Computer Virus

This is a little off the beaten path but with the great number of builders and flyers maybe someone has a Idea. I have two computors and one of them I beleive has a virus on it. I get pop up after pop telling me to down load stuff. I use AOL to surf with not Explorer. The AOL filters it out but the Explorer will Launch by itself every couple of minutes. If any one knows of a anti virus software let me know please.

Jim Knight
Burlington Iowa
RV-6
Flying 250 hours

Anti-Virus

Jim:

For virus protection I use AVG (not free) at www.grisoft.com

For spyware, malware, etc., I use two programs, both free for personal use: Spybot and Ad-Aware. Go to www.spybot.info and to www.lavasoft.com/products/select_your_product.php

Not sure why IE self launches but perhaps one of these will find the culprit.

Antivirus/spyware

Sorry you are having problems. You didn't indicate what OS you are running but for Windows XP+:

Google AdAware and Spybot and download them. Both are free and work pretty well on spyware etc. Run em both

While that's happening go buy Norton Internet Security 2008 or McAffee Virus Scan/Firewall ( I've had better luck with Norton lately).. Get the 3 license version and run on both machines. That should clear up most other problems.

Firefox browser and Thunderbird email clients (both free from mozilla.org) are somewhat better than IE/Outlook to keep the popups down an Tbird won't load attachments that could cause email viruses to get installed.. Unless you do it yourself.

Be sure to run a firewall, even with dial up. For broadband, use a hardware router/firewall from Linksys/Netgear et al as well.

Have fun.. if that's possible with a troublesome computer..

John

TRENDMICRO

I would restart the computer and press F8 while it's booting up. When you get to a menu, select Start in Safe Mode WITH Networking. Then go online and search for trendmicro's house call on google, that will bring you to a free online scanner that would check your computer. Then follow the instructions to run the trendmicro housecall cleaner. I hope this helps.

when it says download, don't download

I had this same problem a few years ago. I forgot the name of the virus, but it took a lot of work to get it fixed. AdAware was one of the downloads that helped a lot, as did SpyBot. Both have free versions available. I'd start with those. I think AdAware can be set to start when you boot, which might help.

The virus or worm I had kept reproducing itself, and was really wicked. It bogged the machine down so quickly and so bad that it was almost impossible to fix. Eventually I did.

As stated above, Firefox, Spybot, and Trend Internet Security.

Be sure you set Spybot and the Trend products to be "residents"-----AKA run anytime you go on the net. Run full scans at least once a week.

Be careful when looking for SpyBot, there are some other programs who are coping the name--------most sincere form of flattery-------will show up in Google. I.E., "SpywareBot" is one. The link in Keith's post is correct.

You may find out it is easier to wipe the infected comp and start over, the above programs are better at preventing than fixing problems, at least in my experience.

Good luck.

If you use Comcast cable internet McAfee is free

A good "all in one" product is ESET Smart Security. It's not free but it's got a very effective anti-virus (probably the best out there), unobtrusive firewall, and anti-malware component. It's also very easy to use and light on system resources... For a quick clean-up, grab the trial copy of the ESET product.

Re AOL browser, I've read that it uses the IE engine anyway, so best to migrate to Opera or Firefox if you can. In particular, Firefox with AdblockPlus (filters banner ads, etc) and NoScript (lets you decide which sites can run JavaScript, etc) extensions. These precautions dramatically reduce the chances of random websites messing with your system.