computer problems

[Hunter Gatherer]

sorry! I don't want to waste time. But my computer has gone all wacky! Its telling me many F ed up things. Maleware intrusion, virus infection, system danger, stealth intrusion, and a alot of other crazy computer stuff I don't understand.

my firewall and virus protection will not turn on? When i try to turn it on it tells me i got to pay $50 bucks.

Not sure what I should do? sorry for posting this in GP but I don't know where else to go, and its driving me crazy! every 10 secs something pops up telling me i got a new system hacked.

should i bite the bullet and pay $50 for firewall or do a system restore of some sort?

once again im sorry for posting this in GP but its really driving me crazy!

[Kotin]

same stuff happened to me a couple days ago.. do a system restore and then get some simple adware and spyware software.

that worked for me.

[micahnelson]

You have a virus or malware. Download malwarebytes, update it, and run the full scan overnight.

The thing asking you for 50 bucks is the bad software. If you give them your account information they will clean you out.

System restore will probably not remove this problem, if it does, it wont remove the problem for very long.

[Anti Federalist]

You have been infected with malware (malicious software).

Try http://www.superantispyware.com/

D/L install and run if you can


should i bite the bullet and pay $50 for firewall or do a system restore of some sort?

DO NOT DO THIS.

The malware infection came from the people that are trying to get you to pay.

[Pizzo]

same thing happened to me today. You unwillingly downloaded some malware that is pretending that it is protection software. DO NOT pay ofr anything or give your cc number. The one i had was Antimalware XP and looks like it is part of the normal operating system. It isn't. It will also block your browser. I got rid of it through my PrevX anti virus software. But that i pay for. I believe you can download malwarebytes for free to get rid of it. Good luck, it's a pain in the ass.

[brandon]

Many good things suggested in this thread. If none of them work, here is the ultimate solution.

go to http://www.techsupportforum.com/

Read all of the stickys and it will instruct you how to fully cleanse your computer.

[evilfunnystuff]

I would probly just reformat the drive and reinstall the operating system in your situation.

Do you still have the windows disk that came with your computer?

I would save any important documents pics etc. to disc make note of all the programs you have then start from scratch and do a fresh install.

If you haven't done a fresh install of windows in the last year you computer will run like it did when you first got it, in addition to getting rid of this problem.

If ya wanna go this route I can find a simple set of instructions to guide you through it, it is very simple but will take a little bit of time depending how fast of a computer you have.

[DirtMcGirt]

I like to use hijackthis... Just read instructions before you start deleting stuff after you run the scan...

http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html

[newbitech]

before you download anything, start your computer in safemode with network support. got to your etc/hosts file and make sure there aren't any entries to redirect you to fake download sites for anti-malware.

other than that, don't pay unless you want to pay me paypal -> store@sagatrader.com. I will remote into your system and clean it out for 50 bucks and then donate half of that to the liberty candidate of your choice.

[Danke]

before you download anything, start your computer in safemode with network support. got to your etc/hosts file and make sure there aren't any entries to redirect you to fake download sites for anti-malware.

other than that, don't pay unless you want to pay me paypal -> store@sagatrader.com. I will remote into your system and clean it out for 50 bucks and then donate half of that to the liberty candidate of your choice.

Only if you promise not to delete my porn.

[AcidReign]

I would probly just reformat the drive and reinstall the operating system in your situation.

Do you still have the windows disk that came with your computer?

I would save any important documents pics etc. to disc make note of all the programs you have then start from scratch and do a fresh install.

If you haven't done a fresh install of windows in the last year you computer will run like it did when you first got it, in addition to getting rid of this problem.

If ya wanna go this route I can find a simple set of instructions to guide you through it, it is very simple but will take a little bit of time depending how fast of a computer you have.

+1

I would do this. Nothing like a fresh install to speed up your OS, and have almost certainty the virus is gone. I've had good experience with this anti-virus program.

www.avira.com

Seems to catch a lot. It's free, updates often, and you can tweak it to turn the nagware off.

[RCA]

I like the free version of this:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

[FunkBuddha]

Use a different computer and change all of your online passwords immediately. Better safe than sorry.

[Mach]

Download Avast (http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download), open it up and click Scan Computer, then Boot-time Scan , now click Schedule Now all the way at the bottom and restart the computer, it will take a long while to finish but it will scan before Windows even starts up, that is key.

Yes, Malwarebytes does kick arse too, everyone should have that.

[TastyWheat]

Malwarebytes is good for spyware and Microsoft Security Essentials is pretty good with viruses (surprisingly).

If you get your PC back in order I recommend you follow this guide: How to protect yourself from malware (http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=44525)

I might also suggest you switch to Google Chrome if you aren't using it already. It came out "unhacked" at a recent competition (source (http://www.thechromesource.com/chrome-the-only-major-browser-not-hacked-at-pwn2own/)).