Help - My computer has a virus!!

mandy6979

My computer has picked up a virus today. A dodgy e-mail arrived in my inbox and my daughter opened it up.
Now I've got a red circle at the bottom right of my screen with a white cross in it. When i click on it, a message comes up saying that my computer is infected and i have to click on it to protect my system. That then opens up a screen from XP Security Centre wanting me to purchase a package for $50.
Does anyone have any ideas how to get rid of it. I've ran my Ad-Aware and Spybot, but the red circle is still there. :mad:
Please help!!!!

Marty_J

What is the name of the program it tries to sell you?

globalds

It looks like you have had your browser hijacked .
Some one will be along soon with better advice

mandy6979

XP SecurityCenter

globalds

I have just had a look and found this at yahoo answers
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080704154443AAyfkUx

It looks like you will need to be careful when you remove this .
don't worry ...Someone will be along to help .

Edit *Please don't follow any instructions on the link ...Wait for some advice ...This was just a quick search **

Marty_J

Automatic removal instructions here:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4630

If that doesn't work, you'll have to remove it manually:

http://www.xp-vista.com/spyware-removal/xp-security-center-xp-securitycenter-removal-instructions

mandy6979

I've finished running all my anti-spyware, restarted by computer but the red circle with the white cross is still there and im still getting pop-ups saying that my computer is infected,:mad:

Marty_J

Follow the instructions in my post above.

Browntoa

run combifix

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=152072

and then install and run malwarebytes (as posted above)

Please download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and save it to your desktop.
alternate download link 1
alternate download link 2

• Make sure you are connected to the Internet.
• Double-click on Download_mbam-setup.exe to install the application.
• When the installation begins, follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
• When installation has finished, make sure you leave both of these checked:
  • Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  • Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
• Then click Finish.
• MBAM will automatically start and you will be asked to update the program before performing a scan. If an update is found, the program will automatically update itself. Press the OK button to close that box and continue.
• If you encounter any problems while downloading the updates, manually download them from here and just double-click on mbam-rules.exe to install.
• On the Scanner tab:
  • Make sure the "Perform Quick Acan" option is selected.
  • Then click on the Scan button.
• The next screen will ask you to select the drives to scan. Leave all the drives selected and click on the Start Scan button.
• The scan will begin and "Scan in progress" will show at the top. It may take some time to complete so please be patient.
• When the scan is finished, a message box will say "The scan completed successfully. Click 'Show Results' to display all objects found".
• Click OK to close the message box and continue with the removal process.
• Back at the main Scanner screen, click on the Show Results button to see a list of any malware that was found.
• Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
• When removal is completed, a log report will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to restart your computer. (see Note below)
• The log is automatically saved and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.
• Copy and paste the contents of that report in your next reply and exit MBAM.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts. Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.

mandy6979

Right.......fingers crossed.........the red circle with the white cross has gone and my computer seems to be running normally.
Thanks to all who helped.

Well Done!! :T