Ubuntu - when the going gets tough, go Ubuntu

[WhiteLotus]

Well that's what i'm going to do anyway.

I keep getting errors, and now this bugger of a virus makes me download something called totalsecure2009.exe every time i try to access my 1tb media drive (D: ). So far AVG hasn't picked up on anything (no surprises there) currently downloading many anti spy/mal ware things to try get it but it doesn't look promising so a format may have to be done. so i though her why not give Ubuntu a go.

First off though - i know nothing about it, squat. Its going to be a very new learning curve for me.

Do programs like uTorrent work happily on it? and also the main thing i am concerned about is acquiring the Internet, i use a dongle to connect to a router, what's the software like for that these days?

[KieranD]

any ralink stuff should work note most adapters will not be branded as ralink but contain a ralink chip but if you can connect by wire first then you can get the drivers for ubuntu autmatically im sure for most wireless adapaters

u torrent has a build for linux and so does a lot of the other programs

make sure you get adobe acrobat flash player becasue its not installed with firefox, its got an auto installer so just click the installer, most programs you can use the main thing to install things im having a hard time remembering what its called lolz

software is mostly good so dont worry about compatibility

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by KieranD

any ralink stuff should work note most adapters will not be branded as ralink but contain a ralink chip but if you can connect by wire first then you can get the drivers for ubuntu autmatically im sure for most wireless adapaters

u torrent has a build for linux and so does a lot of the other programs

make sure you get adobe acrobat flash player becasue its not installed with firefox, its got an auto installer so just click the installer, most programs you can use the main thing to install things im having a hard time remembering what its called lolz

software is mostly good so dont worry about compatibility

yea i'm not playing games alot at the moment - and i figure it'll be a lot cleaner, it does run on less right?

[pbmaster]

I put Xubuntu on my sister's old lap top cause XP was too much of a beast for it to run lol...I like it, the only thing holding me back is finding the right drivers for the wireless card...the damn list got moved and now I can't find it. You should like it a lot though. No worries about pop-ups or the like either.

[KieranD]

Xubuntu will run on anything near enuf, make suer it has at least 512mb ram tho it can run o n128mb ram but its faster with 512mb

yeah its a lot lighter and faster

games well not a lot there just doom 3 and quake 4 supposed to be unreal tournament 3 but dunno if it will appear

there are some good programs for music cant think of any off the top of my head tho

video use VLC media player it does everything

even a basic graphics card should be able to handle the special effects on the desktop

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by KieranD

Xubuntu will run on anything near enuf, make suer it has at least 512mb ram tho it can run o n128mb ram but its faster with 512mb

yeah its a lot lighter and faster

games well not a lot there just doom 3 and quake 4 supposed to be unreal tournament 3 but dunno if it will appear

there are some good programs for music cant think of any off the top of my head tho

video use VLC media player it does everything

even a basic graphics card should be able to handle the special effects on the desktop

This is why i'm liking the idea greatly. I think i have also just found the cause of my virus woos. damn trojans. so at the moment i am

Basically i just want something that lets me work, view net, and listen to music. I use open office at the moment anyway so im used to that.

[panchoman]

if you have any other problems, take a hijackthis log and you can show me, im a decent hijackthis analyst..

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by panchoman

if you have any other problems, take a hijackthis log and you can show me, im a decent hijackthis analyst..

might do that - i have found the trojan virus but now i have to pay to remove it. AHHHH. looks like it's deep in my registry as well, HKCR ring any bells for anyone?

[panchoman]

hijack this
post a log, i'll see if i can find something..
it catchs any irregular things that shouldn't be there, like startup entries(most trojans etc require this.. remember they must be launched somehow, and they have a physical file on your hdd that they manifest in.. the registry just operates them)

[flashstar]

I'm contemplating getting the regular Ubuntu for my T23 laptop with a 1.1ghz Pentium3 m processor and 512mb of ram. I'll strip out most of the services, but do you think that getting another 512 mb of ram will be worth it? I don't want to have to resort to Xubuntu since it lacks a ton of features that I'd like to have (pre-configured SMB, etc.).

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by panchoman

hijack this
post a log, i'll see if i can find something..
it catchs any irregular things that shouldn't be there, like startup entries(most trojans etc require this.. remember they must be launched somehow, and they have a physical file on your hdd that they manifest in.. the registry just operates them)

knock yourself out lol

[panchoman]

Originally Posted by WhiteLotus

knock yourself out lol

hmm lets see now..

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by panchoman

hmm lets see now..

edited! lol

[KieranD]

Originally Posted by flashstar

I'm contemplating getting the regular Ubuntu for my T23 laptop with a 1.1ghz Pentium3 m processor and 512mb of ram. I'll strip out most of the services, but do you think that getting another 512 mb of ram will be worth it? I don't want to have to resort to Xubuntu since it lacks a ton of features that I'd like to have (pre-configured SMB, etc.).

having lots of ram isnt a mist but since it is a low spec cpu youd be better off with 1gb

ubuntu is nice and fast with loads of ram, it can increase start up time too

fast hard drives are another booster for linux

[panchoman]

your log is clean for the most part, i see you've got some avg, ad aware, ati drivers, and some punk buster in there, with some spyhunter(how is it?)

-you have rundll32.exe running. this can be a problem because many times a trojan will be written into a .dll file that is then executed by rundll32.exe as an application. this is what many of the newer trojans use, because they have gibberish names that fit in well with the 500 other dll files in your windows32 folder. you might want to download process explorer and trace the command line for the rundll process and make sure the dll file that its executing is legit.
-do you have something called the anyway toolbar? it has a gibberish dll file thats in the system32 folder and is set to run when you log in (this is very suspicious)
-you many entires for ctfmon.exe, this is a system process that trojans sometimes manifest themselves in.. try using the fix feature in hijackthis to see if it can correct the registry entries. if it comes up again, try replacing the ctfmon.exe file with a clean ctfmon file and see if that fixes anything.

