Matt Earle - Latest Comments

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Bob — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:54:46 -0000

Thanks! Lifesaver!

Re: Renting Water Heaters | DirectEnergy | Big Ripoff

mattearle — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:54:26 -0000

This is one of the arguments the door to door salesmen will present to you but it does not hold water (pardon the pun). First off, if you can rent it you can buy it so there should be no difference in the initial efficiency of a rented heater vs a purchased one. Secondly, over time as the heater ages, perhaps it will become less efficient but this will only make a very small difference to the amount of energy you spend on water heating. We are talking about maybe $2/month for an older heater vs a new one. It still does not make up for the thousands extra from renting.

Think about it - why would there be all of these companies, with flashy expensive marketing, like JustEnergy (in Canada), whose sole purpose is to try and rent you water heaters? If it wasn't a lucrative business they would just leave it to the gas company. Where do all their profits come from? The thousands of dollars in extra charges calculated above. This is not a valuable or useful service.

Re: Renting Water Heaters | DirectEnergy | Big Ripoff

Jasmin Shakespeare — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:17:03 -0000

Owners can choose to rent or buy their own water heaters. What matters is the quality of the purchased product. I'd rather buy my own water heater. Just like what you've said, it can save one's budget big time.

Re: Renting Water Heaters | DirectEnergy | Big Ripoff

Guest — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:41:47 -0000

Nice one!

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

wusuopu — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:22:44 -0000

There already many viruses are running in safe mode, we should more careful..

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

OpenCloud Security virus — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:08:21 -0000

This article is helpful for me!

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Michael R — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:35:34 -0000

I tried to enter the code key to unlock the virus and it came back with an "Invalid Activation Key" or something like that. I then downloaded the Malware software and renamed it "Vogelsong.com" (I'm a Giants fan) and ran it like Hornbuck suggested. Worked like a charm.

Cleaned it right off and here I am writing this comment 10 minutes later.

Maybe too many people used the code key and the ****ers that made this virus changed it up.

Re: Renting Water Heaters | DirectEnergy | Big Ripoff

plumbing — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:17:52 -0000

You may be able to rent a more efficient water heater that will save you money on energy each month. That's why you shouldn't just consider the initial purchase price.. think about how much it costs to operate. You could save hundreds of dollars in the long run.

Re: Upload/Select Multiple Files in Android Froyo 2.2 to Dropbox

guest — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:30:02 -0000

i know right

Re: Upload/Select Multiple Files in Android Froyo 2.2 to Dropbox

Phlanax13 — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 05:10:49 -0000

Thanks! That did the trick. Now to find something for non pictures. *facepalm*

Re: Renting Water Heaters | DirectEnergy | Big Ripoff

arnoldwales — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:51:44 -0000

One advantage of renting is that it will fix it if there are any problems. This sounds very attractive, but not of companies that can find in the Yellow Pages and maintenance costs throughout the life of the heater .

water heaters

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Zentom System Guard virus — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:41:53 -0000

I must prevent the virus to infect my computer.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Zentom System Guard virus — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:40:33 -0000

Computer securuty is imporetant for the computer users.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Chris — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:43:39 -0000

Matt,
You are the man!
Thanks so much. Next time you come to Dallas I will buy you a cold beverage!
BamBam

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

BlondeGeekess — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:36:42 -0000

Risseljee, yes you did succeed and you probably didn't. Using Step 3 as Step 1 may be only a temporary respite. I hope, it'll be OK for you, but if not I recommend that you start with Step 1 as prescribed by Matt. It's worth taking the time to do it properly. And if you are using external HD make sure you give it a full scan, too - you might be surprised to discover that you have Registry Data files infected (Microsoft, no less!!!

Best of luck!

Yours,
Still Legally and Seriously non-ditsy Blonde

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

M1a2t3t40 — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:34:26 -0000

Simply download the executable file for Internet Explorer 8 and keep it under My Downloads. If you get infected you can re-install IE 8 overwriting the virus.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Risseljee — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:05:35 -0000

thx man :)
i did a system restore, then started from step 3 above.
virus removed

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

BlondGeekess — Sat, 28 May 2011 11:33:09 -0000

Dear Matt - phew, what a mangle I just have been through!!! Similarly to the contributors here, I experienced a violation of all my computer-awarness senses.

