Posted on 05/29/2011 5:09:43 AM PDT by Daisyjane69
I'm typing fast. My computer is restarting itself every 20 minutes or so.
While finishing my news site browsing before bed, I got a pop up claiming Adobe. I tried to ignore it. Since I had an Adobe file open, I finally relented and agreed to install. BIG MISTAKE. It was a Trojan virus and is in the process of destroying my computer.
Trojan.Win32.Generic.paklacobra
I heard that Macs are better as far as viruses. Is there a reputable dealer that sells Macs? I don't imagine I can afford a brand new Mac.
Failing that, would there be another browser other than IE that would be less hospitable to viruses? This tower is only two years old. And I'm getting messages telling me:
Damaged hard drive clusters RAM usage is critically high RAM memory failure Hard drive failure
This virus is attempting to wipe out my AdAware & AVG as we speak.
I store NOTHING of value on this computer. No photos, movies, passwords, account numbers. I do NO online banking.
I was able, after several tries, to finagle one measly operational window, and it's what I'm using to post this to the people who know everything important...FReepers.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a plant chick, not a computer chick! LOL
Also, please forgive me if you post a suggestion and I don't reply right away. I have no idea if this window is going to work 5 minutes from now, let alone 5 hours from now. If TSHTF on this thing I won't be able to check replies until Tuesday at the library (as we are in a holiday weekend). Naturally....
I should have been in bed 4 hours ago, and I've been playing around with this box of wires ever since, and I'm exhausted.
This was scary as hell. I never saw anything gobble up things as fast as this miscreant. I knew something was dreadfully wrong within 10 minutes.
Thanks for any help & ideas you have.
install malwarebytes, its free http://www.malwarebytes.org/
boot in safe mode and run it. an no macs arent any better. There is a massive malware attack impacting them right now which works the same way you were attacked.
If you have nothing of value on the drive, you should be able to reformat the drive. You can get rid of the virus that way.
Bad news I just got a similar pop up when trying to acc ess Drudge but did not open it and had to force quit Safari. Do not open anything you do not know about.
ditto malwarebytes
free download
and when and if you get clean, invest in Carbonite or another backup in case you get wiped out!
Down load and install Malwarebytes" and run it.
This works best if you sign into an account other than the one you use. If you have only one account on the PC then it's harder. You will probably have to run it from a flash drive.
I do all my browsing with firefox, because of its user base its constantly being attacked as well. What versio of IE are you using?
After working in a PC environment with virus protection, spam alert and spyware protection software installed, I weighed options for my home computer. It was a daily struggle to ensure updates were downloaded on a timely basis in the Windows world. Two years ago, I purchased a MAC - no anti-virus software necessary. Last year, after my daughter wrangled with repeated crashes of her pc laptop, we picked up a 2nd MAC. Problems solved!
Yes, the MAC will set you back a bit more but save you the cost of added products to protect your pc. Best of all, you will be frustration free. Beautiful graphics et al. Just do it.
Doesn’t Daisyjane69 say she got the virus from a favorite news site? I wonder if hers came from Drudge as well. This wouldn’t be the first time his site was a target of computer miscreants.
Going forward, you might want to consider an online backup service like Mozy.com. All my important files are backed up, encrypted and stored online so if I ever lose my system, I have peace of mind that everything of value will be recovered. (I have my computers setup to update my backups twice a day.)
It cost me about $100 a year to do this but it is well worth it. About a year ago I lost the hard drive that contained my music library, including my purchased music from iTunes and I was able to recover it all with no problem.
I am also in process of upgrading all my computers to Mac.
You describe this system that is one of basic utility, with no important files. The system either came with a Windows CD, or it’s on a separate partition that you can boot into.
Either way, just do a new complete new install of the OS, including a format of the drive.
I know it sucks, but as Cpl. Hicks would say: “ I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.”
Vista? Does that sound right?
Yes, my computer rebooted itself 45 seconds after I made my freeper post.
meh
Dunno but I am not opening anything.
I had malwarebytes installed but I haven’t run it for a couple months.
*drops mouse*
*runs from room & hides*
Now I feel really stupid. (not your fault.My fault. meh)
Another piece of advice is to keep two computers, if you can. An older one that is your dedicated internet computer. One that you don’t mind reformatting and reloading occasionally, when it becomes infected.
Your other computer is the one that you do your real work on that you only connect to the net occasionally, to upgrade or to transfer files, but you don’t do any serious amount of surfing with it.
Its not Drudge serving the ads/malware. The banner ads actaully come via a advertising company. The pukes that put this stuff out submit their ads hoping to get thru the filters. Occasionally they do, even though the advertising companies spend a lot of time reviewing the code.
Oh, as far as a reputable Mac dealer. There’s always apple.com if you can wait a couple of days, not to mention an Apple store if you have one in your town. If not, the big box retailers like Fry’s, Best Buys et al, also sell Macs.
And yes, currently there is a Malware scare for the Mac. It’s not a virus but a Trojan. And it does require human intervention to find it’s way to your system. Basically by making a user think that a website he/she just visited, somehow scanned his HD and determined that you have a virus, and you need to install this A/V program to get rid of it. A scam clearly designed for the very clueless.
The pop up I got when I tried to go to Drudge said my computer might have been infected. It wanted me to open it to check. I suspected it was malware and force quit the Safari. Now I am glad I did.
I go to all the normal sites before I head to bed. Nothing sexy or interesting. All of them sites we can and do post here every day.
I’m mystified where this came from.
We’re all guilty of that particular sin.
10 years running windows without a problem here. Run anti-virus once a week, run malware bytes once a week.
Keep your computer and installed software updated using automatic updates if possible. Adobe is especially important as its frequently used. I only install adobe updates through the program menu and not from a pop-up.
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