Are computer viruses just a protection racket?

[reaganator]

I have persistant, official looking pop ups in a yellow box (system alert) that are now telling me my computer is infected with viruses.

This eventually leads to the cure, me paying them 49.95

Seems like an old time protection racket to me. Odd that as soon as my computer acquires these viruses the prompting of the anti-virus companies begin.

Any thoughts on this?

[backhoe]

“what do you think of AVAST ? www.avast.com

also free (home edition) and I like it a bunch “

---

While I currently have AVG on the kitchen PC, I’ve used Avast! in the past, and think it’s first-rate.

[TomGuy]

AVG is a free-for-home-use anti-virus program

http://free.grisoft.com/

[NonValueAdded]

Never EVER click on a popup.

[reaganator]

I have to click on it to make it go away. Keeps coming back.

[Loud Mime]

I continually back up my data on DVD’s and run a cleaner at least every week. I reformat when there’s even a suspicion of a problem.

After dealing with Norton AntiVirus (real crap) I won’t own another spyware program.

[Sarevok]

I have had a question I have wanted to ask someone with some knowledge of AVG and AVAST. Is one really better than the other?
Do they work as well in detecting and clearing viruses as the big companies? I really don’t like how Symantec and the others have created their internet suites that clog up your system and would like a solution with a smaller footprint on my computer.

Thanks

[FAB]

AVG is a pretty good Antivirus Program.
On other systems I have used:
Windows Defender, Ad-Aware & Spybot all at the same time.
The each found things the others didn't.
I have since found Super Anti Spyware at www.superantispyware.com. They have 2 versions, 1 free and another with advanced features.

I recently had the same issue with the fake anti-virus pop ups. Super Anti Spyware fixed that issue.

Good Luck

[gjones77]

You’re welcome!

[LanPB01]

I had used Trend Micro for a couple of years and been really happy with it. It seemed to slow my computer down much less so than Symantec and McAfee. That all changed with the last version of the program. It almost brought my computer to a complete stand still. I assume it was some kind of software conflict, and ended up having to remove the program.

[bcsco]

I notice you didn’t list a firewall. Was that an omission or do you rely on a hardware firewall?

[bcsco]

IMHO, AVGFree is the best anti-virus application out there. But before installation, be sure to completely remove your existing anti-virus application. A Google search on AVG Free Edition will get you to the website and download area.

[holymoly]

I had trouble removing my Norton 2005 so I don’t know how well it’s working.

Early versions of Norton could be uninstalled & reinstalled, giving the user another year of free virus definitions. Symantecs' response was to make Norton AV very difficult to un-install. To completely remove Norton, you need their Norton Removal Tool. Even after using Symantecs' own tool to help people un-install Norton, I've had to manually remove Norton/Symantec registry entries, to completely rid systems of Norton. For that, I recommend RegCleaner.

What you have sounds more like Adware or Spyware, than a virus. With that being said, here's my table of free security software. You should have not problem finding (free) applications to clean your system, and help keep it clean in the future.

