A long time ago, I was hit with some ZLOB virus. It was a freaking nasty one. It started when a pop up came up pretending to be a Windows anti-virus warning, and I clicked on a button saying it would run a scan. Instead, it was the ZLOB.

For the next year or so, I beefed up all of my anti-virus software. Everything I could think of. My computer ran very slow, I was constantly being hit by viruses and other stuff all the time (according to my anti-virus). It was seemingly scanning and removing all kinds of nasty stuff. But the time it took was pretty much unbearable to me.

Eventually, everything had expired. I made a decision not to renew anything. I uninstalled all of it. All I use is windows anti-virus now. My computer runs like it did when it was new. I won't buy any of that crap anymore. I don't think any of the aftermarket anti-virus software is worth the money they want. It causes almost as much of a headache as virus does. And I don't believe in paying for my headaches.

FYI, now if a pop up comes up telling me "viruses are found and I need to run a scan for removal", I just close the browser and start a new session.

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I always ran XP with internet explorer but due to some geek at avast having a brainwave, my system got wiped, everything apart from pictures was lost

Avast is free, but this time, a message popped up saying do you want to upgrade to the paid version, after ticking the "No" box, the paid version sign up page popped up anyway and wouldn't get off, no red x, nothing even rebooting wouldn't shift it from the centre of the screen

I had my laptop fe-formatted with windows 7 and then got rid of internet explorer after installing firefox, now i have c cleaner, avg, and malwarebytes , all free and all work well with one another

Mcafee is reknown for not working properly and what i like about firefox is, on internet explorer, if you wanted to change something, you had to spend 3 days reading up till you eventually came across some geeks idea to give the result you want
With firefox, they say "OK, download THIS little app and that'll do it for you" and it always does
I also downloaded "Do not track"
http://download.cnet.com/Do-Not-Track-P ... 53399.html
Try it and see just how many ad companies are tracking you (google analytics is tracking you right now on this page)

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Ted

"All right, guys, uh, listen. This is a blues riff in "B", watch me for the changes, and try and keep up, okay?"

Great information here guys i'm learning a lot through reading about your experiences.

It's at moments like this, when you have tons of problems, that something that's supposed to be a pleasure, and is meant to enhance your life, becomes a bloody nuisance

I've not been happy with my security suite (McAfee) over this whole issue. Every time i use the scan built in it's supposed to be a proper scan yet it doesn't find any of this adware and malware and stuff. I ran a full scan with that Spybot Search & Destroy and it came up with three or more items that were causing problems that needed to be removed. Why did my McAfee system not pick those up? I feel that these companies are taking our money and really the service they're providing can be picked up for free over the net (if you know where to look)

Anyway things seem to be ok just now but i don't know what to do about these Adobe updates and things because it seems that every time they say there's an update to be installed as soon as it's installed everything go's to hell and there's problems everywhere But then they say if you don't download the updates the thing won't work properly. Dilemma, dilemma.

It seems these hackers use things like adobe updates and stuff to send their crap into your system like a trojan. You think it's harmless but are not aware of the crap that they've attached to it to screw your system up.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Buxom: I went to download that rkill and this McAfee site advisor came up with a big massive RED warning that said "Woah! do you really want to go there!?" then it said that site that downloads it had exhibited some dodgy behaviour or something.

I'd hate to click on one of these things and make the situation worse

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

You have to be vigilant in not taking anything at face value that comes across your screen.

Always double-check where a pop-up or email message or re-direct on a web page is going to take you before clicking on it. If it looks strange or takes you to a different country, be wary of doing it.

Many things you download can be infected. Even images off of web sites can hide code.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

+1

There are viruses which can cause false (but legitimate-looking) prompts to pop up trying to fool people into downloading something nasty. They may be disguised as a 'recommended update' not unlike what commonly occurs every once in a while on home computers.

I agree with the census of backing important files on an external hard drive, wiping the computer and being done with it. Peace of mind using a relatively stress-free procedure, though an external hard drive may be slightly pricy.

Thanks Toronado. Yeah i just don't know what i'll do now every time i get one of these Adobe updates you get now and then. How do you know if it's genuine? they all look exactly like the real thing then you hit the button and the s---t hits the fan!

The update thing i got said something like there is a new update recommended to be downloaded, i downloaded it and things went crazy. now i don't know if it was a genuine download and somehow they managed to attach something on to the download or if it was a fake one right from the start

Everyone out there: PLEASE BEWARE! question everything, no matter how legit it appears to be. Now i know why they call it a Trojan horse

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

If you think Adobe is bad, I've heard of ones disguised as a Windows Update.

Don't you just love computers?

I think most if not all viruses and spyware stem from advertising research. most spyware simply tracks your internet activity and sends the information back to the creator. almost all software has this built in to some degree but sketchy advertising company's take it to far. And the ones that invade through other software I think are intentionally allowed.
marketing research and advertising is a big market. these google redirect bugs and such may actually be from google

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I can assure you that any re-direct malware is not being done by any legitimate search engine or operating system. They have too much at stake to try anything like that with the many security analysts out there whose job it is to track and investigate these incidents and bring them to peoples attention.

Many, if not all of these incidents take advantage of trusting folk who believe just because it says Microsoft, Norton, Adobe, or any reputable name of your choice, will click on the page or graphic. Social engineering is used in many ways to bypass security.

Always verify.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

This is another one i've been getting a lot of lately too Now you've got me wondering: Windows, Adobe, is there anyone out there we can trust and click on without worrying that it's something gonna come in on a Trojan and destroy our PC's

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

This thread reminds me of my Pre Mac days.....Just buy a Mac and never deal with that crap again....Simple....

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Yep, no such thing as a Mac virus ....

ABC News:
Mac OS X Report: Virus Infects 600,000 Computers

“This once again refutes claims by some experts that there are no cyber-threats to Mac OS X,” the report said.

CNN:
Apple: Update will fix Mac 'Flashback' virus

Apple, which prides itself on keeping a safe environment for users, was criticized in some quarters for the amount of time it took to respond to Flashback.


FOX News
Virus hits half a million Macs: How to protect yourself against malware

Thanks to a well-documented flaw that Apple didn't patch for three months, a nasty piece of malware called Mac Flashback seems to have infected nearly 600,000 Macs worldwide

CBS News
Mac virus: What you need to know, how to remove it

Apple Macintosh users have become vulnerable to the Flashback Trojan malware.

MAC users response:

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Latest update: Seems to be working ok as far as getting on to web sites and surfing and stuff, after i used the Spybot Search & Destroy to remove some issues that i thought my own security suite should be doing

However, i'm still getting this annoying pop up that looks and says it's from McAfee that says my computer is at risk and i need to do this and that. However if i turn my PC off and start again the warning is not there on my security and if i go in and check, it says i'm fully protected and no further action is necessary

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

May want to use that app again to see if it can root out the remaining issue.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield