Pop Ups

[Nightbird]

Ok you computer whizzes.. How do I get rid of ad ware and annoying popups?

Is there something free I can download from the internet?

 

[Nightbird]

bump because i need help

 

[Quoll]

bump because i need help

Ad-Aware

Spybot

These two are prety good and free.
Can you give some details about the pop ups, sometimes there are specific fixes.

 

[Nightbird]

Actually now that I think about it.. Might even be a virus. Anyhow it keeps popping up with "YOur computer might be infected download blah blah" and opens a browser window to the web site etc..
Very annoying.

 

[Quoll]

Actually now that I think about it.. Might even be a virus. Anyhow it keeps popping up with "YOur computer might be infected download blah blah" and opens a browser window to the web site etc..
Very annoying.

What's the program name, there are heaps of them that do this, often associated with an installed toolbar.
Some are easy to remove others are absolute bastards.

 

[Bobmi357]

I don't mean to be annoying, but it's mighty difficult to diagnose blah blah blah other than telling you to waa waa waa...

Might I suggest you provide the full text of the error message and the url it keeps sending you to?

It could be possible that your system is infected and your anti-virus software can't fix the problem, but knows where to go for a fix...

 

[Nightbird]

Hmm you know I just dont have the patience or tolerance right now to turn that thing back on to see what they actually are.
Is it ok if I take a rain check on that?
It's 2:45 in the morning here and I've been fighting with it all night long.
Would you be willing to help me if I can look and leave a message for you tomorrow?

 

[Quoll]

No problem, have a good night.

 

[Nightbird]

I am a glutton for punishment..

Ok the first one to pop up says..

"Windows Security Alert.
Warning! Potential Spyware Operation!
Your computer is making unauthorized copies of your system and internet files.
Run full scan now to prevent any unauthorized access to your files!
Click here to download Spy Ware Remover"

The second pop up opens a web browser window directly to a web site. The website address is "www*******stability.com"

The Third Pop up:
"Malware Alert
Warning!
Trojan-Adware W32ExpDwnldr spyware detected. This Trojan allows attackers to access your computer from remote locations, stealing passwords, Internet banking and personal data. This also prompts advertising pop ups.
This process is a security risk and should be removed from your system.
Type: Trojan Horse
System Affected: windows 98, 2000, NT, ME,XP
Security Risk (0-5): 4
Recommendations: Click Yes to get all available antispyware Software."

 

[Quoll]

A simple fix I can't find, it appears to be Trojan.Zlob.B, depending on what antivirus you have will determine how easy it is to remove.

 

[emptynester]

Nightbird, we had the same thing happen to one of our computers last weekend. Thankfully the boys had not hooked up their computers yet (2 of mine and a friend were moving back home) otherwise it could have gone over the network and affected them all.

My 2 youngest are very computer savy. They took a look at it and said it was definitely the Trojan virus. We got basically the same message you are showing. I believe we had spybot? for our antivirus software and it could not fix the problem. They were able to delete some of the files but one file in particular was a read only (I believe that is correct) and could not be deleted. (Obviously they did not get their computer skills from their mother). It was, I think the one that was taking over the hard drive. At least that is what I got out of the conversation. When they speak "computer language" it is foreign to me.

Anyway, they ended up having to reformat our computer. After reformatting they had to reinstall all of the software that we originally had on it. It is a MAJOR pain but according to them was the only solution. They tried several things such as getting on the internet to use other antivirus programs to delete the files. Nothing worked.

Sorry I don't have better news. I just wish the low life that has the time to sit around and think up these viruses could find something better to do with all that knowledge. It would have cost us a lot more time and money to fix the problem if we didn't have the boys around for help. They are happy at the moment just being fed.

When they wake up (which will not be until late afternoon) I will ask a few more detailed questions and see if I can explain in more detail what all they tried.

 

[Wankia]

Can I ask how you think you got this virus?

I don't have spybot, maybe I should download.

Virus' always scare me, as I am not real computer savvy either.

 

[Gil_T2]

Actually now that I think about it.. Might even be a virus. Anyhow it keeps popping up with "YOur computer might be infected download blah blah" and opens a browser window to the web site etc..
Very annoying.

google pop up stoppers, there are a few free very good ones to use & NEVER download those computer pop ups, a friend had these & foolishly clicked them to wip out the pc, spybot & ad aware are both fantastic.
Do'nt forget to download AVG anti virus free edition as I have been saved numerious time & it gives you free daily updates.

 

[emptynester]

Can I ask how you think you got this virus?

I don't have spybot, maybe I should download.

Virus' always scare me, as I am not real computer savvy either.

We went to my sister's a while back and they were watching some movie that had not been released yet. My nephew gave my husband a website to download movies. Instead of typing it in as an http address, he googled it and apparently picked the wrong site.

By the time I got home our entire desktop was red and flashing a warning sign that our computer was in danger.

My husband said when he clicked on the site, porn started coming up and the more he tried to close windows out, the more popped up.

Spybot has always worked for us but then we normally don't have that many popups. My son built my husbands computer and configured it for gaming mostly. He and the boys have what is called team speak and can talk to one another and other people while they are playing.

