Computer Virus- Can anybody help an Uber Noob?

[XingCai]

I was doing some Google searching for some WoW information, being a nub to that community I'm not sure what sites have possible viruses and whatnot, so as you can imagine I went and got a virus from a site called "wowvault" or something like that. I was going to ask my tech savy bro for help and he suggested BG's tech area for possible solutions quicker.

It's one of those "virus scanner" things, I've gotten one before and a system restore to a previous date cleared it right up last time, but this one seems as though the virus is stopping restore from working. It also closes every program that I try to open, except Internet Explorer; I can also get into the control panel but nothing appears to work when I do anything, at least I could get in, turned off my computer due to fear.

I know absolutely nothing about my computer or anything else for that matter, except the fact that I have Windows XP. Stupidity aside, I hope there is something I can do. I'll check back a bit later, going to watch a little TV first. Thanks for your time.

[Dmitry]

When the computer is starting up, push the F8 key until you get the Advanced Boot Option Menu. Select Safe Mode if you have a good scanner on there already (like Malwarebytes) or Safe Mode with Networking if you need to download anything or update the scanner. Run the scan in Safe Mode then reboot when it finishes and see if that clears it up.

[XingCai]

Thank you for responding so quickly, unfortunately I'm such a n00b I either don't have a scanner or it sucks, but entering Safe Mode was enough to regain access to programs that the virus was blocking, I was able to pick a restore point from Mon. of this past week and the virus is gone. Thanks for the help. :D

On a side note I don't want this to happen again, so I guess I'm in the market for a good scanner and a browser update. I use Firefox but not to its full potential and as I have already established I'm retarded tech wise, so I was wondering if there is an easy guide out there to understand Firefox's security settings to catch scripts and junk. You stated Malwarbytes as a scanner is it relatively easy to get/install?

Once again thank you for the help and your time.

[Astarael]

firefox is fine, make sure you install the addons "Noscript" and "adblock". Noscript just blocks absolutely everything, you have to allow sites to run any kind of script or whatever. Useful when you're browsing with relatively little knowledge of how to detect dodgy websites. adblock, well, blocks ads. dunno how people can browse without it.

In terms of antivirus/antispyware, chances are if you ask ten people you'll get ten different answers. Malwarebytes is an excellent free spyware scanner/remover, but that's all it offers. My personal preference is to purchase a copy of ESET's Nod32 antivirus.

Can be found here http://www.eset.co.uk/Products/Antivirus

If you shop around you might get it cheaper, but it's worth the price in my opinion. I've tried the majority of the internet protection suites available, and ESET has detected and taken care of everything i've ever found, plus it uses next to nothing in terms of system resources.

[XingCai]

Ok, thanks for the info I'll look into it

[Dmitry]

You can get Malwarebytes from herep. For a virus scanner, if your Windows is legit you can get Microsoft Security Essentials here.

For the Firefox addons: NoScript and ABP