Expert: Lorry - 1/8/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello Lorry,
can you please advise me on the following.
In the the last few hours i keep getting a caption on my screen, saying VIRUS DETECTED,RESTART REQUIRED. the Anti
Virus service detected a virus that can only be removed after you restart your computer....
I then restarted my computer, the message was gone, but it
reappeared after about an hour. I have Virgin,s PC GUARD as
my anti-virus.  Any advice appreciated, thanks Ray

ANSWER: Hi Ray,

Am assumning that that the window that states,"VIRUS DETECTED,RESTART REQUIRED" is not coming from PC Guard. Using Internet Explorer, go to:

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/WelcomePage.asp

Click "Continue to Symantec Security Check", in the next window click No when asked if you want to close this window, that will bring you to a window where you should click Virus Detection.

Write down exactly anything it finds, then go to:

http://www.symantec.com/search/ and do a search for what was found.

Symantec usually has a removal tool and/or directions for removing manually. Make sure that you follow the instructions for removal, step by step, especially the part regarding disabling System Restore.

You might want to download Spybot from:

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html

Check for updates before running a scan.

Hope this helps!
Lorry

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Lorry,
Firstly i would like to thank you for your kind advice,
i followed your instructions, and I ran a virus check with
SYMANTIC, THE CHECK INFORMED ME THAT MY COMPUTER WAS FREE OF VIRUSES, I HAVE ALSO CHECKED AGAIN WITH PC GUARD, WHICH ALSO CAME UP WITH NOTHING, BUT I AM STILL GETTING THE SAME
MESSAGE, May I ask Lorry how do you rate Virgin PC GUARD,
Anti-VIRUS Compared to other Anti-Virus software.

ANSWER: Hi Ray,

Glad to hear the virus scans came back negative - that's always good news! Did you run Spybot? After running Spybot, you might want to download Ad-Aware 2008 7.1.0.11 from:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html

Like Spybot, check for updates before running a scan.

Regarding Virgin PC GUARD, can't honestly say as I never heard of it before, sorry. From what I read on their site, it looks like a good program, wish I could tell you more.

Hope this helps!
Lorry

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello again Lorry,
I am sorry to be such a pain,but i now have encountered another problem, i tried to download ADWARE, as you suggested, but i could not download it, so i tried to download, something called SPYBLASTER, this also would not
download, in both cases there was a message box on my screen saying quote " WAS UNABLE TO CREATE THE DIRECTORY"
         ERROR 5: ACCESS DENIED.
 Thanks Lorry,   Ray.

Answer
Hi Ray,

Is it possible for you to download Ad-aware on another computer? If yes, do that, then install it on yours, try to check for updates and then run a scan. Another program that is good is:

http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Check out the following also:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Did Spybot come up empty also, like the virus scans?

Trust me, you are not a pain. With any luck, we'll get rid of this problem, don't give up the ship - as they say.

In the future, if a window pops up, just "X" out of it, don't do anything else.

Hope this helps!
Lorry

PS - If you use another computer to download Ad-aware, download the others also, put on a CD, then install on yours.