Teach Soap

Hey everyone-
I just wanted to let you know that I got hit with a doozy of a computer virus today. It calls itself XP Antivirus 2012 and claims that is such, an antivirus, that you have to pay for. I wanted to warn everyone about this. Do not pay for its so-called "services" if you do get this because all it will do is take your money and download even more harmful viruses into your computer. I'm very thankful that I have a somewhat tech savvy friend who was able to come over and help me get rid of the virus. He ended up going into my task manager and doing some tricks in there so that I would be able to run a program I had already installed on my computer called Malwarebytes (it's free and I highly suggest it). This virus took my McAfee completely out as well as my access to the internet. We ended up having to restore my computer to an earlier save (a little over a month ago) and I had to download an actual fix for my McAfee to start working properly again. I'm running Malwarebytes for the 3rd time tonight just to make sure that everything is taken care of, which it looks like it is.
I just wanted to warn everybody here about this virus because it is extremely dangerous and the makers did a great job of designing it to look professional as an antivirus.

So, yeah... that's my heart-stopping experience for the day... I thought I killed my computer ;_;

_________________
Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

Thanks for the warning! I make it a habit to never download any programs without finding out more about them. I've also threatened my husband and son with severe consequences if they download something without asking me about it first!

I also use Malwarebytes - It's a great program and is very easy to use.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I usually run McAfee on a file before I use any new programs, but this virus slips right through McAfee's defenses, apparently... I'm gonna see if I can start running Malwarebytes as my scanning program on the new programs as it seems a bit more responsive to actual malware

_________________
Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

Do you know where you were when you got the pop up? I've seen threads on another forum that people got a virus when they searched for pictures online. I use AVG and Malwarebytes at home and Kasperski at the office. My son works with computers every day and he said that Norton and McAfee aren't very good.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Yeah, I'm finding out now that I'm pretty much just wasting my money on McAfee which makes me sad because we just renewed our subscription with them two months ago. I heard AVG was a good one to go with from my friend who had come over to fix my computer. I had never heard of them until yesterday... and the thing that got me was that when it popped up, I just had my usual pages up: Craftster, teachsoap, facebook, and gmail. My friend says that sometimes the virus can be set on a timer so I could have been infected from anything from anywhere I have been for who knows how long... I do use stumbleupon for when I'm bored and I don't think I will be doing that anymore

_________________
Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thanks for the warning, tcmatteson! I've had my computer crash in the past and it's a mess when it happens. Glad you were able to get yours fixed.

I'm a big fan of Kaspersky's anti-virus software, too. I discovered it about three years ago and it hasn't let me down yet. I've seen some viruses trying to get in lately and Kaspersky has shut out every one of them so far, knock on wood.

_________________
- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
Follow me on my

hi guys!

this is actually a rogue form of malware that is a royal PITA to remove from your pc. it also comes in many names and forms and for all versions of windows. i've had several of my users catch this going to work relevant websites.

the thing for you to remember is to NEVER, EVER, EVER press the button "remove all"; it makes it harder to remove.

you can download and install Malwarebytes, then run it in safemode (restart pc and press f8, choose safemode with networking). if the rogue has hijacked your browser, it's best to stop here and get some help.



in many cases, this will not work alone; i recommend you contact your local PC technician.

HTH and good luck!

_________________
~Shell

Thanks for the warning TC and thanks for the advice and instructions Dragonlady!

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

NP. LOL right after i read and replied to this post, one of my users contacted me and to tell me they had just got the "xp recovery" rogue. ah, Murphy, ya gotta love him! (not)

annoying stuff this is, and it's certainly in the wild.

be careful!

_________________
~Shell

It still amazes me how many people don't have ANY TYPE of antivirus progam on their computers. There are so many decent free versions of antivirus & malware programs (like AVG & Malwarebytes) that there is no excuse not to have protection! Sorry - this is just a major pet-peeve of mine...

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

i agree too. but i do have to say there's still a lot of users out there that hear the words, but don't understand them. i believe there should be more education in the way of computer safety.

_________________
~Shell