@$%& Malware!!!
 

So, right now I'm starting this thread from my wife's lap top. "Why?" you may ask. Well it's because my CPU is down with a freakin' malware intrusion. Antivir Solution Pro to be precise. I'm fighting the bastard, but it's cheesing me off. Anyone else tangled with this menace?

I always makes me laugh that most of these basically say, "I'm here to help. Your computer is infected." Yes, by you...freakin' piece of....

Ugh, good luck.
I caught one of those and I had to nuke my harddrive from space to get rid of it.

If you're not already using them, might I suggest Malwarebytes and/or Superantispyware?

Using Malewarebytes in the fight. I got it last time a "friend" infected my PC.

Malware ain't my type. Sorry, bud.

Seriously though, I've used the two freewares plas mentioned above as well as Spybot Search & Destroy and Comodo Internet Security, both also free. They've each found something before that the others missed. Comodo seems to be the most useful of them, but it seems no antivirus covers everything.

i've got MicroSoft Security Essentials and Malewarebytes on my PC.

and yeah i think my last PC crap-out was as a result of that Antivir Solution Pro malware, and it's a bastard you're right. my PC guy had to nuke my harddrive from space to get rid of it. i couldn't use Malewarebytes of AVG cause i couldn't get them to work

best of luck to ya

It's kicked....I hope. Cause I'm replying from my PC.

I recommend Norton Internet Security. It's not free, but... Who cares? It's worth the money.

I don't recommend this at all.

Get Avast, it's free and I've never had any problems with it.

I have Avast....and Malware Bytes....And Spy Bot Search and Destroy...and still caught this bugger.

Did I forget to mention that I have Norton 360 as well? Easily my least effective antivirus software...

But.. It's strongly recommended to only use one antivirus program. Having several for stronger protection is like using several condoms for stronger protection. It's... not stronger... In fact, it only makes things worse.

Backup anything you want from the computer and format it. That'll get rid of the problem, and make your computer fast and fresh in the process. That's what I do, though I rarely get any of that stuff.

You just named the problem: Never use more than one antivirus program.

I'm unclear as to how utilizing multiple antivirus softwares can be a bad thing when it fixes the problem. Explanation please.

Multiple antivirus programs will conflict in several ways and won't work efficiently.

So I've been told. But, I've gotten virii before that Norton couldn't catch. After installing another av, the problem's solved as was Jester's. Even today, my programs all still find things from time to time. So, to me, this seems like a myth born out of product loyalty. Can you offer any evidence to change my mind?

I always tell people if you don't browse random sites like an idiot, then you wouldn't need to buy high dollar programs in the first place. I have never had antivirus programs installed on my computer, and in the 14 years I've used a computer, I've had two viruses. And I fixed them by formatting my computer which takes about 20 minutes to do.

This. Be smart and avoid obviously shady sites, stop downloading porn and start streaming it, and don't download random sh*t from P2P programs etc. I've had a single virus in all of my years of having a computer, and I'm still convinced it was my fiance and sister downloading retarded sh*t for the Sims.

since we're talking Anti-Virus software, does anyone else use MicroSoft Security Essentials as well?

To be fair only one of those is an anti-virus, the other two are anti-malware and anti-spyware. :D

That's what you get for checking out porn, Jester... ;)

I found a good program called IObit 360. Between that and Malwarebytes, I can usually stop any of those fake antivirus programs. They usually pop up from ads when I'm on DeviantART...

I use NOD32, which has been plugged and recommended by Leo Laporte for awhile, and I've had no issues at all. The Ad Block Pro add-on for Firefox usually saves me from any scrupulous ads.

Ugh, oh DeviantART.
The only time I have EVER gotten a virus, was from that damn site.

I agree, the best advice for dealing with malware in my opinion is to prevent it from getting on your PC in the first place. Like you two said, you can do this by simply being careful where you browse and what you download. It's also a good idea to keep your browser and its plugins (especially Flash, Java, and Acrobat if you have them installed) updated.

By doing this, I've never gotten a virus or any other form of malware from the internet (I did get one virus in 1998, but that one came from a floppy disk that was used in a public computer and may have even been a false positive). I do have a virus scanner and some malware scanners installed just in case, but I thankfully haven't needed them.

Yes, and more importantly, they're on-demand scanners. You can install as many of those as you like, but having more than one resident scanner may cause problems.

I recently had a malware infection that I couldn't get rid of on my own. McAfee, my virus protection, found nothing and other various free scanners I downloaded would find stuff, but it couldn't find and eliminate the malware actually causing the infection. So I found a place to take it to for a good price and I got really lucky.

Back in March, I had a nasty virus, something called XP Internet Security, and it corrupted everything down to my registry keys. It was the first time I had to completely wipe out this computer and restore it to its original factory settings. I had most of my stuff backed up on CDs, but it took me a few weeks to rebuild it to where I had it.

I got that simply by starting up IE to my homepage, which is my IP. I mainly only go to forums like these and GaiaOnline. I'm very careful. I don't go anywhere high profile or download stuff. I have a pop-up blocker, but not all ads get blocked and that's how I seem to get these bugs; hidden in ads like for NetFlix.

My computer is a Dell and I've heard sometimes they can be hit or miss. Mine is a little over four years old, a Dimension E310 model, and works solidly for which I'm thankful for. Nothing has had to be replaced and there's no existing problems. On the other hand, my mother has a Dell XPS 210 model about three years old and she's had a lot of problems with hers in the last year, including replacing the hard drive. She got some kind of virus that rerouted pages at credit card and bank sites to look legit when she logged into her existing accounts, but prompted her to hand over all of her personal information. The hard drive seemed to be an issue before the virus, however.

At the moment, it's running on borrowed time as the hard drive fan is failing there too now. She's just going to use it until it finally decides to die. :ohwell:

And here we are again...this time it's System Tool and I have no idea where it came from. I wasn't even using my web browser and bang...it took over. even gave me a new desktop with a warning about maleware and viruses in Engrish. Typing thixs from my wife's laptop, while Malewaremytes runs.

I remember getting something like that on my last computer. I was on one of the old manga viewing sites mangatoshokan, and it came through one of those damn PC RPG ads and downloaded itself on my computer. Back then I only had AVG.

Now I use Avast and SpywareDoctor and they seem to work nicely. I haven't been infected since then. Oh not to mention I have noscript and ad block plus add ons on my firefox browser. Work well too.

Oh yeah, I hate that crap! I've gotten those before too and they suck! I use ESET Security Suite and MalwareBytes' Antimalware, which eventually deleted the SOB. Good luck!

Yeah I don't use P2Ps or Bittorrent because they always cause viruses (aside from the legality issue). I am a careful surfer and only go on reputable, safe sites, don't click on weird ads etc. But what you say about steaming porn isn't completely true. I've been on well-known "tube" porn sites and that's where I got the "fake" antivirus trojan from. Let's just say I don't go to that particular "tube" site any longer.

i hope you didn't actually think it was a useful anti-virus solution to download it from a random pop-up or ad, i mean come on, that's common sense!

now if it just popped up and installed something for you automatically, welp, i ain't nothin' to say there