computer virus/ scam

G

gov

Senior member
My wife's HP laptop went loopy last night when she was surfing Matelan - warning about Harddrive problem appears- everything gone other than Internet Explorer and Recycle bin - told you have to buy a programme to restore the whole system ! Suspected this was a scam . Tried to restore computer normally but found there is no way you can do this without paying 50 quid to PC World ( where we bought it 6 months ago ) to get the appropriate software; this must be right as I looked through the official PC World website - thought this was bloody cheeky - all our other/previous laptops have a restore option. Took it down tp PC world this morning who said " its a virus sir and unfortunately this isn't covered by the warranty " - 50 quid please for getting rid of virus !!!!!!!!!!!! Asked to see manager to try to blag it but it was like talking to a unyielding robot. Only recently had the fan replaced on this laptop which I discovered is a common fault with this model - beware any body thinking of buying HP !

We've been using Microsoft Security Essentials for years without a problem - should it have picked this up or do I need to buy more software? - used Norton once but it slowed everything up.
 
i use microsoft security essentials and never had any problems, usually if it picks up a virus you get a notification. :|
 
There was a virus going about that did that, my daughter got it on her laptop. You can do a restore and you shouldn't need PC World. Running Windows 7?

Depending upon how far gone it is, you might get away with pressing the start button, type restore, select the system restore option and then select a checkpoint that is far enough back you're sure it was OK without un-installing a program. If you've deleted all your checkpoints recently (as daughter had) you're probably hosed and looking at a full rebuild, or painstakingly rebuilding all the menus manually

Found you a link here http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-system-restore/

Also some notes on getting rid of the little fecker

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-recovery

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=84616

I was using MSE but had a couple of things that got through the first layer of defences. I've gone back to Avast Free and MalwareBytes. Never had a problem since.
 
When I went to NL last week to see my parents, I had to do the same to my dad's PC. I just bought Windows 8 and wiped the machine clean.

Windows 8 has a "restore" option build in now as well. Quite liked Win8 though for a standard user, bit limited for my liking for a prof user like myself as it is too "protected".
 
download avast antivirus - free version + a couple of spam killers like spybot and superantispyware - PC world are a rip off!
 
I use a program called Nod32 by Eset. By far the best av product around, not free even for me as a reseller but worth very penny. Also has virtually no performance hit as well as the best heuristics engine! I've tried, ms se, norton/Symantec, Sophos, kaspersky, f secure, avast and loads others and stupid name but best by far is nod and you don't need any other products like adware to slow your computer down even further.

:thumbsup:
 
thanks for advice - yes it was a virus - now back to normal - I've now installed Avast free version
 
Problem with free antivirus is they're never upto the mark with latest viruses etc, thats why the'yre free.

Couldn't you have gone into safe mode and done a restore before the problem occured?

I had similar with something called Security Tools where it downloaded onto my laptop and disabled everything and said if I paid £20 it would erase the virus lol. I just did a restore in safe mode and paid for Norton instead of relying on free software that didn't work.

Tim.
 
avast is free but it was originally high spec software aimed at corporate use. by protecting home users for free it protecets their corporate clients from denial of service attacks etc. its only in the last few years they've started marketing a home user version. been using avast for 6 years and never had problems with it. i used to tear my hair out with norton and ofhers using all my system resources etc. the only thing avast doesnt do well is detecting ad ware cookies and such likes. i recently cleared over 500 of fhese off a friends system using spybot thoigh it showws some of the pay for ones dont do this either as he was using svg!
 
The virus struck without any warning Friday night when my wife was surfing for clothes on Matelan and other low cost clothes sites. I tried to find how to reboot the lot but with this HP model ( Pavillion G series ) there is no available function other than buying one from PC world which I wasn't aware of when I bought it. As I said I lost all programmes except IE and Recycle bin. I put it in safe mode ,pressed F9 and ran the short and extended test on the harddrive which said it was OK which indicated it was a scam/virus. As it was under warranty I took it back to PC world hoping to pursuade them to run it through their software for free as a gesture of goodwill but they were having none of it. On reflection I suppose I could have taken it home and downloaded a virus scanner and tried to clean the disc myself ( might or might not have been successful ) but I was getting fed up by this time so left it with them, TBF the geek who did it for me tried to be helpful - I collected it today and he explained there were 6 viruses found which he said were almost certainly from the internet and probably from the websites that advertise " lowest cost " products and he recommended and installed AVAST as he considered it one of the best free ones. Paid the £50 but at least her who should be obeyed is back surfing . Also get 90 days warranty in case of picking up another virus.
 
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