PC security-related links.   All software listed is freeware or open source. Last Update: February 01, 2008  List maintained by holymoly.
Anti-Virus: avast! Home Edition  Anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit. Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP AVG Anti-Virus 2000/XP BitDefender Free Edition Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand anti-virus program. ClamWin Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand virus scanner. Detects, doesn't clean. Dr. Web CureIT! Windows 95 OSR2/98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand, anti-malware (anti-virus/spyware). Detects and cleans. No installation required. McAfee Stinger On-demand anti-virus/trojan. No installation required. Fits on a 3.5" floppy.	Alternatives to MSIE, Outlook & Outlook Express: Mozilla.org  Firefox browser, Thunderbird E-mail client, Mozilla Suite. Opera  Supports tabbed browsing, etc. Easier on resources than Firefox, Mozilla/Seamonkey. Off By One The world's smallest and fastest web browser. No installation required. Popcorn E-Mail Small, no-frills e-mail client. Seamonkey The successor to the Mozilla Suite.  Web-browser, e-mail/usenet client, IRC client, HTML editing, all in one application. Xnews Usenet client.
Anti-Adware/Spyware/Trojan: a-squared Free Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP, 2003 Server & Vista On-demand anti-trojan/rootkit, etc. Comodo BOClean Windows for Workgroups 3.11 , 95/98/ME, NT4 SP2+, 2000/XP & Vista. Full/real-time protection against trojans, rootkits, etc. SpywareBlaster  Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software! Spybot - Search and Destroy  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP Offers both on-demand scanning and full/real-time protection. Spware Doctor Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP Detects, removes and blocks all types of Spyware. SUPERAntiSpyware  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP Remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.	Firewall: How to Install a Firewall Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP (Last freeware version) Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.15A Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.9  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP (Last freeware version) ZoneAlarm Free Download Zonealarm at Oldversion.com For those who need a version compatible with Windows 9x/ME
Miscellaneous: CCleaner Windows 95/98/ME, NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista A freeware system optimization and privacy tool. Over 65 million downloads! Dr. Web anti-virus link checker  OS Independent This plugin/extension allows you to check any file you are about to download, or any web page, with Dr. Web anti-virus. Firefox users may download the extension at Addons.Mozilla.Org MVPS HOSTS File  Windows: All Block known malicious websites & servers. Ping Plotter Windows: All Internet diagnostic tool. Proxomitron Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP A free, highly flexible, user-configurable, small, but very powerful, local HTTP web-filtering proxy. WinPatrol A security monitor.  WinPatrol will alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission.	New and/or Untested: Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 Free Windows 2000/XP/Vista (On-demand?) Anti-adware/spyware. Microsoft Windows Defender Windows XP SP2 or later. Anti-spyware.
Zeroday Emergency Response Team (ZERT) "The nonprofit Zeroday Emergency Response Team is offering VML security patches for out-of-support Windows OS versions. The volunteer group, which is made up of well-respected security professionals, has released updates for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 SP3." Above quote from: ZERT Patches Out-of-Support Windows OS

[bcsco]

I’ve run both, though Avast was in the past. IMO, I like AVG. It seems to do a cleaner update than Avast did when I had it. Don’t know if that’s changed, but why bother to check. AVG does it and does it very well.

But that’s when I’m on XP. I have a dual boot laptop with Ubuntu 7.10 on it as well, and that’s where I spend the majority of my time. The only time I run Windows is when I have something that I need a Windows application for, and it won’t run well in Ubuntu.

[TomGuy]

AVG-free is the home user version of the commercial AVG.

The commercial version does have a suite that contains other elements — spam, spyware, etc.

The free version is updated once-per-day. The commercial version is updated periodically, throughout the day.

[hiramknight]

It Happened to me last week. Popped up as Windows XP anti-virus alert. It said I had 164 viruses. It asked me if I wanted to quarentine the viruses. Obviously I clicked continue, and it prompted me for my credit card number. I took it to my IT guys who said there was no such thing as Windows XP anti-virus. They checked my laptop for viruses and found none.

[bcsco]

I had an interesting conversation with a Dell online support guy a few years ago. I was having trouble with the CD-ROM drive on my Dell PC while still under warranty. They replaced the drive, but during our conversation we got into the software I had on my PC. When I mentioned AVG Free Edition, he stated “That’s what we use here on our Dell PC’s”.

I don’t recall whether Dell at the time (2001) provided Norton or McAfee on their PC’s at time of sale, but this particular service group used AVG for their in-house machines. And this guy wasn’t off-shore.

That Dell is still being used for music purposes. Old, but reliable.

[TomGuy]

I have been using the Comodo (free for home use) firewall.

It absolutely shields a computer from any outside detection, based on GRC.com’s Shield’s Up.

[Fishrrman]

“I have persistant, official looking pop ups in a yellow box (system alert) that are now telling me my computer is infected with viruses.
This eventually leads to the cure, me paying them 49.95
Any thoughts on this?”

Yep.

Buy a Mac, and forget about having to pay.

I’ve been a Mac user since 1987 - more than twenty years.
In that time, I’ve NEVER had a “virus” on the computer.
NEVER had a Trojan.
NEVER had adware.
NEVER had spyware.

Yes, it may cost a little more ‘up front”. Once paid, though, those “yellow box warnings” will become a memory of your past....

- John

[holymoly]

I have been using the Comodo (free for home use) firewall.

It absolutely shields a computer from any outside detection, based on GRC.com’s Shield’s Up.

I've been meaning to add the Comodo firewall to the list.

[Southerngl]

Hey, gimme $50 for protection or I’ll break your legs. I’ll protect you from ME!