XP Antivirus a Virus ?

D

Dave Mc

I have had 3 people this week on 3 different computers report they got a
popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they did.
Common thread seems to be XP Antivirus 2008 product.
Now they have various symptoms:
No Desktop tab in display properties
No restore points exist or being made
Can't uninstall XP AV 2008 listed in add/remove programs
Ca't boot up in safe mode.
ETC.

Anyone know of these symptoms being caused by some malware this week ?
 
L

Lem

Dave said:
I have had 3 people this week on 3 different computers report they got a
popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they did.
Common thread seems to be XP Antivirus 2008 product.
Now they have various symptoms:
No Desktop tab in display properties
No restore points exist or being made
Can't uninstall XP AV 2008 listed in add/remove programs
Ca't boot up in safe mode.
ETC.

Anyone know of these symptoms being caused by some malware this week ?

Yes, of course. Search this group for "Antivirus 2008".

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
V

VanguardLH

Dave said:
I have had 3 people this week on 3 different computers report they got a
popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they did.
Common thread seems to be XP Antivirus 2008 product.
Now they have various symptoms:
No Desktop tab in display properties
No restore points exist or being made
Can't uninstall XP AV 2008 listed in add/remove programs
Ca't boot up in safe mode.
ETC.

Anyone know of these symptoms being caused by some malware this week ?

A more correct category for this product: rogueware.

If they are trusting you to be their helpdesk, why haven't you heard
about this yet? It is NOT new. Why do they come to you if you don't
know how to Google? Alas, they probably won't see you coming here for
help to realize you aren't the PC savant that you claim to be.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+antivirus+2008"++remove
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+"xp+antivirus+2008"++remove

There have been removal instructions dating back to February (maybe
earlier since I didn't check timestamps in all matches).
 
M

Mick Murphy

Different variants have been around for a couple of months.
Use Malwarebytes in Safe Mode to remove it.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
For the Free version scroll down their page to either download from
Download.com, or Major Geeks.com

Download, install, and update.

Important re: Safe Mode
If you happen to find a problem that you can’t uninstall / delete, reboot
the computer, and go into Safe Mode.
To get into Safe mode, tap F8 right at Power On / Startup, and use UP arrow
key to get to Safe Mode from list of options, then hit ENTER.
RESCAN your computer with your Anti-Virus, Malwarebytes while in Safe Mode.
 
N

nass

Dave Mc said:
I have had 3 people this week on 3 different computers report they got a
popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they did.
Common thread seems to be XP Antivirus 2008 product.
Now they have various symptoms:
No Desktop tab in display properties
No restore points exist or being made
Can't uninstall XP AV 2008 listed in add/remove programs
Ca't boot up in safe mode.
ETC.

Anyone know of these symptoms being caused by some malware this week ?

Did you tried System Restore in Safe Mode before the Download?
Go through these cleaning steps:
XP Antivirus removal instructions
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/remove-xp-antivirus-2008-2009

1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Tabs:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Scan for malware from here:
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
http://www.malwarebytes.org/rr-update/rr-free-setup.exe
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-gb/default.htm?s_cid=sah
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-gb/default.htm

Run a scan from here on-line:
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner (offline scanner) from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html

Run disk clean up on your Drive.
You can download this tool o run clean up:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds/downloading-slim


Download Hijackthis and send me the log.
(http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/threat_analytics/hijackthis.php)
my address is : to_you_ross(at remove this and repalce with the
obvious)yahoo.co.uk
( _ is underscore)
HTH.
nass
 
P

Plato

=?Utf-8?B?RGF2ZSBNYw==?= said:
I have had 3 people this week on 3 different computers report they got a
popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they did.

Ignore.
 
L

Lvdarkwolf

"..they got a popup about a virus and to download this to fix it--which they
did."


Wow even my dad only fell for that once after I talked some commone sense
into him. Any time your computer suddenly suggests anything be wary. I
would reformat and start fresh who knows what else those people have picked
up in there innocent clicks. This time i would take away there administrator
or power user status and make them restricted. Never allow users the ability
to install.
 

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