Expert: Keith Davis - 1/5/2011

Question
Dear Keith

A few days ago my computer started getting pop up messages saying it was infected and now when I try to open up a program a pop up box appears saying this program has been infected, cannot continue. When I try to activate anti-virus soft-ware the same thing happens. And another thing strange is when i go onto my moms account on my computer this dosen't happen none of the pop-ups or messages saying my computers infected.
Call this just hunch I have but I think I might have gotten a virus that masks itself as anti-virus soft-ware, so it can go on unnoticed.
What do you think and how can I stop my computer from acting up this way.

Billy

Answer
You have one of the fake anti-virus trojans. I have removed many of these infections using Malwarebytes. It is free. Download it from www.malwarebytes.org. Run a scan and remove what it finds. Your computer may have to reboot to completely remove the infection.
In some cases where the certain trojan is really bad you may have to go to more extreme measures. I use Combofix because it does not have to be installed to run. Download it from www.combofix.org