1. Do not, I repeat do not panic and download a program after a pop up window reportedly from an anti-virus software screams you have xxxx number of infections, and download this "Software" now to fix it. As I recall it was labeled "AV8".
2. If you are unfortunate and did panic and download then chances are your computer is now infected with malware such as "Adload_r.AKJ" which will take over your internet explorer and redirect your browser to unwanted places.
3. If this is the case, then don't waste time with AVG, Norton, etc. - go straight to the Kaspersky website and download tdsskiller.exe, which should take care of the problem.
4. Be very careful using Norton Power Eraser, it doesn't like "unsigned" programs and if you err by deleting programs such as autocad.exe you may have to uninstall then re-install the program, this happened to four different programs of mine. ***Note - if you did step 3 above you should not have to utilize Norton Power Eraser.*****
5. I hope no one else has to go through this.
Scott
I'll bet you will stay off of those midget wrestling websites on your work computer from now on!
Did you try "system restore"? It works most of the time.
Thanks Ranger - I did try System Restore and it appeared to work, but only for a while, then it was back to the website redirector nonsense.
TDSSKiller from Kaspersky was the only thing that really did remove the malware.
It was the only program that could reach deeply into the spurious instructions imbedded in svchost.exe.
Scott
Yes, you're probably right. System restore doesn't delete the infected files so they may come back, and many viruses these days are programmed to not allow you to access virus killing websites or software. System restore gives you a chance to access some website and run some software. That, followed by a "Microsoft Securities Essentials" scan has always worked for me, but I'm probably not dealing with the same thing you are.
I've had the same thing pop up a number of times but as I was running a real-time virus checker, I was immediately suspicious that it had not alerted. I was fortunate enough to just back out from the site and close the browser window. As I recollect, one time I just shut the computer down.
It's really funny, though, to watch one of these pop up in Firefox while browsing with a Linux operating system (I use Ubuntu on my non-work computers) and know that I don't have to worry about viruses or worms.
