Expert: Carolyn Meinel - 6/12/2005

Question
Hi. My question is about the anti-virus program called Anti-Virus Gold. First of all, can you tell me the effectiveness of this program?

I was online the other day and found this program made its own way to install itself on my computer when I was about to shut down the computer. From the name itself, it may be a anti-virus program but could it be a spyware?

I look forward to your insight.

Answer
Anti-Virus Gold isn't an antivirus program, but rather an exceptionally nasty adware program.

Here's a quick solution that has worked for other victims. If you have an operating system that includes System Restore, choose a restore point before your computer got infected.

In the future you can avoid these sorts of attacks by never, ever, EVER using Internet Explorer. It is the most dangerous web browser ever invented. Try Firefox instead, free from www.mozilla.org. Also, don't use Outlook for email, because it hooks into Internet Explorer. Thunderbird, free from Mozilla.org, is much safer.

Also, you can run anti-adware and anti-spyware programs, but they can't always save your computer from Internet Explorer. For instant free help, try Ad-aware, http://lavasoft.element5.com/software/adaware or Spybot Search and Destroy, free from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ You can use both together if you wish because they are compatible. In addition, if you are more of a power user, you can install BHODemon. It is free from http://www.definitivesolutions.com/bhodemon.htm It enables you to control the "browser helper objects" of Internet Explorer (IE).