Windows system warning - genuine or a virus?

lonestarfan

My pc has just come up with a message as follows:-
Your windows system is damaged. Windows version 10
Please pay attention: your version of software is damaged and obsolete. As a result all system files are automatically deleted
Important: click on update button to install the newest software to scan and protect your files from being deleted.

The other box say: message from webpage

Windows firewall has detected that your windows 10 is damaged and irrelevant
As a result your system files are automatically deleted
Please follow the instructions to fix the problem immediately
This way you will ensure that your system is always protected

Any advice on what to do? Many thanks.

DoaM

WHERE have you seen this? As a popup when you were browsing a web page? What were you doing when it appeared?

My money is on this NOT being a genuine Windows message. Whether it's a virus/malware depends on the answer to the above.

lonestarfan

DoaM wrote: »

WHERE have you seen this? As a popup when you were browsing a web page? What were you doing when it appeared?

My money is on this NOT being a genuine Windows message. Whether it's a virus/malware depends on the answer to the above.

I was on the Thomas cook website to manage my bookings. Using internet explorer.
Using internet explorer.

lonestarfan

I can see the windows shield has a yellow alert in it. In Windows defender it says set up OneDrive for file recovery options in case of a ransomware attack but when I try to set it up and put in my email address it says I can’t use a personal email address it has to be a company or school?
Is this linked to the warning ?

dogmaryxx

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-your-windows-system-is-damaged-scam

AndyPix

No - Your files are not going to be deleted .. As long as you DONT click on any of their offerings ..


I would normally be telling you this is merely a pop up ad and to move on, but as you say you were on a pretty legitimate website - although this is still only an advert , it is more likely to be being caused by malware on your machine.


Download and run these 2 free tools in this order and that will fix you up .


https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/thankyou/


https://www.malwarebytes.com/adwcleaner/


Let us know how you get on

wongataa

lonestarfan wrote: »

I was on the Thomas cook website to manage my bookings. Using internet explorer.
Using internet explorer.

STOP using Internet Explorer. It is out of date, getting increasingly insecure, and more and more websites won't work properly with it.


Use an up to date web browser such as Edge, Firefox, Chrome, or Vivaldi.

DoaM

wongataa wrote: »

Use an up to date web browser such as Edge, Firefox, Chrome, or Vivaldi.

Or Opera ... or Brave.

Matty36

As others have said, DO NOT click on anything that pops up. Just close the browser hitting the red x in the top right corner. Or to be extra safe, right click the taskbar at the very bottom, open the task manager and force close internet explorer from there.

But please stop using Internet Explorer. Its outdated and slow and prone to these kinds of things. Download Chrome or firefox and install the ad blocking extension.

Also download any free anti virus/anti malware program such as malwarebytes, avg, or avast. Run a scan to make sure you have nothing nasty hidden on your pc

lonestarfan

Thanks everyone. I remember now I had this problem with explorer before and switched to chrome. I’ve removed explorer and have installed chrome with no problems. Thanks.

AndyPix

FWIW I use IE as my main browser and i get on with it just fine