System Alert!

[Guest]

This morning I found a System Alert message at the bottom of my screan. I am
running XP and it is what looks like a hard drive picture with a question red
question mark in the lower right, it flashes on and off and is replaced with
a just a regular ?. When I click on it it takes me to web address for
Antivermin, want to scan my machine and probably sell me their software. I
already have a complete McAfee Security on my PC and don't think I need
anything, how do I get rid of this message. I have run a complete system
scan for virsus and have found nothing.

Thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

This morning I found a System Alert message at the bottom of my
screan. I am running XP and it is what looks like a hard drive
picture with a question red question mark in the lower right, it
flashes on and off and is replaced with a just a regular ?. When I
click on it it takes me to web address for Antivermin, want to scan
my machine and probably sell me their software. I already have a
complete McAfee Security on my PC and don't think I need anything,
how do I get rid of this message. I have run a complete system scan
for virsus and have found nothing.

You are infected with malware--not the malware that Antivermin wants to
protect you against, but Antivermin itself.

You may think you are adequately protected, but clearly you are not. Next to
Norton, McAfee is probably the worst security software on the market. Be
sure you run a firewall program, a good anti-virus program, and at least two
or more anti-spyware programs.

I recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

 

[Guest]

Ken,

Ok my protection stinks, it was what I got from Dell, what do you reccomend
for spyware protection and antivirus protection? WOuld appreciate any
thoughts people have on this meanwhile I will get going on fixing my current
problem--
Brian

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken,

Ok my protection stinks, it was what I got from Dell, what do you
reccomend for spyware protection and antivirus protection? WOuld
appreciate any thoughts people have on this meanwhile I will get
going on fixing my current problem--

I use a combination of freeware products:

Firewall
ZoneAlarm Free Version

Anti-Virus
Avast

Anti-Spayware
Spyware Blaster
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware
Windows Defender

 

[GHalleck]

Ken,

Ok my protection stinks, it was what I got from Dell, what do you reccomend
for spyware protection and antivirus protection? WOuld appreciate any
thoughts people have on this meanwhile I will get going on fixing my current
problem--
Brian

That is a lame excuse for not being informed or educated on
the proper care and feeding of computers and their users. The
only reason Dell has such products is because it was paid to
put them into its systems. It does not necessarily mean that
the embedded products are good, bad or otherwise. Every one
of the Firewall, Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware products cited
by Ken is well-publicized on the Web, in print and,sometimes,
on radio and TV.

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

Average users who purchase named branded computer "think" they are
adequately protected from everything on the internet. They trust the
named brand. It is not a lame excuse for those how are ignorant to the
gamut of malware on the internet today if they are not knowledgeable in
the subject. Many of "professionals" forget that they once did not know
anything in this particular field as well. The average computer user
does not care to understand how things work, they just want them to
work. They do not know which AV or anti spyware programs are the best.
Heck, we as professionals have trouble with that. More of less we end up
arguing our "opinion" as to which we "think" is the best. So how is the
average computer user suppose to know?

--
Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

I have ran into this issue a lot lately. Follow the direction here:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic17258.html, and use Ken's
advice. I will tell you that this particular, annoying bug can at times
be difficult to remove. This is one malware that demands more of my time
to remove.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the comment Michael. I had Adaware on my last machine and just
haven't gotten around to installing it on my new machine (which I have had
less than 2 weeks), I've learned my lesson and next time will get the extra
protection same day as I start up a new pc. As for GHalleck's helpful
comments, well I accept responsibility for my PC and if it messed up well it
is my fault. The McAfee Softwate I keep updated and was looking to this
space as a place for recommendations on how I can prevent this from happening
as well as good software. As for knowing about these products, outside of
Adaware I have never heard of them.

Ken, thanks for the help I am all cleaned up now, appreciate the assistance

Brian

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Average users who purchase named branded computer "think" they are
adequately protected from everything on the internet. They trust the
named brand. It is not a lame excuse for those how are ignorant to the
gamut of malware on the internet today if they are not knowledgeable
in the subject. Many of "professionals" forget that they once did not
know anything in this particular field as well. The average computer
user does not care to understand how things work, they just want them
to work. They do not know which AV or anti spyware programs are the
best. Heck, we as professionals have trouble with that. More of less
we end up arguing our "opinion" as to which we "think" is the best.
So how is the average computer user suppose to know?

Well said!

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

As for my laptop that I use religiously, I have Windows Live One Care
(with Windows Defender), Spybot
(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html), Spyware
Blaster (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html),
Spyware Guard (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html).
I only listed these programs because they actively prevent spyware from
being placed on your system to begin with. I am very hard on my laptop
with regards to surfing the internet. I have been to places that I know
are infectious to test out my security in a real world experience. The
key to these programs listed above is the updates. Since a majority of
them are free, they do not perform live updates -- meaning you have to
open the program and update the definitions. However, this is better
than trying to remove installed spyware! I really hope this info helps
you out. Good Luck.

--
Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for the comment Michael. I had Adaware on my last machine and
just haven't gotten around to installing it on my new machine (which
I have had less than 2 weeks), I've learned my lesson and next time
will get the extra protection same day as I start up a new pc. As for
GHalleck's helpful comments, well I accept responsibility for my PC
and if it messed up well it is my fault. The McAfee Softwate I keep
updated and was looking to this space as a place for recommendations
on how I can prevent this from happening as well as good software.
As for knowing about these products, outside of Adaware I have never
heard of them.

Ken, thanks for the help I am all cleaned up now, appreciate the
assistance

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

Thanks for the assistance and input Ken. It is always a pleasure.

--
Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for the assistance and input Ken. It is always a pleasure.

You're welcome, and same here.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup