Laptop hijacked, need help. (Vanity)

my other computer | 6-9-16 | me

[deoetdoctrinae]

I need some help from you computer gurus. Just powered up my Toshiba laptop a little while ago and began surfing. Suddenly a tone started beeping and a message filled the screen saying a malfunction had been detected and gave a toll-free number to call to get help from a technician (yeah, right). Underneath that message is a screen saying that Windows 8.1 64-bit Defender encountered an error code: 0x80016CFA. Can't close the windows, and powering down the laptop fails, it just powers back up.

I sure could use some help FRiends.

[60Gunner]

Pull the battery?

[smokingfrog]

Time to call tech support.

Can you do a system restore in safe mode?

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Good advice - bears repeating or even putting in my posting history for reference. Thank you!

I agree with you. We all need a reminder to stay off those midget-porn websites.

[Longbow1969]

First advice: stay off porn and click-bait sites.

This.

[Pollster1]

I was thinking of the click-bait cat video sites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY0OpTyCxpg
(10 Best Viral Cat Videos)

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

No Pr0n? Pr0n all you want, just install Ghostery and uBlock Origin addins. I have customers that insist they never surf Pr0n, and they lie. Those two addins and I don’t have to come rescue their midget Pr0n infections.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Lol.... I see you ceiling cat.

[deoetdoctrinae]

Opened Task Manager, clicked on Internet Explorer, then clicked on End Task.

WooHoo! All the windows closed. I just did a restart and it looks like things are normal. The only thing that looks vaguely weird is a desktop icon that I don’t remember. It says “Homegroup”, and has little green and blue spheres as part of its symbol. Does that ring any alarm bells for anyone?

[Viking2002]

If that script got cached, don't think you're in the clear. And download and run Hitman Pro. That's a cloud A/V app that finds all sorts of nastiness you didn't even know you had. Bleepingcomputer.com and majorgeeks.com are your friends.

[Abby4116]

Good job.

I use Norton (supplied by Comcast) and Ghostery on Comodo Dragon and Chrome. Never use IE or Edge and my L55 Toshiba runs fine.

[deoetdoctrinae]

Thank you very much my FRiends. Will do.

[daniel1212]

You still need to run a utility such as malwarebytes, and perhaps an online scan such as Trend. If it happens again, keep tapping the F8 key immediately when powering on the machine, then choose safe mode with networking, and then run system restore and the above scans.

[r_barton]

If you have an old laptop sitting around, turn it into a Chromebook for free. I had an old Dell Inspiron 1545 that I had upgraded the hardware to a Core Two Duo T9500 with 8gb memory and a 120gb SSD hard drive. Upgraded it to a Chromebook with free software at the link below and I am very pleased. Runs really fast. Soon will also run android apps when Google releases an update.

Neverware - CloudReady Chromebook software for USB stick
http://www.neverware.com/#introtext-3

[Organic Panic]

Most new laptops don’t have a removable battery (the smaller ones at least). You gotta find that little tiny button.

[Grams A]

We have a great shop in our local shopping area called “UBREAKIFIX”. Bunch of young computer geeks own our franchise and between them they can fix anything, regardless of how old or new and at a reasonable price. Don’t know what I would do without them.

[Viking2002]

I've dealt with uncounted people who call those damned numbers and give the swamis remote access and go so far as to even give them their credit card numbers. I've seen ransomware, hostageware, crippleware and all sorts of 'if I find you, I'm going to kill you in front of your family' type of malicious intrusion on a computer. Sometimes, they get access, activate an admin account with their own password, delete the user account, and then tell the user that they want x-hundred dollars for the password, or they'll never get their own desktop back again. Usually, the ransom they want far exceeds the value of the box they locked the owner out of. These aggressive camel drovers primarily prey on seniors. And once you call, they'll get more and more aggressive if you hang up - they'll make your phone ring 20 times a day and get downright terroristic if you don't comply. I'd love to find one on domestic soil right in the middle of a call and split his curry-sotted melon with a nice, sharp axe. And I want him to see it coming when I swing the blade down. There's a big portion of Homo Sapiens out there that is just diseased, and we need to thin the herd.

[Viking2002]

A system restore only replaces core OS files, not clear the cache that needs sanitized.

[Pollster1]

I have Ghostery and adblockPlus. Is that why I never have problems with peeking at pictures of cute young chicks?

http://media.pennlive.com/patriot-news/photo/2013/01/12090870-standard.jpg [Note: pic is safe for work]

[Viking2002]

Hey! I like midget porn! And my first wife was only 4'11"!

[Chickensoup]

I had that happen yesterday. I kicked it down pulled the battery let it sit and then powered back up.