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.
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.”
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.
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.
Back your machine up about two weeks.
Oh - and always back up onto a second hard drive. Macintosh computers have a program built into the operating system called Time Machine that will automate this process if you have a backup drive.
SugarSynch will give you 5 gigabytes of free on line storage. Back up your important stuffs there and learn how to reformat your computer. This will wipe it clean of everything
I use free Sugar Sych and it works great
Install Microsoft Security Essentials. It is free and covers just about everything.
Your problem of rebooting might be electrical...not due to the virus you speak of
I had the same thing happen three days ago. Same virus that eventually incapacitated the operating system by blocking and removing more and more stuff. I eventually was able to run microsoft security essentials and remove the trojans, but there was still too much damage to use the computer. I tried everything but eventually had to do a system recovery which formats the hard drive and goes back to the originally installed operating system and settings. Lost everything, but fortunately I keep all important files and all my bookmarks on a thumb drive. Working fine now...again.
boot into safe mode and see if you can’t get system restore to take you back a week or so
If you cannot boot into safe mode your problem might be lectrical
I’m posting this from a laptop running Ubuntu operating system. There are almost no viruses written for linux OS’s like Ubuntu and it is easy to use.