Yesterday whilst surfing about, and trying to exit a webpage, a box popped up inviting me to a virus detection software site. I clicked it. Big mistake! It looked like a legit site offering free scans etc. I did not take them up on it. But then I noted two big green arrows on my browser [IE 7] - one says 'Block popups' the other 'Stop spam and virus attacks' - or something to that effect. It was on a new bar that says 'Security 7.0' I think. [I am only working from memory here, since I have changed to a diff browser until I figure out what to do] Then I noticed my system tray had a flashing redX in a sphere that changes back and forth to a question mark. And another that looks like a yellow yield sign with an explanation mark. Clicking on any of the above takes you to one of several sites that are slick and offering what appears to be anti-virus software for sale. And once in a while a site just pops up without any prompt at all - or a box that looks official MS saying 'you may have contracted a Trojan virus - click here to download protective measures' - or something like that. This all happened very quickly - so I don't recall all of it. I shut down the browser and ran a scan with my virus software - it captured several viruses, including some Trojan horses. Then I shut down my computer and rebooted. I opened the browser and the arrows are still there - the implants in my system tray are still there too. I cannot remove them - any click on them with a mouse [left or right] results in either a pop-up ad seemingly offering anti-virus software, or a warning box again. All of them seem to be fake. It seems to be very slick too - it always a different page I haven't seen before. I occasionally hear the sound of a pop - the pop that indicates a blocked pop-up. And that same fake Windows warning box pops up once in a while. I seem to able to operate so far in Avant browser. But I have no idea what to do next. I am going to download some files this morning to CD just in case this damned thing takes a viral-poop. I know there is a virus circulating that disguises itself as IE 7. I don't know if that is what I have or not. I did a google search from IE 7 about viruses - and guess what? Almost every click took me to another 'anti-virus' ad and webpage. Strange. Jeff
I have a nasty virus imbedded - what now?
by AK - Jeff 17 Replies latest jw experiences
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Honesty
If you have XP w/SP2 you can try this:
Start
Control Panel
Performance & Maintenence
System Restore (upper left hand side of page)
If you have Vista, I can't help you other than offer you a full blown Vista CD that has never been installed or registered. I tried Vista out on a friend's computer and decided to install XP instead when I put this box of metal and wires together.
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Jeffro
Accepting anti-virus software from a random site when you're not looking for anti-virus software is a bit like accepting medication for a condition you don't have from some random guy in the street.
I recommend a program called HiJackThis for generating a log of startup programs, and then getting a knowledgeable person to examine the log to identify any errant processes.
If you're not sure what's what, don't use the program to disable things by yourself. -
nelly136
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ this worked quite well for me when my littlun got the puter infected via her msn the other day, the 6.6 version works with vista as well
http://www.ccleaner.com/help/?v=2.05.555&l=1033 and this cleans up leftover rubbish on your computer pretty well and theres a vista version
if you clean a virus out of your computer its worth cleaning out temp cache and possibly restore points (but someones whose better at puters than me would probably know more about that) etc so that it doesnt leave any bits and bobs behind to come back and revisit later.
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WTWizard
There is a good chance that it is not a virus but spyware that is causing you the problem. You get a fake message of a virus, and when you click on to correct the virus, you install spyware that keeps hounding you to download more crapware. A good antivirus program will root out any viruses (though none are perfect), but you also need a spyware removal system as well. If that doesn't work, you may have to reformat the hard drive (this is a last-ditch measure, since you will lose any files and data that is on your hard drive).
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Leolaia
Yeah, I was thinking of spyware myself. Here is a list of fake anti-spyware programs, is it on the list?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_anti-spyware_programs
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R.Crusoe
Sorry to gate crash but Leo, why do you think my laptop keeps grinding to halt surfing JWD even when I empty previous i/net histories?
And my brain has gone PC illiterate on me these last few years ( Post Internet Serious Stress Event Disorder I think??) so I would appreciate spoon fed explanations!
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R.Crusoe
The abbreviation was a joke btw!
My humour is not always funny - and that makes me laugh for some reason! Go figure!
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mamochan13
Lavasoft's ad-aware is a great tool for cleaning out spyware. I run it every few days.
I have a nasty virus in my computer as well, so I've tried virtually everything out there during the last few weeks (with no success, unfortunately). There are a few other online scanners besides HouseCall. Superantispyware is another one worth trying.
A lot of the newer virus/spyware is getting more dangerous - many of them can't be detected by most antivirus programs. The one I have actually disables all of the antivirus software and re-writes the registry. It can become so deeply imbedded that you have to completely wipe your system to get rid of it.
Hopefully your's is just minor adware. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! :-)
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MsMcDucket
Disconnect the computer from the internet and then back up to an older date. Open up Control Panel and see if the program is listed there or go into programs and check for it and delete it. If possible???