Virus keeps changing proxy settings

Question

I recently got infected with a virus, and while I was under the impression that the virus was removed (Windows defender found and removed a virus, the proxy settings in Firefox appear to be always changing back to manual, 127.0.0.1.

Internet research didn't not lead to any solution except the advice of wiping the drive and any backups that might be infected. In my case that would amount to ditching several months of work and client files which is simply not possible.

Any advice to track down the virus and remove it for real? Or is it even a virus?

Of course, I can keep changing the proxy settings back, but I need a real solution that does not involve losing important data.

Answer 1

Not knowing what virus it is, and simply outlining what I would do:

• Uninstall Firefox (backup favorites / bookmarks first of course)
• Totally delete all data for Firefox
• Once all that is complete, of course re-install new copy of Firefox, if it was just a config thing, you should be back in action.

My preference tho is to always format, if the infection is severe enough. As a virus might not be fully removed or the damage too severe, or too time consuming to fix.

Try the uninstall / clean out, if its a simple proxy virus, that might be all that is needed. Otherwise see if you can find the name of the virus / infection for further research (should be in your virus history under virus scanner).