Should I format my computer after a trojan attack?

Question

There are no signs of any trojans or spyware on my computer, but I'm a little paranoid of any hidden trojans. Should I format?

Answer 1

No, not necessarily.  Formatting is the way to go when it's made such a huge mess that it's more work to clean up than just back up and reinstall.  There are some really organised people who have everything ready to go if they suffer a serious attack and can have the entire thing clean and up and running again in about an hour but most of us just go through the cleaning up process.

In about 10 years of computer owning and various computers, we've only suffered one bad attack and that was from a website that was pushing illegal software and trawling ALL visitors.  Son was doing some research for a project and didn't spot the danger signals in the Google results - oops!  When he went to the site, AVG went nuts trying to catch all the viruses thrown at us!!  That made a big mess that made reformatting quicker.

We have adequate security and keep it up to date and normally have little or no trouble.

In view of the multiple attacks you've suffered, I'd suggest you stick to the trusted sites like the program maker's own sites and places like http://majorgeeks.com for downloading software.  A lot of sites just put any old thing up that they are sent and you can't be sure what you'll get.  This link talks about that:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread....

Here's a link to help you overhaul your computer without formatting:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread....

Answer 2

If a trojan causes you to format, i worry for you.

What would happen if a virus attacks?

You throw the computer away! xD

Answer 3

If you removed trojans, you can never be 100% sure all is secure. If you only browse the web, chat, etc. you can run as is.

If you make online purchases, or do banking, I would format.

If you are just asking, and have had no indication of an infection, I would not format.

To check for trojans ......

Download, install, update, and run one or all of these:

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

SUPERAntiSpyware Free

http://www.superantispyware.com/download...

a-squared Free

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/down...

*******************

To avoid conflicts........ only run one anti-virus program. Remove either AVG or Avast.

Answer 4

no

Answer 5

No. But 2 antivirus will conflict each other, you will need to remove AVG.

Then you need to install spybot.

Spybot is a free anti-spyware tool that that contains many features.

http://www.safer-networking.org/

Spybot immunize your computer against some spyware.

It modifies Internet Explorer to block a lot of the bad stuff known to Spybot.

There is a second layer of protection for IE that blocks anything that should come through by different aspects.

Answer 6

I use Spyware Blaster

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareb...

Also Spybot Search and destroy immunization database

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index...

I never have any problems with spyware or viruses. Both progs are free and safe downloads. These programs are all about prevention like a condom for your computer.  I highly recommend.