Computer Repair and Service | North Carolina and Virginia

Computer Repair & Service | Specializing in Virus, Malware, Spyware & Adware Removal

Rick Anderson Enterprises is your virus, worm and Trojan removal specialist for Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina. I first became interested in virus removal, when like most people I became infected myself in 1998. As time progressed and more and more of my time was spent on the Internet designing Web sites my interest became a passion as I have witnessed a dramatic increase in malicious activity online over the past years. I now have almost 10 years of virus removal experience and have developed several techniques that enables me to remove malicious items without loosing vital data most of the time. If you think you are infected feel free to contact us for an honest opinion! Happy Computing!

Rick Anderson Enterprises is now offering Remote Support! Remote Support allows us to correct many PC issues without the need for a service call! Please contact us for details!

We can remotely remove unwanted programs, install and upgrade security programs, defrag your hard drive, help train you on the latest software, and configure email accounts. Remote support saves you time and money!

OUR SERVICES:

Virus, Worm, & Trojan Removal
Spyware, Adware, & Malware Removal
Consulting: Internet Usage Policies & PC Security
Software Upgrades
Troubleshooting

Small Business Owners & Parents call us we can help you monitor your employees & children's online activity.

PC Security

Rick Anderson Enterprises has developed a number of custom programs to assist our clients with the almost continuous threats that face PC users today. Many recent studies have found that unprotected or under protected computers can be hijacked in just a few short minutes while online. Many of our clients have found piece of mind in knowing their PCs are protected against the latest threats. Currently, we have small business and individual homeowners as clients.

Commercial Clients:
The Bayberry Company - Moyock, NC
Tale of the Whale Restaurant - Nags Head, NC
The Wooden Feather - Duck, NC
Coastal Lawn and Landscapes - Suffolk, VA

How does it Work?

Simple, we consult with each client to review their current security setup and Internet usage. Then, based on the results of our consultation we custom design a program tailored to each clients unique needs. Bottom line is we will customize a program that will keep your PC running smoothly. Rick Anderson Enterprises wants you to enjoy your PC and Internet experience without the constant worry of the latest virus, spyware, adware and malware threats facing unsuspecting PC owners.

How much does it cost?

While the cost does vary according to each clients unique needs, most programs are about $35 a month. The service includes a once a month visit. During the visit we update all software, scan for and remove any malicious objects, defrag the hard drive, clean all fans to ensure proper ventilation and review our findings with the PC owner. Based on our findings we will continually recommend steps that the PC owner can take to keep their PC properly maintained. We also include 24/7 tech support for any client that we have designed a program for because at Rick Anderson Enterprises we realize how important your PC is to your daily life, and if you get infected while we a administering a plan we will remove the infection absolutely FREE! So what are you waiting for? Contact us today and discover what a difference a well maintained PC can make in your daily life!

Let us remotely perform our maintenance plan for $19.99!

Consider these facts:

The total number of unique phishing reports submitted to APWG in April 2007 was 23,656, a jump of 6,166 from the April 2006 (Anti-Phishing Working Group)
One out of every ten sites on the Web is infected with "drive-by" malware – malware that automatically installs itself on a computer when it visits a site (Google research, 2007)
Annual worldwide economic damages from malware exceeded $13 Billion in 2006, which is $10 Billion more than in 1997 (2007 Malware Report, Computer Economics)

What are you waiting for? Call us toll free today 1-866-208-3364

The info below is designed to help you determine if you are infected or not.
Types of Infections:

Trojan horse: a program that appears to do something useful but actually delivers a harmful effect, such as opening up a security hole, spreading itself via e-mail, or deleting or damaging files.
Worm: a program that spreads by making copies of itself. It may or may not do any additional harm.
@m: A "mailer" is a type of worm that attaches itself to e-mail a user sends.
@mm: A "mass mailer" is a type of worm that automatically sends itself to multiple addresses from a user's address book.
Back door: A program that sends information back to its creator about the infected system, making it easy for that person to hack into the infected system and take control of it or read sensitive data.
Blended threat: A combination of infection types in a single item. For example, a worm that infects a boot sector, deletes important files, and/or opens a security back door would be a blended threat.

Most of the viruses circulating at this time are blended threats, so they do not neatly fall into any one category. This also makes them more dangerous, easier to spread, and more difficult to eradicate.

You probably have a virus if...

The symptoms listed below are rarely caused by anything except a virus. If any of these symptoms are present you should strongly suspect virus infection.

