False Alert Trojan & Windows Security Center

[sharonf]

My son had False Alert Trojan on his computer which was detected and
removed by Spybot. The Trojan also changed the Lan settings under IE
which I had to go in and change. Everything is showing up clean now and
working fine....except for Windows Security Center. It keeps showing an
alert saying that his Virus Protection is out of date but it is not. It
is on automatic update and a check shows that everything is up to date
there. How to I get rid of that False alert?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Your son has *much* more work to do!

NB: If you had no anti-virus application installed or the subscription had
expired *when the machine first got infected* and/or your subscription has
since expired and/or the machine's not been kept fully-patched at Windows
Update, don't waste your time with any of the below: Format & reinstall
Windows. A Repair Install will NOT help!

Microsoft PCSafety provides home users (only) with no-charge support in
dealing with malware infections such as viruses, spyware (including unwanted
software), and adware.
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?&prid=7552&st=1

Also available via the Consumer Security Support home page:
https://consumersecuritysupport.microsoft.com/

Otherwise...

1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

NB: Run the FULL scan, not the QUICK scan! You may need to download the
MSRT on a non-infected machine, then transfer MRT.EXE to the infected
machine and rename it to SCAN.EXE before running it.

2a. WinXP => Run the Windows Live Safety Center's 'Protection' scan (only!)
in Safe Mode with Networking, if need be:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm

2b. Vista or Win7=> Run this scan instead:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm

3. Now run a thorough check for hijackware, including posting requested logs
in an appropriate forum, not here. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!

Checking for/Help with Hijackware:
.. http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
.. http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
.. http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
.. http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

**Chances are you will need to seek expert assistance in
http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0,
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5,
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cleanup,
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 or other appropriate forums.**

If these procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA or Geek Squad) computer repair shop.

 

[sharonf]

My son had False Alert Trojan on his computer which was detected and
removed by Spybot. The Trojan also changed the Lan settings under IE
which I had to go in and change. Everything is showing up clean now and
working fine....except for Windows Security Center. It keeps showing an
alert saying that his Virus Protection is out of date but it is not. It
is on automatic update and a check shows that everything is up to date
there. How to I get rid of that False alert?

This is what finally fixed the problem. I uninstalled the Virus program,
restarted the computer and then reinstalled the program again. After
applying the available updates everything is now working correctly. No
more false alerts from Windows Security Center.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Uh-huh...

This is what finally fixed the problem. I uninstalled the Virus program,
restarted the computer and then reinstalled the program again. After
applying the available updates everything is now working correctly. No
more false alerts from Windows Security Center.