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by panchoman

your log is clean for the most part, i see you've got some avg, ad aware, ati drivers, and some punk buster in there, with some spyhunter(how is it?)

-you have rundll32.exe running. this can be a problem because many times a trojan will be written into a .dll file that is then executed by rundll32.exe as an application. this is what many of the newer trojans use, because they have gibberish names that fit in well with the 500 other dll files in your windows32 folder. you might want to download process explorer and trace the command line for the rundll process and make sure the dll file that its executing is legit.
-do you have something called the anyway toolbar? it has a gibberish dll file thats in the system32 folder and is set to run when you log in (this is very suspicious)
-you many entires for ctfmon.exe, this is a system process that trojans sometimes manifest themselves in.. try using the fix feature in hijackthis to see if it can correct the registry entries. if it comes up again, try replacing the ctfmon.exe file with a clean ctfmon file and see if that fixes anything.

righto - will do that in the morning. right now my head hurts and i need sleep.

and btw the spyhunter is a free scanner, but have to pay for its services (it found it but wouldn't delete it)

[panchoman]

hmm, what does spyhunter say the problem is?

[flashstar]

Originally Posted by KieranD

having lots of ram isnt a mist but since it is a low spec cpu youd be better off with 1gb

ubuntu is nice and fast with loads of ram, it can increase start up time too

fast hard drives are another booster for linux

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I've already put way too much into the laptop (I bought it for $120 a year ago and put $300 into it ). The cpu should be fast enough to run office and multimedia applications. The last time I installed Ubuntu with 512mb of ram it took about 1:30 minutes to boot lol.

[WhiteLotus]

Originally Posted by panchoman

hmm, what does spyhunter say the problem is?

those little ones. i dont recognise the file path and don't want to delve into the unknown before i can swim

[oily_17]

Download MalwareBytes from here and run it.

Make sure to update the program first before scanning and then let it fix all that it finds.

EDIT:Instructions for use -

# When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
# When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:

* Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
* Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

# Then click Finish.
# MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself. Press the OK button to close that box and continue. If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install.
# On the Scanner tab:

* Make sure the "Perform Quick Scan" option is selected.
* Then click on the Scan button.

# If asked to select the drives to scan, leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.
# The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.
# When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
# Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.
# Back at the main Scanner screen, click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
# Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.

[oily_17]

As far as Spyhunter is concerned I would remove it, as it could be giving false positives just to get you to buy it -to remove the false infection.
You could try the Kaspersky WebScanner for an additional scanner.
Kaspersky online scanner uses JAVA technology to perform the scan.Follow the instructions below under Upgrading Java, to download and install the latest version.

Instructions for using Kaspersky Webscanner
# Read through the requirements and privacy statement and click on Accept button.
# It will start downloading and installing the scanner and virus definitions. You will be prompted to install an application from Kaspersky. Click Run.
# When the downloads have finished, click on Settings.
# Make sure the following is checked.

* Spyware, Adware, Dialers, and other potentially dangerous programs
* Archives
* Mail databases

# Click on My Computer under Scan.
# Once the scan is complete, it will display the results. Click on View Scan Report.
# You will see a list of infected items there. Click on Save Report As....
# Change the Files of type to Text file (.txt) before clicking on the Save button.

Your Java is out of date. Older versions have vulnerabilities that malware can use to infect your system.
Upgrading Java:

* Download the latest version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 Update 7.
* Scroll down to where it says Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 Update7. The Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) allows end-users to run Java applications.
* Click the "Download" button to the right. A new page will open.
* Select your platform and check the box that says: I agree to the Java SE Runtime Environment 6 License Agreement.
* Click Continue.
* Click on the link under Windows Offline Installation (jre-6u7-windows-i586-p.exe) and save it to your desktop. Do NOT use the Sun Download Manager.
* Go to Start - Control Panel, double-click on Add/Remove programs and remove all older versions of Java.
* Check any item with Java Runtime Environment (JRE or J2SE) in the name.
* Click the Remove or Change/Remove button.
* Repeat as many times as necessary to remove each Java version.
* Reboot your computer once all Java components are removed.
* Close any programs you may have running - especially your web browser.
* Then from your desktop double-click on the download to install the newest version.



Also when MalwareBytes is finished, a log report will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to restart your computer.The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MalwareBytes.
Copy and paste the contents of that report and it might help to solve any problems you are getting.

[WhiteLotus]

hey oily - Malware seemed to have worked. It got rid of about 7 trojans and not a problem since.

so for you i give internets!

[WhiteLotus]

Ok so getting away from the virus problems now.

what else is there to know about Ubuntu?

[oily_17]

Originally Posted by WhiteLotus

hey oily - Malware seemed to have worked. It got rid of about 7 trojans and not a problem since.

Glad it helped you.

Originally Posted by WhiteLotus

Ok so what else is there to know about Ubuntu?

I have just recently started to use Ubuntu on an older rig I had put together.Quite like it really although does take a bit of time getting used to all the commands for the terminal etc....but it is worth installing and trying it out.
I have only had it in stalled for about a week now and have it set up for folding and sharing files (used Samba and OpenSSH) and really was not that hard to get to grips with.
The only trouble I had at the start was getting the correct res with my monitor, but all is well now.

As far as programs that you use in Windows there usually is a Linux version or even better software that is free to use...one of the reasons I installed Linux, because I didn't want to spend any money on this rig.

I would say install it and give it a try for a couple of weeks and see what you think yourself...if you get stuck there are loads of How-To's on their forums etc.

[xfire]

If you run into any problem you can always ask. I'll tell you how to configure the net once you finish the installation.