The user received an e-mail with an odd attachment and opened it, with unexpected results—such as the appearance of odd dialog boxes or a sudden degradation in system performance.
There is a double extension on an attachment that the user recently opened, such as .jpg.vbs.
An antivirus program is disabled for no apparent reason (perhaps with an X through its icon in the notification area), and it cannot be enabled. The system may also report an error condition.
An antivirus program will not install on the PC (or appears to install, but then will not run), but other programs will.
Odd dialog boxes or messages appear onscreen.
Several files are missing, especially those of a common type. For example, some viruses have a side effect of deleting all graphic files of a particular type.
Someone tells the user they have recently received strange e-mails from them containing random attached files or a virus.
The PC starts performing actions seemingly on its own, like moving the mouse pointer, opening or closing windows, running programs, or opening and closing the CD tray. This is a symptom of someone actually using a back door to operate the PC, rather than a symptom of the existence of the back door.
You notice the presence of new users with full security permissions that you know you did not create, or you notice inappropriate permissions assigned to existing users. Again, this is more often a symptom of back door hacking than virus infection.
The mouse pointer changes to some different graphic.
Odd icons appear on the desktop that the user did not place there, although the user has not installed any new applications lately that could have placed them there.
Strange sounds or music plays from the speakers for no apparent reason.
File sizes or date/time stamps have changed on files that the user knows he or she did not alter.
A program that was used successfully recently has disappeared, and the user knows that he or she did not uninstall it.

You might have a virus if...

Viruses can also cause some of the following symptoms. The following symptoms are also typical Windows system problems, so you must run a complete virus scan with updated definitions to determine if they are viral.

Windows will not start at all, even though the user has made no system changes, installed or removed any programs, or made any Registry edits since the last time it started successfully.
Windows will not start because certain critical system files are missing (and you see an error message listing those files), and the user is confident that he or she did not accidentally delete them.
The PC starts up normally sometimes, but at other times will hang before the desktop icons and taskbar appear.
The PC runs very slowly and/or takes a long time to start up.
Out-of-memory error messages appear, even though the PC has plenty of RAM.
Viewing the system processes via Task Manager shows that an unknown process is consuming a high percentage of the CPU time.
From the Task Manager view, you notice programs or processes running that you do not recognize, even after shutting down all running programs and system tray utilities.
New applications will not install properly.
Windows spontaneously reboots for no apparent reason.
Applications that used to run normally are now crashing frequently. Removing and reinstalling them does not solve the problem.
A disk utility such as Scandisk reports multiple serious disk errors.
A partition completely disappears.

Avoiding infections:

Here are some tips geared toward safeguarding your PC

Do not to open attachments unless you are expecting them, and do not to run programs you download from the Internet unless they have been scanned for viruses.
Keep Windows and Internet Explorer updated with the latest security patches. Simply visiting a Web site can cause infection if certain patches are not installed, so if possible, set up automatic updates for Windows and IE.
By default, many operating systems (especially server versions) install with extra services that you don’t need, such as an FTP server, telnet, and a Web server. Remove any that are not critical so a virus has fewer avenues of attack.
Be quick to disable or block access to network services when a blended threat exploits one of them, and keep it sealed off until you can apply a fix.
Keep patch levels up to date, especially on computers that host public services and are accessible through the firewall, such as HTTP, FTP, Mail, and DNS services.
Use strong passwords yourself, and enforce an aggressive password policy that requires complex passwords and frequent changes. This helps limit the damage in the event that a computer is compromised through a back door.
Configure your e-mail server to block or remove e-mail that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as VBS, BAT, EXT, PIF, and SCR files. Send any files that legitimately need to be mailed in those formats in compressed archives (ZIP files).
Frequently check the security advisories provided by the makers of antivirus software to find out what the latest threats are.

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read."
Mark Twain

Rick Anderson Enterprises is dedicated to informing our clients and the public about the latest threats that face unsuspecting PC users. I feel the best way to combat the constant threats that face PC owners today is by providing the information the public needs to understand and react to these threats as they arise. This section is divided to provide targeted information. I update this as the need arises so check back frequently. We also recently added a virus alert newsletter. Rick Anderson Enterprises will email virus alerts whenever conditions warrant.

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Alerts and Important Information

February 12th - Patch Tuesday - Scheduled Updates From Microsoft

February 12th - Storm Has Sent Their Cupids

February 12th - Malware Detections Up, Up and away

February 11th - Website Partnership Enquiry Spam

February 8th - Rogue Microsoft Update Site - In The Wild

February 8th - Mayday Botnet - Newer and More Sinister than Storm

February 4th - MySpace Uploader ActiveX Exploited in the Wild

February 4th - Over 1 percent of Search Results Include Malicious Sites

February 4th- Fake Security Blogs Lead to Malware

General Information