AVIRA found "twext.exe"

[Final_metroid]

So i booted up my dads PC, and the second i see the desktop an AVIRA warning pops up saying that a trojan "twext.exe" was found. Trying to delete it yields an error (access is denied). That said, is it serious? How to get rid of it?

[phill]

I have had great luck with a program call unlocker

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

[Final_metroid]

That would be useful, althogh i looked in the system32 folder and the trojan is absent, so im guessing i'll need a bit more finesse

[Final_metroid]

Also, AVIRA live scan is disabled and i cannot enable it. Alot of glitches were happening to the computer prior to this and the combined effort of many viruses i think are starting to cripple the computer in a visible fashion

[prophetik music]

dang, son, you just don't know anything about computers, do you? first a zillion-page thread about computer issues that were all resolved by buying a normal graphics card, and now a trojan that you probably got from downloading video games unprotected off of tpb. oh, and you use the worst virus scanning software available - you didn't even get avg or avast!

go to a malware forum, post a hijackthis log, and let one of those people (where it's their job to fix jacked computers like yours) tell you what to do.

edit: you're not a nub anymore - you've been here for four years. use google next time.

[phill]

It may also be less work just to backup everything, format, reinstall, and then carry on your marry little way.

[prophetik music]

i agree - last time i got a trojan (a joke from a fellow college student whose computer mysteriously overheated when their cpu fan disappeared a few days later), i just reinstalled windows. just make sure you've got a windows key from your current installation before you format.

[Final_metroid]

From AV comparison research, I found AVIRA to be the most popularly recommended. With most google solutions, there are many far reaching and messy processes to get rid of the virus (downloading special tools). Because this is my fathers computer, i prefer not to install too much (and i'm not a huge fan of hijack this because I don't like fiddling with stuff that i don't personally know about).

As for a windows reboot solution, I might consider trying to get rid of the trojan and other viruses using "classic methods" first because "twext.exe" is not listed as a high-risk virus

[OverCoat]

Spybot + HijackThis was the combo that fixed my last trojan. All I had to do was close any processes run by the trojan and then have Spybot delete the files for good. All this after a few days trying out random antivirus programs and having them solve absolutely nothing [AVG and AdAware did find some stuff but didn't do dick in the end]

It caught me totally off guard because that was the first virus I'd gotten in like... 7 or 8 years, so I never had any protection. I have Spybot running in the background now and it fortunately leaves a small footprint so it doesn't hog resources away from me making my music

[Strike911]

I don't know if it's been mentioned or not, but the free program "Malware Bytes" does miracles when others seem to fail. I don't know if it will work in this particular situation, but it's a handy little utility that catches (and fixes) things that other programs seem to miss.

Good luck getting everything fixed.

[prophetik music]

From AV comparison research, I found AVIRA to be the most popularly recommended. With most google solutions, there are many far reaching and messy processes to get rid of the virus (downloading special tools). Because this is my fathers computer, i prefer not to install too much (and i'm not a huge fan of hijack this because I don't like fiddling with stuff that i don't personally know about).

As for a windows reboot solution, I might consider trying to get rid of the trojan and other viruses using "classic methods" first because "twext.exe" is not listed as a high-risk virus

avira was really popular several years ago, but they haven't really updated their AV program since then. in general, to get rid of most trojans nowadays, you're going to need to download special tools - that's just how it is. normal av programs can't deal with that kind of crap.

twext might not be a high-risk virus, but do you know what it does? what if it's a keylogger? do you or your dad use it for buying stuff online? or, what if it's forcing your computer to commit cycles to a botnet?

[Final_metroid]

I see, research has yielded that I use combofix, mbam, mgtools, and sdfix (although i think its a bit excessive). I will use some of those and see what I can do.

For general protection thought, its sounds as if AVIRA has fallen in terms of comparative quality, should I use something else then?

[prophetik music]

only four programs to get that virus off? sounds like you're getting off lucky. the trojan i had, vundo, took eight before it was completely gone, and each program removed a part of it (so none were useless).

how much ram does that computer have, and what os is it running? if it's got the overhead (~100 megs, constantly), use norton antivirus 2008/9. it's the only antivirus that prevents suspicious programs from even running, rather than letting them do crazy things and then trying to clean up the mess. it's also 45$ a year for the program's subscription (i can give you the installation/15-day trial if you want to test it, but it's a bitch to get off of your computer if you want to uninstall it). if you don't want to pay, avg's probably the best free antivirus out there, although the best free AV programs are on par with the worst of the purchased software.

kaspersky is a good alternative as a paid program.