# Computer guys please help



## kolwdwrkr (Jul 27, 2008)

This program is attacking my computer. It pops up every minute or so and I have to click out of it. It asks if I want to allow the computer to continue unprotected. I didn't download this thing. I opened the internet exployer one day and that is what was there instead of my home page. It hasn't left since. My Norton has expired, but I still have the windows security running, and the outdated norton. What should I do? How can I get this to stop invading my comp? When I run the security systems I have it says the computer is fine. I go to the "uninstall programs" and this program is not there. It's really bothering me. If you click the protect button it takes you to a purchase menu where you have to buy the software.


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## Russel (Aug 13, 2007)

If I were you, I would download "Windows Defender" from Microsoft. It's free, and while it may not be the best, it gives you tools to stop things like this.

Once you download and install it, there is a tool called "Software Explorer" which will list the programs that get loaded when your computer starts. Go down that list and find any program that is not published by a company you know, and not digitally signed.

When you find one, there is a button to "Disable" it so that it does not start when your system is loaded. This should keep this type of thing from loading and you can find it and delete it at your leisure.

Hope this helps a bit.


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## Çggghgyt (Jun 17, 2008)

Recommend you download and run "Spybot - Search and Destroy" as well as "AdAware". Both are free software programs that will find and get rid of programs such as you are describing as well as other malicious things that may have infected your computer. You can google to find the programs or go to CNET.com and search for them to download and run.

Good Luck.


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## kolwdwrkr (Jul 27, 2008)

I have windows defender and it comes up clean


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## Mario (Apr 23, 2007)

I would second the ecomendation by Garyb6. We use them at work and they are very good.

Also dump you IE cache.


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## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

This is a scam. You don't need their services if you have a good anti-spyware/anti-virus program. They are persistent though! I think it goes away on it's own if you do not buy it…just takes time.
I would suggest AVG as an anti-virus program. It is free.


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## beaufish (Dec 15, 2008)

In addition to what Garyb6 suggested I would add running CWShredder as well. It can be found at CNET as well.

Also.. if your norton is expired I would remove it from your computer. It more than likely has programs running in the background that are not doing you any good unless you want to pay for the subscription again. Norton 
AV itself is a memory hog and I have cursed it since the day I have owned my first computer that came with it standard. I would suggest another AV program that has a much less invasive code and smaller footprint within the computer (ESET NOD32 or AVG Antivirus). I run ESET NOD32 on all my computers at home and for the computers that I build for friends.

Good luck. Usually if the infection is to the point where you can't control the registry or add/uninstall programs I don't even both with the fighting. Back up data and pictures whatever way you can and do a fresh install.


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## Bigdogs117 (Jun 26, 2008)

When I had virus problems, I downloaded and tried Avast, AVG and Avira Antivirus. All free. Avira did clear my problems up immediately. These were the top 3 free antivirus programs I found when I did my research. I have used all three but I like Avira the best myself.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

OK, here's what you need. This has found more stuff than spybot and adaware put together. It has saved me a ton of time trying to rack down this kind of junk:

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button

While you're at it got to http://www.free-av.com/en/download/index.html and download this free antivirus program. I dropped Norton a year ago and replaced it with Avira. It works great- and has been highly recommended by PC experts.

Lew


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## jerryz (Jun 4, 2009)

I second Beaufish, not only Norton is a memory hogger it also slows down your computer to a crawl and removing it feel like getting rid of a virus infection in itself, having had to do both I speak from experience.
Being that this pop up was aquired from the web I would second what Garyb6 suggested, download the Spybot and install it on your machine, do not intall the Teatime fuction, you want however the Explorer browser integration and immunization.
Once you download the software, download the latest updates and immunize the machine.
Then run the search & destroy which will hunt the infection(s) and remove them.
Don't be surprised, You will probably find quite a few if you have never used this software before.
Good luck


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## Dudley (Jun 22, 2009)

Just do a system restore back to a date before that started popping up and that will get rid of it.


