, which therefore requires a compatible name).
Perhaps I am resetting my display settings, which I would need to know in order to change them back. All of these things may fix a virus, but could possibly also
-cause worse problems by deleting or resetting some settings for a program that I can't recreate
or
-change / reset settings in an area that I can recreate, but won't know they have changed unless I am told they have been changed (for example, enabling and disabling services)
Next you recommend a virus scanner called "ComboFix". Does ComboFix just happen to be a really good virus scanner? Or is it pretty much a piece of crap, but designed for the computer-illiterate people who apparently make up a good portion of "customers" here (due to the highly detailed instructions) and also known to find this particular malware? Or is it not a piece of crap but still known to be able to find this particular malware which is hidden from many other scanners?
Of course none of the information in the above paragraph isn't NECESSARY for someone to know, but the people who AREN'T computer-illiterate would probably EXPECT to be told this, so it would be good to post so, so that they can make an informed decisions of whether to keep this after download. If they are very experienced they may be able to tell themselves, but there are also non-illiterate people who may not be able to tell for themselves whether this scanner is a piece of crap or not, mainly because virus scanners' usefulness is based on what it catches rather then just how it looks, and even non-illiterate users may not know if, for example, a particular virus scanner if running a firewall without their permission (non-illiterate but non-experienced). It is, however, generally expected to mention that the program is a virus scanner... I think you mentioned this unintentionally.
In addition you missed an opportunity to help someone further their own knowledge, which is another generally-expected thing of a computer forum - if the one being helped is not a complet idiot who is incapable of understanding anything you say, and they are also not arrogant and therefore unwilling and/or uncaring of what you are actually doing (or instructing them to do) - that people tend to just LIKE to educate others as to what to do. This certainly decreases the likelihood that the poster will need to be helped in future problems. So in this case, you are having me "write' and execute a program. Again you don't HAVE to tell me that, but most want to - someone who doesn't know what typing this stuff into Notepad is doing, they will now be aware (if you told them) that they can wrote scripts and merely save them in a Notepad file and run them. At the same time they probably would have figured this out - since I was not previously unaware I can't accurately perceive whether or not an unaware intelligent human being would realize this. My post probably would have said something like, "Copy to Notepad etc. - this only with with scripts, btw - programs written in languages such as Java a and C++ have to be compiled first." (I am not entirely sure if I am correct in that only scripts and web languages can be merely saved to Notepad.t
In any case I am not very comfortable about running a program entitled "restart", especially when the human instructed to do so is typing as a "professional", and isn't necessarily likely to warn me if this will mess with my %AppData% folder, mess with FireFox in any way, change services or other control panel options, etc. (Maybe you, evilfantasy specifically, would warn me, but in general the likelihood of any "professional-style poster" is significantly less then the likelihood of any human posting in conversational English, so that's not saying YOU wouldn't warn me). So please tell me what exactly I am "reset"ting, if anything.