Ever since I left the corporate world and the 'luxury' of an IT Manager solving all glitches that came with it and in favour of pastures more sane (of sorts), I got to learn and appreciate the various aspects of good computer housekeeping and the 'go for it' attitude. But, I would not have succeeded without the generous folks on the Internet willing to share their experience and fixes.

What happened this morning, has got me seething with anger. I was close to spitting feathers. My trusted Avira(full version) flagged an ekq.exe with options to block. I blocked it once and it went away. Suddenly it was back. Hmm, I pondered.... something strange is happening here. I went for permanent blocking, thinking Avira will take it to quaranteen and get rid of it for me.

Little I knew... talk about hell breaking loose? As soon as permanent blocking command went in, XP Home Security brigade charged in with all the flashing lights. Now, that put me on red alert. What gave the 'game' away were three important facts:- (1) Avira vanished and I could not located it anywhere; (2) inablity to start the Internet in any shape or form; (3) MS security shield changed colours - my auto updates are off - the colour is always red with white cross because I decide what and when gets dowloaded (ha!)

Using another computer connection, I scoured the Internet and finally found your prescription. I followed it in every detail and it worked fantastically well. I am up and running and writing this from my laptop. THANK YOU 1000x over. You are my Hero, well, at least for today ;-)

Yours,
Legally and Seriously non-ditsy Blonde

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Hornbuck — Sat, 28 May 2011 04:41:18 -0000

Matt: I renamed my malwarebytes back to mbam.exe and it opened, updated and ran successfully. The XP home Security 2011 virus was not detected.

You are right, a tweak of the virus to look for *.com files in addition to *.exe files would defeat my solution.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

mattearle — Thu, 26 May 2011 08:22:20 -0000

Good thinking. Please report back if this has indeed permanently removed the virus. If so I will add this as an alternate fix to the instructions. However, I do think that the technique I have outlined is more comprehensive as only a small modification in the virus will circumvent your solution.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Dee Ingham — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:34:49 -0000

Thank you so much-you have saved me £48 from my local PC shop (which is what they charge for removing viruses) and have restored my faith in human beings. I am sure good things happen to good people and you certainly fall in that category. The zipfiles were a dream to download and worked first time to completely obliterate this pesky virus-Thank you again Matt

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Hornbuck — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:55:15 -0000

I found a simpler solution.
Malwarebytes was already install on my system but would not run even in safemode.

So I went into program files (in safe mode) and changed mbam.exe to something like "test40.com."
I believe changing the "exe" to "com" was the thing that worked. After that, malwarebytes started, updated and got rid of the virus.

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

mattearle — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:16:06 -0000

Summary
Update your browser and operating system:
-http://update.microsoft.com
-http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/f...

Explanation
This virus works by exploiting an oversight in the security of your particular web browser and operating system combination. Specifically the operating system Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 and web browser Internet Explorer or Firefox.

This exploit basically allows a foreign website to install something on your PC without asking your permission. This is obviously not something the coders of these browsers intended to allow but happens quite a lot and these scammers quickly pick up on them and use them for nefarious purposes. Somewhere around the same time, the coders of the browsers pick up on them too and write code to close the exploit. They release this code as an update. So for example you may be running Firefox 3.6.0 and then the update to 3.6.1 closes a few holes that have been discovered and are being exploited.

Therefore, if you want to stick with using the software you have, a good first step is to update them now using the links above.

Even after updating you may have to wait for the exploit (vulnerability) to be closed in your respective browser to be safe. I do not work for Google but another solution I am proposing is to use Google Chrome - http://www.google.com/chrome/

If you use an Apple computer (Mac/iPad etc) then you would also not be vulnerable to this particular exploit (which is how the virus gets installed).

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Concerned for future — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:45:14 -0000

Thanks so much for the help! I have a great question, though, that I can't find anywhere online. Is there a way to protect your computer from this virus in the future? Other than just avoiding a website where you picked it up? I would think there would be a patch fix or something that would remove this trojan's capability to screw you up? Thanks!

Re: [SOLVED] XP Home Security 2011/XP Total Security Virus/Malware Removal Instructions in Safe Mode

Bob Kuyper — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:53:06 -0000

Worked a treat. Thanks