AV SECURITY SUITE

[Laspector[TK]]

Has anyone been hit with this? I got hit with this yesterday. My computer kept telling me it was infected. The pop ups looked like legitimate Windows warnings. My computer would not let me do anything other than go to this AV security site. I tried to call Microsoft but was on hold for over an hour. Finally it was so late at night I gave in (stupidly) and purchased this crap. It scanned my computer for over two hours.Finally telling me I had all these infected files and it (supposedly) cleaned them. Everything worked fine after that.

 

Today at work I Googled it and found out it was a sham. I instantly went home and cancelled the payment on the credit card. I then went into my uninstall program and it let me uninstall it (I think). But I went to several sites on AV security suite and all of them say it is impossible to remove without buying their cleaning software such as Spyware Doctor or Stopzilla or such.

 

I tried to restore my computer to a previous date but my computer keeps saying "restore failed" so I started checking into that and my computer is telling me to turn off my Norton to restore. I'm kind of afraid to do that at this point.

 

My question is--was I able to uninstall it? Why do these sites say it is impossible to get rid of. They also say this thing replicates. So while my computer seems fine now I guess it can come back. At this point I don't even know if these cleaning software things such as Spyware doctor or stopzilla are even legit. I've never heard of them.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do? I don't want to spend more money on something to fix it until I know if it is for real or not. But when it hit my computer I could not open ANYTHING. So if it comes back I won't even be able to download the stuff to fix it. Then I'll end up just having to buy another computer.

 

Someone PLEASE give me some advice!!!!!!!!

[poisonfox]

As an Apple guy, my advice wouldn't be very helpful to you.

[NoVATie[Admin]]

I would download and install Malwarebytes anti-malware. It's free and it's removed anything I've ever had on my computer. Some sites will also provide a downloadable file that can wipe the virus, it depends on what it is. If Malwarebytes doesn't work, come back and we'll try something else. Install it, run a full scan, and see what it pulls up.

 

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

[Han Shot First]

If it was called "Antivirus Live" or something similar, you did not "uninstall" the malware. If you can get to this link:

http://download.cnet...4-10804572.html

 

or http://www.malwarebytes.org/ directly then lucky you.

 

If not, the malware has enabled a proxy and will prevent you from accessing most legit anti-virus sites.

 

the free software above will remove the malware. It may take awhile but it will do it.

 

post back if you can not download it.

 

 

ps. tsk tsk, i can guess which sites you have been visiting.....

[NoVATie[Admin]]

I forgot about the virus possibly disabling your internet... If you can't get to any sites, try going in IE and opening the internet options, going to the connections tab and then LAN, and disable the proxy settings there. I had to do that before with another virus before I could access a site that have a tool to remove it.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

of course you could always disable your internet connection, turn off norton, and then un=install.

 

when complete, you can just turn everything back on, starting with norton.

 

after that I would try to restore back to a state.

 

if that didn't work then I'd install a backup and clean everything up.

Edited July 14, 2010 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

one more reason to have a drive image backup with all your stuff neatly organized.

[ajax407[TK]]

I was hit with this on my work computer recently. Follow the directions at this link and you should be fine. Worked for me. Good luck!

[Laspector[TK]]

I downloaded the Malwirebytes and ran it. But after the scan it said "some items could not be removed" so I don't know if I am good or not. It found 174 infected files and removed them. I used to download a lot of music and I guess thats where I got this. No more of that for me.

 

Now that I have this Malwirebytes will it conflict with my Norton?

[ajax407[TK]]

You should really follow the instructions in my post, i.e.: run in safe mode, run rkill, etc. This will get rid of the "items that could not be removed". Otherwise I think they may come back to haunt you.

 

I don't think you even have to download something to get this. It's as simple as visiting a site where someone has placed an ad with malicious code in it. Some people suck.

Edited July 14, 2010 by ajax407

[CureMode[TK]]

Try running it in safe mode, there may be some files in use it can not remove unless you are in safe mode. Malwirebytes should not conflict with Norton, so you should be fine if you can remove any trace of the infection. I would also do a Windows System Restore again (if you can) to a date before you got the malware in the first place, just to be safe. I had a situation on a friends PC, where he could not run the restore because the malware was preventing it. If yours was doing the same, and its no longer active at the moment, you may now be able to run it. You may not have gotten it from the music itself, but from code on the site you went to to get the music. Sites like isohunt are notorious for having pop up ads and hidden code that end up giving you nasty malware.

Edited July 14, 2010 by CureMode

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Corporate IT will tell you this:

 

1) Unplug your computer from the internet

2) Boot in to safe mode

3) Back up your data (USB drive, DVD, etc.)

4) Wipe the computer

5) Install a fresh copy of Win

 

Sorry you got hit with those pesky type ads, but I've worked in big corporations a long time and once a computer is infected it's always suspect.

 

For anti-virus at home, I use Windows Security Essentials. Free, painless, and has been working like a charm. And, it's top rated too.

[gh05ty]

Daetrin is completely right, for free anti virus which covers allsorts of other things download AVG free edition i have used it for years and reccomend it to anyone (btw norton is a waste of time it lets allsorts through)