Posted by jba/fl on 9/11/09 5:16pm
Msg #303599

Tech question - need help ASAP

Surfing along, all of a sudden up pops Antivirus Pro 2010 and begins scanning. Ok, I know I probably did something, but for the life of me, I don't know what.

Tried to delete by X-ing out, but now I have an icon on my task bar and a constant interruption saying everything I do or want to go to is "unsafe" and I should download their program and pay $49.95 as well. I can read about 3 messages here, then get directed to page telling me it is unsafe to continue. It offers an option to continue, with the caveat "not recommended" and will not continue, so I use back button to get around this.

I have a second icon in task bar of red circle with white x in it, if I click on it, it wants to scan. McAfee has blocked it, but it keeps on working. I have gone to add/delete programs and it will not delete.

It has changed my home page, inserted a google tool bar as well. How can I get rid of this? It is also affecting my keyboard - after I type about 10 strokes, it stops for about 4-5 then continues, causing me untold grief just typing this. I'm going nuts. Any suggestions?

Reply by PAW on 9/11/09 5:24pm
Msg #303601

Reboot. Bring up your system in SAFE MODE and run a virus check.

Reply by jba/fl on 9/11/09 5:29pm
Msg #303604

Did that- how do I get rid of this? Also, not letting me into Control Panel. Typing improved, not as many interruptions, but still the one icon for the scan of Antivirus Pro 2010.

Maybe I should turn off, go out to dinner and see what happens when I return? Think I will.

Reply by davidK/CA on 9/11/09 5:29pm
Msg #303603

Go to START, RUN (right hand column), type MSCONFIG then enter key. Look at the top, select STARTUP Tab, the go down the list of programs until you find the "Antivirus Pro 2010" listing. Uncheck the box next to the name, the close MSCONFIG and restart your computer.

After restarting, go to WINDOWS EXPLORER, and find the Programs Folders on your hard drive. Open the folder and delete the folder named "Antivirus Pro 2010". Restart your computer one more time.

Now fully rescan your computer with McAfee.

Good luck

Reply by jba/fl on 9/11/09 5:32pm
Msg #303605

Got printed in large font so will be able to do quickly, efficiently. Will do this after I go to dinner. Thanks so much.

Reply by Tess on 9/11/09 6:51pm
Msg #303608

Re: Download a free copy of Malwarebytes, run a scan with

it, and follow the instructions. Try to figure out which site you got it from and avoid.

Reply by John_NorCal on 9/11/09 7:12pm
Msg #303609

I had a similar problem recently....

My wife's netbook picked up something called Personal Anti Virus. It was giving false messages about worms, viruses etc. It wanted $59.95 for a license key. There was no way to remove it through the control panel and the so called uninstall button in the program was not working and was not meant to work. I did a google search and found out that it was actually a spyware issue. So I got Spy Ware Doctor and got rid of it. Try a google search on the name of the program that is in your computer, you may come up with a similar solution as I did. Good luck.

Reply by John_NorCal on 9/11/09 7:24pm
Msg #303612

Yep.... I just did a google search

it appears you have the same issue I had.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Antivirus+Pro+2010&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Reply by jba/fl on 9/11/09 9:59pm
Msg #303624

I am back to normal - Thank You ALL so much.

What a lonely nightmare this could have been. I really and truly appreciate what your rescue notes gave me: courage.

I used Tess's Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware for 2 reasons:
1. Free
2. They said it had a bit of a different approach from typical spyware and I thought Let's give it a try first.

It did the trick so I saved $29.95 that Spyware Doctor costs. Now, I do understand they work a bit differently, and after consulting with my guru who is out of town right now, I will decide if I should have the other. I did scan with both, same results, so I wonder if duplicating is worth it. If someone wishes to add to this discussion, I am more than willing to learn all I can about this. Until today, this was always someone else's problem that I couldn't relate to.

Thank you - I have my computer back! Yea!

Reply by Al Dolstra on 9/12/09 4:16am
Msg #303627

Re: I am back to normal - Thank You ALL so much.

All you really had to do is reset your comuter to the previous date, before you got the virus , and it would eliminate anything contracted on that day.

Reply by Tess on 9/12/09 11:04am
Msg #303636

Daughter had the same problem, happy to pass along the fix. n/m

Reply by Grammyzoom on 9/12/09 9:08am
Msg #303632

Try restoring your computer to the day before this happened. If that doesn't work you will need to hire a techie to get rid of this. I had this happen to me last year...really ugly!

Reply by jba/fl on 9/12/09 1:25pm
Msg #303645

System Restore

"You should also not depend completely upon system restore, as some problems with your computer might prove too difficult for system restore to handle, or the entire system restore system might fail. It is a wonderful utility, but it is not a total replacement of traditional backups using disks or CD-ROMs." from: http://free-backup.info/system-restore-and-computer-backup.html

Some suggested System Restore as a solution, and yes, it will work. I had heard that there could be problems with that method, and since this trojan had already massively taken over my computer, I could not get to it. I couldn't get to my Control Panel and many other functions, including have a great deal of problems with the keyboard. This was blocking downloads of it's assasins (PC Dr. & Malwarebytes) and only through several attempts was I able to get it downloaded.

http://www.Malwarebytes.org is now running in the background. My brother called this am to say something about something not downloading from the net. Told him to stop, get this on immediately, follow instructions and do everything it says to do. He did, called back, was amazed at the amount of junk he had been accumulating and subsequently eliminated. He is running faster now and feels better about taking some advice from his big sis too.

There is no advice here - just something I wanted to share with the rest of my family.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 9/12/09 11:15pm
Msg #303704

Re: System Restore

Just out of curiosity - why type of security software did you have installed? Is it just anti-virus, or do you use a software firewall also?

And were you able to figure out which web site bit you?

Reply by jba/fl on 9/13/09 12:34am
Msg #303707

Re: System Restore

I use McAfee and have Windows firewall.
As for where I got it? - I was idly surfing about Kellie Pickler when something came up about plastic surgery and who got what....idle minds went to idle speculation and got really idle when the computer got busy on its own. I also previously had been googling a friend's name and seeing where he was mentioned and one site had his birthdate and death date so got really curious about that, and ended up on some porn site in Arabic that had no links to the lists of info there. So, I don't really know. One of the things that this particular trojan does is direct your computer to useless, fake sites and so on, so the mystery is still there as to which did what.

As to the friend: he wasn't listed as an actor in any of the porn listings - couldn't even figure out the reference. Will I go back to see what I may have missed? Naw.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/13/09 12:04am
Msg #303706

Great share, Jba. This whole thread has been a huge

fix for that lately has been the bane of my existence. (I was such a happy cave-girl: dialing the phone and busy signals; typing in carbon triplicate and glorious white-out...)

Anyway, asking my roomie, Dad, a computer question tends to be a looong process of obtaining quick fixes; it's often a full-blown graduate seminar. (He was a research engineer for HP in Palo Alto, and many of the first generation HP Medical Labs analyzers and monitors found in hospitals and labs, came out of his head.) So I can't just ~move~ the data from the old hard drive to the new one, I have to understand the hows and whys and whats the move entails. When I need docs to print *now*, class must wait. Fortunately, he realizes he's not Rapid Response Geek, and there's a house-call doctor in the area so frustrations are much minimized all around.

So, the exquisite fixes like these, make our lives so much easier, what with the exponentially exploding techno-world speeding on.

I bow, with many thanks for and to the questioners, and answerers.

Reply by MW/VA on 9/13/09 8:54am
Msg #303720

Re: System Restore

Thanks for the link for Malwarebytes.