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## WibblyPig (Jun 8, 2009)

Here's what you have:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fast-antivirus-2009

It tells you how to remove it. It tells you how to remove it which includes downloading a program from them. If you don't want to do that, you can download it from Cnet:

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button

Then, dump Norton and install AVG (free) and Spybot search and destroy. I also run Firefox instead of IE.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I have a Mac now, but I found Spysweeper to work the best for me.

You can run a free sweep here.


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

I like to use Glary Utilities ,,, it is free and is found on cnet,com
,,,
http://download.cnet.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-2094_4-10508531.html?tag=mncol;pop


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## kolwdwrkr (Jul 27, 2008)

Luke Filewalker is working right now. The Malwarebytes has been running for over an hour. I can't believe it's taking so long. So far it's found 184 objects infected. The Avira keeps popping up with a dong sound telling me about suspicious programs. Am I just supposed to have it delete them or what? I have also uninstalled Norton. I hope my programs run better now. Before my Internet exployer kept stopping sayint it's not responding. It never did find a solution yet to my knowledge. We'll see if these two programs help.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

Keith: When you have a popup that you want to kill you can press <alt>F4 it kills the window without going to the site that they want you to go to.

<alt>F4 is a kill window in Windows. When their are no visable ways to close a window, It will do it.


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

Good tip Karson … hopefully I will remember it this time >grin<


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

Have you tried shutting down your machine and unplugging it for a few hours? Worth a try.


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## PCorl (Feb 23, 2009)

I had the same program attack my computer this spring. I tried Windows Defender, Spybot, AVG, and probably 6 other freeware programs but none of them would get rid of the entire pesky thing. I finally ended up purchasing PCTOOLS ( www.pctools.com ) and after I installed and ran it the program was gone and has never returned. I hated spending the bucks ( I think it was around $30) but it was well worth it. Good luck….


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## woodworm (Jul 27, 2008)

I keep $pending $$ every time new virus attacks my pc (deems to have attacked as claimed by *them*).


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## cmaxnavy (Dec 23, 2007)

Here is the answer to ALL of your PC security problems. And, I recommend all LJs check this site out. It's run by Nick Francesco in Rochester NY. He's a PC genius!

http://securitytango.com/

Max


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## Michael121 (Jun 30, 2008)

AVIRA anti virus is free for a year and beats them all


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Keith,

After you get done checking your system and everything is working OK, bite the bullet and down load Mozilla Firefox. You will not regret it. Firefox 3.5 is currently available and it is fast!!

There is a very shallow learning curve for Firefox. There are also lots of add-ons and tweaks you can get to enhance the browser even more.


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## douglbe (Jul 22, 2007)

You've been hijacked or I should say your browser has been hijacked. I have had problems in the past with this same kind of program. The best way I found to remove them is to do it manually. Here is a link that explains how to handle it. This requires you to get into your Windows registry, if you are not comfortable doing this, then you will have to try some of the suggested programs above. http://www.411-spyware.com/remove-fast-antivirus-2009#how-to-remove


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## bensaw (Dec 4, 2008)

Chances are what you are seeing isn't the only thing on your machine. A lot of viruses these days will either download other viruses or just keep replicating themselves on your computer if your scan misses even one instance of the virus process running.

Having said that, I have been successful cleaning many machines over the past few years, but sometimes they wind up too crippled and require a windows reload. You can try to clean it, but if you have limited experience recognizing what is a good entry in your registry or process table or aren't experienced enough to understand a HijackThis log, I highly recommend the course another poster did, which was just backup your stuff you need and reload windows. You will likely save yourself hours of furstration by moving forward with a clean slate.

Malwarebytes is good (but you should do a FULL scan more than once. Once you get a clean scan shut down and reboot then run it again.) HiJackThis is helpful if you can spot what might be causing problems. TrendMicro's housecall scan is free and you can use that to verify once malwarebytes comes up clean. After that I would download the free trial of Microsoft's anti-virus. If that scan comes up clean after those other steps then you can feel somewhat safe that things are clean.

Sometimes booting to safe mode with networking allows you to scan without the virus being loaded…hit F8 at bootup to get there.

Good luck!!!


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## rejr (Jun 24, 2008)

+ 1 (or more) on Bensaw's post "...which was just backup your stuff you need and reload windows. You will likely save yourself hours of furstration by moving forward with a clean slate."

