[Non-Sequitur]

At this point I'm mentally tallying the time I'm going to have to spend contacting credit cards and banks, but if anyone out there had come across any virus like this I'd appreciate your input.

[Dubya-M-Dees]

Based on the description, you are likely infected with Smitfraud. This software generates fake warnings, and then suggests that you need to pay for and download their software to fix the problem. It's a pretty common one, and sometimes a pain to remove. Be careful going back to a restore point as well.. Some of this software will insert itself into the restore files..

I would start off with Smitfraud fix:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/smitfraudfix.php

Run it from safe mode.

Next I would use Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware

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

[Cheesel]

I would suggest malwarebytes at malwarebytes.org.

[Osage Orange]

I've used Hijackthis to bail me out of a very bad multiple infection situation.

I ran the Hijackthis...got the log...then had it analyzed at hijackthis.de

Then reboot into SAFE MODE...and delete the offending buggers.

I run AVG free...LavaSoft's Ad-Aware..and SpyBot..pretty regular.

And run Hijackthis now and again....

Seems to keep my machine running okay.........

fwiw-

[Nateman]

Linux can be temporarily loaded with what is known as a "live cd". It leaves your hard drive alone and goes away after you turn off the machine.To load it when the computer comes on you can press f1 or f12 when its booting to get into the BIOS. ( It usually displays briefly the proper interuption key to press while the computer is booting.)

If you change the BIOS to boot from CD first you can by-pass whatever infected programs sit on the hard drive because its booting from a read only CD. ( Puppy Linux is a nice little version of Linux that's great for old PC's, its free and right here )

www.puppylinux.com

Once you have another OS temporarily on your machine you can save any data you desire on a data stick and if you know the date the computer was infected erase all the files that were made that day.

If that doesn't fix it you can always reload the OS after you saved any data you wanted.

[Abigail Adams]

We had something similar. Malwarebytes worked for us. Look at c:documentsandsettings, might be: all users/application data/microsoft/internet explorer/dlls. In that directory the two main files to kill are iemodule.dll and a dll file that has a bunch of random letters in the name. Check the created date time stamp, and the recent ones are suspect (you could delete the whole folder if they’re all recent). That should keep the virus from repeatedly coming back at you.

Next, disable the DNS redirection. Go to device manager, under view click on “show hidden devices.” Go into non-plug and play drivers. Disable a device driver that begins with TDSS. Then reboot.

[yazoo]

I use a MAC. No viruses, no adware, and no special blocking software required.

[garykfd]

ping.. ive got it now and its ugly

[Doctor Raoul]

Norton can take their software and stick it where the sun don’t shine.

I got something similar. Something that made the computer unusable. Call their tech help and sure enough, they know about it and have a fix, but if I want it, it’ll be $85.

They mumbled something that they had to get Microsoft’s permission or that it was because it altered Microsoft code, yada, yada, bullcrap.

[gitmo]

I see you’re getting lots of advice here.

Norton is OK, but it’s a big drain on your system. However, since you’ve got it if you can get it to run it should do the job for you.

What you want to accomplish is either (a) boot in safe mode and run your antivirus or (b) set it up to perform a boot-up scan. The latter is preferable. What it does is it will stop the boot up process from executing other executables (like the virus you’ve picked up) until the Antivirus has had a chance to clean things up.

I use Avast! on my 6 computers here at home. It’s free, seems to do a good job, and have very little overhead on my PC. You can download it for free from the internet and tell it to do a scan before bootup. Then reboot your PC. If you’re having problems shutting it down, unplug it then plug it back in.

Also, it sounds like you might have some malicious software that antivirus can’t remove. I know there are a couple that come from pop-ups like you describe. My kids picked it up once and I had a time getting rid of the fool thing. Microsoft has a Malicious Software Removal program that can help, and you can look for help using Google if your antivirus has identified the malware.

FReepmail me if you can’t proceed.

[Always Independent]

I think you have a browser hijack happening. My son’s with their browsing pick these up on some gaming sites and others. You mentioned that you have Adaware and Spybot S&D. They will help get rid of the hijack. Run Spybot and delete all it picks up. Then run Adaware and delete all that it finds. That should do it. After you’ve done that make sure the popup blocker is turned on before you open your browser. You can do that through the control panel.

[Jeff Chandler]

Dump Norton.

Use this: F-Prot.

Doesn't hog resources, works great. $29.00 to put on 5 home computers.

I've been using it for years and never had a problem.

[twistedwrench]

ping