Very difficult hacking/virus problem
Question - Very difficult hacking/virus problem.
My computer is suffering a lot of crashes etc, especially when on the internet.
This is what happened... I received an e-mail said to be from paypal saying that I had been registered etc. As that wasn't true I opened it to read it. That's all I did, I didn't open any attachment. I didn't click on any logo or any part of the message. It wasn't a normal phishing attack since there was no request for information or redirection to another site. The message contained only four words and nothing else. It said "This is junk mail". I clicked to close and then tried repeatedly to delete it, using the hotmail junk mail button, but found that I couldn't. Nor could I report it to MSN as junk mail... it kept coming back. For 2 days it kept on reappearing. During that time strange things began to happen... the red light on my telephone began repeatedly flashing... I suspected a hacking-virus attack? Eventually I deleted it, but my computer was by then seriously infected.
The symptoms are...
I have Agnitum Outpost free edition firewall installed... all the logs were wiped out, all the prohibited and permitted sites programs etc were wiped out. So one couldn't know where the attack had come from or what it was etc.
I have AVG free edition anti virus programme installed... I ran the programme and it reported no virus present. But since then when I run it, it cuts out after only a few files have been checked... so the virus scan is never completed. The settings have been changed? Eventually I set it to default and now it works and scans OK. But it still reports no viruses present. The possible virus may be a new one and not in the AVG virus data base? I actually updated it only a week before the attack... perhaps not up to date enough?
I have repeatedly tried to download the new AVG updates.. but fail... after between 20 and 80% the connection is closed before the update download is completed. What is doing that?
I have Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot anti spyware programmes installed and they report no infections. I have tried to download the updates but something interferes with the downloads and they fail to complete the update. Are they being "timed-out" or blocked by the virus?
I have been to the sarc.com, the Symantic site, to get a free virus check and it reported no virus present. But I believe some type of virus is actually infecting my computer.
When I tried recently to send a friend a file via Hotmail, their Trend anti-virus scan refused the file saying it was infected by a virus... so that's good suggestive evidence that something is amiss, definitely a virus, I think? Pity Hotmail/Trend doesn't tell you what virus it is?
Another symptom... I have tried to install McAfee Quick Clean and I get to the stage when installation is almost complete and then a message saying "Rolling Back" appears and the whole installation goes backwards and fails to install.
All programs and updates that I try to install, either from CD disk or from the internet, are similarly blocked or timed out before they complete. This makes it seemingly impossible to install any program or update that will detect and eliminate the virus? The virus seems to be very sophisticated at protecting itself?
At midnight every night the computer suddenly bursts into activity and the floppy drive starts writing even if no disc is installed, probably other writing activity on the hard drive is also occurring? When I put a floppy disc in to see what was being written it reported zero bytes etc. Yet something substantial was there I am sure, and the message "access denied" appeared. Suddenly the floppy disc started to read and the computer seemed to be infected all over again. Crunching noises were heard inside the tower and since then I often get "out of memory" messages when I can't possibly be out of memory. Has some memory been damaged or taken out of use? At boot-up the Windows 98 memory test reports memory OK at 64Mb. But other snap shots of the memory state using Lavasoft suggest that it is less than a tenth of what it should be. Can I simply take out the old memory and slot in some new? Or is the problem in the Motherboard or elsewhere? What were those crunching noises heard?
At dial-up connection to the internet the message " verifying user name and password" occurs twice. I thought it only occurred once before the hacking/virus attack. Is that sinister or meaningful?
In C:-Windows-Temp there are two temp files that are access denied and impossible to delete. Why should any temp file be access denied? Is this sinister or meaningful or normal?
My computer is Pentium II 64MB Ram using Windows 98. Should I write it off, and buy a new more up to date tower? That's the easy solution but it gives in to the virus creator... and I would like to win the battle and get rid of it, if possible?
The moral of this story is... never even open and just simply read any e-mail that you were not expecting. Viruses-hackers no longer have to use e-mail attachments to penetrate your computer... a simple e-mail alone seems now to be sufficient.
Hoping someone can help me determine exactly what is going on... virus or hacking or both? How can a virus be removed that protects itself by preventing updates and program downloads?
Thanks... John