Sometimes you can get away with letting the CD 'repair'. I'd still do a backup first.

And then to prevent further occurrences, here is what I have running on my wife's computer:
1- use a router, even if you only have one computer. This is a hardware firewall that adds a lot of protection. (often available at computer recycling stores for ~10-15$)
2 - Avast or AVG - Both are free. We've used both with equal success. I like the Avast interface a little bit more.
3- Lavasoft Adaware
4 - Glary and Eusing Registry cleaners. Run a backup before installing any software. Run both every month or so to clean up out of date entries. The backup is for protection just in case. Running the programs just helps keep computer running smoother.

To backup: Use MS's SyncToy and a plug in (USB) remote drive. If you're adding a lot of stuff (downloading plans for example) run it daily; it will only add the new stuff. There are settings to not delete stuff from the backup if you delete from your HD or to mirror your documents.

I'd look into using gmail for email if you're getting a lot of spam (assuming that's how you got the malware). Great spam filter and if you have to do a reinstall later, you don't lose your old email.

A more radical approach: Download a Linux system (I like Ubuntu) and install it. It sets up as a default as 'dual-boot', giving you a choice of MS or Ubuntu at each startup.. Comes with firewall, doesn't need any of the rest. About once a month or so it runs a HD diagnostic automatically.

When you first start visiting sites, there may be some media (vids and animation) that won't work, but there will be links to resources to download to get them going. It is a licensing workaround. There are equivalents to anything Windows offers. Except the plethora of virus', worms, and malware.


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## RedShirt013 (May 17, 2008)

To add on Robert's suggestion of dual booting Ubuntu, I also have another windows xp setup in Virtual PC where I do everyday surfing and anything remotely suspicious. Anything happens I can just delete the whole virtual disk and replace with a backup. The actual winXP that I boot I keep fully updated (since it is a legitimate copy) and protected, and use that for banking and anything sensitive.

I agree with backup your data too. Sometimes after removing a virus you end up messing up system files and it won't boot. It's more work extracting data without a working computer.
And since you're backing up your data anyway, a reformat/reinstall is the best way. Takes half a day plus you need to reinstall all programs again, but it'll be faster and you'll have the peace of mind.


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

Wow, do PC users really have to jump through all these hoops. I thought it was mostly all talk. Is this what it's like?


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## rejr (Jun 24, 2008)

Craftsman,
I've not had to use my backup system to recover from computer problems for probably 10-12 years. I have used occasional copies of files because I trashed a file then realized I needed it again.

I have used the backup to reinstall docs, photos, music onto new computer or after upgrade to bigger HD.

And I think the only times our xp system had a warning from one of the various pieces of protection was from 2 or3 x forwarded emails with a link to a questionable site. I don't even remember which piece of software caught the problem; it could have been Firefox.

The problem comes when something does hit a machine. And it seems that Mac and Linux have better protection designed into the OS. Windows just seems to need more protection added.

It might be interesting, but not enough to get me to spend more time online, to look at the sites involved with the various protection software programs and see where the malicious stuff comes from..


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

I think there are just fewer "bugs" written (or invented…. or whatever) for Macs.


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

The guys or gals that write virus software want to infect a million computers instead of a thousand computers. That's what they write for the Microsoft style computers.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

When I bought a new computer I bought a Mac.

I took my grandson's advice, plus a lot of you Lumberjocks.

*No more Trojans, or Virus's!*


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## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

Quick, Dick,....... find some wood to knock on!


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

*Now I'm scared! BRRRRR!*
I have lots of wood though.


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## plainjane (May 24, 2009)

As they say, "once you go Mac, you'll never go back!" I have a Mac (my second) and I never EVER have to worry about any viruses or problems like that.


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## joeob (Apr 14, 2009)

I would try the pop-up blocker, delete the Norton unless you are going to use it and then install AVG free and see what happens.
Otherwise i don't know.
Hope this is of some help
Joe.


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## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

Kieth

i use windows mate and i surgest AVG i use this for all my protection the best out there for free

Andy


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