Bloody Hackers!!!!

Bogtrotter

CathWales wrote:

As I said before, it was my choice to buy an AV and I chose Nortons as it worked for me before on a pc. I won't go back to the MSE AV as it didn't pick up the 3 nasty viruses that caused me to go back to comet

To be honest no antivirus is going to give you 100% protection. The fact that you had to return to Comet with the same problem after Norton was installed suggests that Norton isn't detecting the malware either.

CathWales wrote:

Thanks, but what is rootkit and combofix please?

A rootkit is a program which allows root level access to a machine so can install malware programs on your machine. The problem with rootkits is that they can hide themselves from the operating system and as a result makes them hard to detect and remove.

Combofix is one of the programs that is popularly used to detect and remove malware including some rootkits. When you run Combofix it warns you to switch of any antivirus as it can interfere with the removal process. As I said I haven't used Norton in a long time but it used to be impossible to disable completely so if you wanted to run Combofix you would have to uninstall Norton first then reinstall when finished.

CathWales

Nortons was installed only AFTER the second visit as after the first my DVD drive wouldn't pick up any type of disc in the drive due to the 3rd virus on it.

Thanks for explaining about rootkit and combofix.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

CathWales wrote: »

I was happily surfing online this aft'noon when my laptop beeped and then gave me multiple messages saying my computer was infected with all sorts of stuff and to install Vista Security 2012 for some some of money and all 29 viruses would be deleted. I've never heard of Vista Security 2012 and spent an hour trying to delete these messages, which also prevented any apps/software from opening. A call to the local techie guy and he wasn't answering so went to Comet and after an hour the guy removed 2 viruses he found. I don't know the names of these viruses but he also said Microsoft Security Essentials I was running was a fake antivirus and removed it from laptop. By my own choice i purchased nortons security as I have used nortons before and like it, but a problem, my dvd drive does not want to play, I have tried the nortons disk, a CD and dVD, none are registering or playing. The drive beeps when it closes, but that is it. Can I avoid lugging my laptop back to comet or can someone help please? I am now afraid when online that my private details are/have been stolen:(

You need to make sure you have removed a virus like this out of the registry.

I picked a similar one up a few years back, it took me hours to pull every little bit of it out of the registry.

Fortunately never had one since, it was an absolute nightmare.

Use another PC and search for removal instructions and print it out.

CathWales

Its now been a year since I bought Nortons and my subscription has expired and none of the functions work on it. I thought I'd still be able to run the scan, but all functions are disabled unless I pay to upgrade for one year or two £24.99/£44.99 respectively. What else is out there that others are using? Is it worth paying the subscription? I've not had any viruses since getting rid of Microsoft security Essentials and running Nortons.

rmg1

Personally, I wouldn't renew the Norton subscription.
I'd go for either Avira or Avast (I've used both in the past). They are both free and, in my opinion, just as good as Norton.

closed

Save your money,

http://www.filehippo.com/download_avast_antivirus/ for resident protection

plus

http://www.filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/ for manual scans once every month or two.

bazster

You probably never had a virus. WickedKitten was right, you just stumbled across a website that pretends to be a virus checker, and keeps popping up annoying warnings as it tries to get you to download its malware. So long as you just keep closing the popups and don't agree to anything you get past it eventually. Unless, of course, you fell for it...

My elderly mother came across the same thing, and took her computer to a local "expert" before telling me. He "fixed" it (did nothing) and told her his bill was £50 - but he never sent it, presumably had an attack of conscience.

Norton is a total waste of money, Microsoft Security Essentials is fine.

chewynut

bazster wrote: »

You probably never had a virus. WickedKitten was right, you just stumbled across a website that pretends to be a virus checker, and keeps popping up annoying warnings as it tries to get you to download its malware. So long as you just keep closing the popups and don't agree to anything you get past it eventually. Unless, of course, you fell for it...
.

Actually, if the OP got the same virus I managed to get (that went straight through MSE and AVG), it's pretty nasty. It called itself Security Shield or something similar and looks very like an anti-virus programme. It turns everything off in your security centre and installs a big red icon in your notification area to tell you how many viruses you've got and what to click on to remove them. It opens pop-ups faster than you can close them.

A couple of rounds with Malwarebytes got it out but it was extremely annoying. I don't know which site I got it from since I had about 6 tabs open at the time :mad:

bazster

chewynut wrote: »

Actually, if the OP got the same virus I managed to get (that went straight through MSE and AVG), it's pretty nasty. It called itself Security Shield or something similar and looks very like an anti-virus programme. It turns everything off in your security centre and installs a big red icon in your notification area to tell you how many viruses you've got and what to click on to remove them. It opens pop-ups faster than you can close them.

A couple of rounds with Malwarebytes got it out but it was extremely annoying. I don't know which site I got it from since I had about 6 tabs open at the time :mad:

I know what it is, I've seen it lots of times. The only way it will actually infect your computer is if you agree to let it do a "virus scan" or whatever nonsense it tries to con you into. Otherwise, if you just keep closing everything it pops up without letting it install anything, it'll go away after a few clicks.

What it does if you actually fall for it, I wouldn't know.

waddler_8

bazster wrote: »

The only way it will actually infect your computer is if you agree to let it do a "virus scan" or whatever nonsense it tries to con you into. Otherwise, if you just keep closing everything it pops up without letting it install anything, it'll go away after a few clicks.

It's possible it can force install without any user interaction by exploiting a software vulnerability. Most of the computers I see infected with this kind of stuff have outdated Adobe, Java software etc.