[jim macomber]

Yesterday I had a run in with the Win 7 Home Security Alert virus/Trojan. It pops up and tells you you have an infection and must start the Win 7 Home Security program immediately. Whatever prgram you're in or trying to open it say, e.g., "Firefox is infected" or "Avira is infected", etc.

It just didn't look right so I clicked on nothing. I went to task manager and closed the application but every time I tried to open something, this would pop-up again. went to another computer and googled "Win 7 Home Security Alert. Sure enough, it's a fake anti-spyware program that is pretty nasty.

Ran Avira anti-virus and it found it - TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen2 - and said it quarantined it. But it was still there. Ran Malwarebytes and it found it and said it removed it and this seemed to have worked.

My concern is this, however. Normally, if you look at processes in the Task Manager, certain processes read avgnt.exe for Avira, firefox.exe for Firefox, soffice.bin for Open Office Operations, etc. Now, however, these all read avgnt.exe *32, firefox.exe *32, soffice.bin *32.

I cannot find any reference to this *32 business anywhere. Anyone know if that's an indication that the Trojan is still there? What is the *32?

My plan is to uninstall all such programs in Safe Mode and see if it makes a difference. Or is *32 something in newer computers that's not in older ones? Also ran system restore to a point before this showed up.

Is it possible this virus/Trojan could still be in there somewhere and now not showing?

[toothfairy86]

I had the same kind of virus a few weeks ago on my computer that runs Windows Vista. My brother removed it with a virus removal tool that he downloaded from his computer onto a flash drive, and then ran it on my computer. The virus basically just froze everything up. For some reason, I was still able to do a Google search, but it wouldn’t let me click on to any of the links. My brother has all Macs in his house now. Everyone says that Macs don’t get viruses.

[andy58-in-nh]

My wife had her computer infected by that nasty piece of crap - it is malware, and will scan your computer for personal information while making multiple changes to your system registry. As others have suggested, get MalwareBytes Anti-Malware - even the trial version will work.

One of the ways to get rid of it is to boot your system in safe mode with networking and then find (online) one of a number of phony registration keys to trick the program into "registering" itself (after which it will "pretend" to scan your computer for viruses). At that point, it will stop hijacking your browser and you can load normally and get rid of the SOB; first by running a registry patch (available in several places) and then by downloading and running the MBAW program.

I'd like to take people who create **** like this and force them to listen to Meghan McCain's voice at full volume while tied up, covered with honey and set upon by fire ants.

[aldabra]

Sounds like this info [Remove Antivir Solution Pro (Uninstall Guide)]might help you:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-antivir-solution-pro

Very specific instructions on removal and checking that removal was successful.

Malwarebytes was a good start!

[dennisw]

Ran Avira anti-virus and it found it>>>>>>>>

Why use Avira? MS Security Essentials is better and is free. I used to use Avira

[P.O.E.]

Worst virus I ever got.

I blame Microsoft because they have so many pop-ups and reminders and updates (it’s really just self-advertising)

This virus opens up a pop-up on your screen that looks deceptively like Microsoft incessant intrusions. I absent-mindedly clicked to close, and dang if it didn’t send me to a website.

All Heck broke loose on my PC.
- IE would go to no other website than the virus would allow.
- When I rebooted, it changed the names of all my *.exe files (executables)

Solution - Rebooted in Safe Mode and reloaded an old Restore point.

Be careful, because some versions of this thing wipe out your old restore points.

[sjm_888]

In the past few weeks I’ve had to deal with this Win 7 Home Security virus and it’s clone, Win 7 Anti Spyware virus. They are essentially the same.

Quickest fix for me was to run Anti-malware in Safe mode. You may have to right click and run this as administrator. Let it run, let it clean up the mess for you.

On my Win 7 machine, I found that random 3 character.exe file in my {user}\appdata\local directory.

I have a friend who does computer work on the side and he has seen this particular virus ramp up in the last month or so. The novice user who gets this virus, it’s impossible to get rid of without some help.

To the creators of this virus, I believe there is a special place in Hell waiting for you.

[outofsalt]

pfl

[maxwellsmart_agent]

I got the virus Vista Home Security 2012. PC tools is supposed to get rid of it. I bought it and ran it. It didn’t.

I cannot run any .exe files. I can only access the internet directly, not through a link. My machine is a real mess.

[GOPJ]

There’s a way to take it back to ‘factory’ ... do that and just start over...

[Chode]

sorry for your problem, but i gained some valuable info from this thread...

when's your next book coming out???