Hotmail

RumanaB

Hi,

The other day I was using Hotmail when suddenly this alert appeared saying that I had two viruses on my laptop. After I closed this another window opened which looked like it was scanning my laptop. I closed this also but then noticed an icon on the bottom right corner of my screen...it was one of those security programs but I hadn't installed this...it was the same thing which kept suddenly giving me all these pop up messages. My laptop is totally messed up and my brother had to wipe everything from it since the stupid virus (or whatever it is) wouldn't go away.
Is it safe to check my Hotmail account? Or could this possibly be linked with my account now? I didn't have any other websites open at the time that this happened. Thanks.

Rumana

macman

Your Hotmail account is held on the Hotmail server, it's not on your laptop, however it would be a wise precaution to change your password anyway.
Why did you do a reinstall just to get rid of malware? Complete overkill except in the most extreme circumstances.
What AV program are you using. McAfee?

WhiteChristmas

Rumana - see this thread. Follow ALL the instructions and everything will be ticketty-boo.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/133269

macman

But a bit pointless if the OP's brother has already done a reinstall of the OS.

RumanaB

I have AVG on the laptop...I've never had anything this bad on it before. The thing would literally not go. My brother is really good with computers so he spent ages trying to sort it out but in the end he saw that it would be easier just to wipe the computer fully. It wasn't a problem because I've already got a backup of everything (got a new netbook recently).

macman

AVG Free is not a reliable AV program. Ditch it and use Avast, Avira or MSE. All much better.
Most people on here with virus/malware issues seems to be using AVG, McAfee or Norton: draw your own conclusions.