My computer got a virus! ):

[iwantmypup]

I don't even know how. I don't do anything "bad" on the internet. I'm not like looking for porn or anything and I'm not downloading anything from weird websites.
I keep getting popups that say "Application cannot be executed. The file " " is infected. Do you want to activate your antivirus software now?"

And then on the side I get another "Alert", but it's fake too.
This is really stressing me out, lol.
Help!

 

[Renee750il]

What antiviral programs do you have on your computer, Ali? Just disconnect from the internet and run those.

 

[ACooper]

Yep, do a full system scan. But make sure your anitvirus has the latest updates (we do automatic updates)

You don't have to 'do something bad' on the internet, surf porn, or download from weird places to get a virus. (although those things are higher risk, LOL) Sometimes it's as simple as opening an attachment from an email. That's why it's important to keep your AV database up to date and your AV running.

 

[CharlieDog]

Sometimes you can even get a virus from google images. If you can get on the internet, that's good, you can figure out what it is, and how to get rid of it.

 

[blue]

Can you identify the Fake Anti Virus thats giving the pop ups? Maybe post a screen shot of the pop ups.

Do you have access to another computer to download some programs? Download MalwareBytes and Spybot Search and Destroy to a thumbdrive. Or download them in Safe Mode on the infected system.

Boot into safe mode by starting or restarting your system and tapping the F8 key till you finger starts to bleed or the computer starts beeping. Use the up or down arrow to select Safe Mode with networking. Once in safe mode install and update MalwareBytes and start a full scan. Install Spybot and follow the instructions for creating a registry backup, and downloading updates. Before you start a scan, immunize the system, then start a scan. Let both scans run and finish before letting the system reboot.

Once the system reboots rerun both scans. If its still infected post up what the second set of scans found.

If the system is really infected you may need to do a System Restore before running the scans. If you can with the system started normally, you may have to do this in Safe Mode, go to Start, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Select Restore My System to An Earlier Time, choose a date at least a week before you noticed the system acting funny and let it run. When its done run MalwareBytes and Spybot twice rebooting between scans.

 

[orphanedpuppylove]

also, get CCleaner from download.com, its a free software and really works! It will do a whole system scan and help you get rid of the virus. My fiancee is a programer and all our computers ( all 9 of them!) run this. I do a scan daily.

 

[blue]

CCleaner can help dig out malicious.exe files that are in the Temp folders. Really useful for clearing out space. Be careful using its registry tool though.

 

[blue]

IWP did you get this resolved?

I just dealt with 2 machines this week that had long term infections and it wasnt fun and one had to be wiped and reloaded from scratch. I have a third one on my bench thats also had a long term infection that will no longer even boot from USB or a boot disk. Depending on the infection or the amount of infections hardware can be damaged as well.