[AT] Off topic, computer related.

[dglass]

Try downloading Malwarebytes from www.download.com.   It is a free 
program and is the only one I know that will find and get rid of this 
problem. I think
the problem was called "Internet Security 2010".

charliehill wrote:
> This is not a question.  I just want to share my experience of the last 24 
> hours in case it helps someone or in case someone knows what might be going 
> on.
>
> Yesterday morning while doing an Internet search I hit one of those sites 
> that re-directs you somewhere else.  Then I got that pop up that says I have 
> a virus and must down load this program RIGHT NOW to stop it.
> Well, this ain't my first computer rodeo and I knew immediately that the 
> antivirus site it's self was a piece of malware.  I've dealt with it before 
> so I immediately,  I mean within 2 seconds, started trying to shut it down 
> and stop if from infecting my computer.  I thought I got it stopped until a 
> few minutes later when the spam "anti-virus program" started trying to load 
> and run.  Then I started running my anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to 
> try and stop it.  Interestingly enough I had Zone Alarm Pro with all the 
> bells and whistles up and running when I hit the thing to begin with and it 
> went right past it without an alert.
>
> Ok I'll spare you the details but about 6 or 8 hours later I pretty well had 
> it licked after finally getting it beat down enough (continually cutting off 
> it's attempts to finish loading) that I could get to Trend Micro's House 
> Call online.  I wish I could remember the exact details but I didn't have 
> time to write them down but at some point something happened that made me 
> think something or someone else was acting as my system administrator.
>
> Let me interject here that I had this same virus/malware some months ago and 
> thought I was rid of it but after that my computer just didn't run right and 
> I always had the feeling that something was running hidden in the background 
> but I could never find it.
>
> Ok back to yesterday's activities.  I decided to see if I could change users 
> and sure enough I found another use that presented it's self by an Icon for 
> some web site called by three letters which I can't remember (for example 
> ABC.com).  I quickly did a web search on that site and everything that 
> popped up said it was some sort of Microsoft program that had something to 
> do with building web sites (something I've never done).  It looked to be a 
> legitimate program but I deleted it anyway and got rid of the other user. 
> Also, during that process things were getting hung up on my computer and 
> when I would hit Ctrl, Alt, Del to bring up the task manager it would tell 
> me the system administrator had shut down task manager.
>
> Jumping forward, eventually I got everything cleaned up.  As a last step I 
> decided to go to my web browser and delete all the temp internet files, 
> cookies, etc.  Now this is something I do almost everyday just to keep the 
> clutter off my system.  Depending on how much time I have spent online it 
> usually takes anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to complete that 
> process.  Well, when I started the process last night about 6 pm it 
> continued to run and run and run for an hour or better.  I finally decided 
> something had gone haywire so I told it to cancel.  At which point it 
> continued to say it was cancelling for an hour or so.  I decided I'd shut 
> the computer down.  When I tried it told me that windows was in the middle 
> of a long process (almost those exact words) and to either wait or cancel. 
> Well I had already tried to cancel and couldn't so I let it run.  In fact I 
> went back and told it to delete again.  Then  I had two windows open, one 
> supposedly deleting and one cancelling the previous delete if that makes 
> sense.  About 10 pm I gave up and went to bed.  When I got up this morning 
> it was still "deleteing" temp files and folders.
> I've checked and it's not deleting anything I use or have stored so far as I 
> can tell.  It appeared just to be hung up.  However I have a feeling that's 
> not the case.  I think that it really is trying to delete all the junk 
> that's been running in the background for months.  If finally did a cold 
> boot restart.  It's a notebook computer so I had to do that by removing the 
> battery momentarily.
>
> When it started back up it seems to be running fine.  I still don't know 
> exactly what is going on but the computer seems to be running fine now. 
> Later on I'll try running the delete files and folders, cookies, etc. 
> routine again and see what happens.
>
> The bug that started this whole thing this time was "Security Essentials 
> 2010".  The similar bug that got me last year was something like 
> "anti-malware 2009"
>
> I wish I was still running a program like Windows Washer.  I'd let it do a 
> complete disc clean up and wash the open areas of the drive and everything 
> but I don't want to pay $40 for it right now.  I might look for a freeware 
> washer.
>
> Hopefully my experience will help someone else.  If anyone thinks they know 
> what was going on with the other user and system administrator deal I'd like 
> to hear your comments.  PLEASE RESIST THE URGE TO TELL ME TO SWITCH TO SOME 
> OTHER BROWSER.  There are reasons why I don't want or need to do that.  I'm 
> not going to go into the details right now about that.  By the way this 
> machine is runing windows XP home premium with all of the updates. 
>
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