He said normally most viruses can be taken care but in this case he wasn't able to connect to the internet for help through any other source. Spybot wasn't able to delete all the files it put on our harddrive so it had to be reformatted. Again, I certainly don't understand it all but then I don't have to. I have the boys. LOL

Nightbird, I gave my son a printout of the messages your computer gave you. After 20 questions from my son about "is this someone you work with" I finally explained it was someone I talk to online and "yes your Dad knows all about it." My husband and I were laughing about it last night and he said I should have just told him not to worry it is a safe porn website.

I will get with boy wonder this afternoon and find out what he thinks. I am sure Quoll and others will post their opinions too. There are many here at LIT who I am sure can help. I hope my post didn't discourage others from posting.

Now where can I find a good Quoll when I need one! And where is Weird Harold, "that opinionated old fart" (hey, that is his signature).

 

[wally2450]

google pop up stoppers, there are a few free very good ones to use & NEVER download those computer pop ups, a friend had these & foolishly clicked them to wip out the pc, spybot & ad aware are both fantastic.
Do'nt forget to download AVG anti virus free edition as I have been saved numerious time & it gives you free daily updates.

I use all three of the above plus Comodo Free Firewall. One good free and friendly forum I learn much about subjects like this one:
www.techsupportforum.com
There are others. I personally recommend this one.

I don't use Internet Explorer either. Firefox for me.

 

[emptynester]

II don't use Internet Explorer either. Firefox for me.

We use firefox too.

Nightbird, my son said it is difficult to know for sure without more information and being able to look at the files it has put on your hard drive. He said it looks like the same virus or at least a version of it. If you don't have an antivirus software and even if you do, he said you are more than likely going to have to reformat.

It all depends on whether or not you can delete the files it has put on your hard drive with the antivirus software. At least that is what I got out of what he said. I am hoping by now maybe you have gotten help from someone that knows what they are doing. It is really a pain having to back up what you can, reformatting and reinstalling everything.

 

[Bobmi357]

I am a glutton for punishment..

The second pop up opens a web browser window directly to a web site. The website address is "www*******stability.com"

Alright, the key clue to this isn't the name of the file. It's the URL.

Source: http://www.precisesecurity.com/adware-spy/olstab.htm

Onlinestability.com is a browser hijacker that was downloaded and installed on computer infected with Zlob.Trojan. It will display security messages regarding a threat on computer which does not actually exists. This is a trick to sell the products bundled with it.

Threat Level: Low
Type: Adware
Systems Affected: Windows All

Removal instructions can be found here: http://www.precisesecurity.com/computer-virus/avmyzor-may01.htm

Hope this helps.

-Bob

 

[emptynester]

Nightbird - I know this is a contradiction to what I told you before but the computer buddies all got together and looked at it. They are saying now that as long as you didn't click yes to any of the items you are OK.

They are all in agreement that it is just a scare tactic to try and get you to click on something that will then more than likely download the virus. As long as you have not clicked yes you should be OK. They do recommend closing everything out and installing a good antivirus software.

As someone already said, firefox is much better to use too. We have fewer problems by far now that we are using it instead of internet explorer.

Let us know how this all turns out.

 

[wally2450]

Nightbird - I know this is a contradiction to what I told you before but the computer buddies all got together and looked at it. They are saying now that as long as you didn't click yes to any of the items you are OK.

They are all in agreement that it is just a scare tactic to try and get you to click on something that will then more than likely download the virus. As long as you have not clicked yes you should be OK. They do recommend closing everything out and installing a good antivirus software.

As someone already said, firefox is much better to use too. We have fewer problems by far now that we are using it instead of internet explorer.

Let us know how this all turns out.

Please do.

 

[Nightbird]

Well looks like I hit on a good topic here.

First thank you to everyone for all your help and ideas. Next weekend I'll try a few and see what happens.

Where is Weird Harold? He's really good at this kinda stuff.

Anyhow thanks again everyone and lets keep this discussion going. Seems everyone has some type of computer problem.

 

[silverwhisper]

nightbird, what web browser do you use? if it's IE, i heartily recommend choosing a different one--IE is notoriously easy to compromise. most people here use firefox as an alternative. i happen to favor opera, which runs faster IMX.

ed

 

[Nightbird]

Hey ed,

My browser of choice is actually Netscape but the computer with all the problems does use I.E.

 

[south_florida_bicur]

Ad-Aware

Spybot

These two are prety good and free.
Can you give some details about the pop ups, sometimes there are specific fixes.

#1) use Mozilla Firefox instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox blocks out most popups (but not all) and you can set it to delete all of your cookies, cache, etc (all the bad files) whenever you exit firefox.

#2) in addition to #1 I agree with quoll. You definitely need ad-aware. You can get the free version but you need to remember to run the program 2 times a week. When you open the program it will prompt you to upload new updates if necessary.

alot of viruses are due to Java. Firefox does not use java so right there you are less likely to get a virus through the internet but that does not protect you from email viruses.


Example: I have both 1&2 and I never get any viruses from searching the internet or bad / dangerous spam programs. I get on average 3-6 spam files per week. These files are meaningless and definitely not dangerous. My parents before I installed ad-aware on their computer got a bad virus (from my father playing around on the net & clicking buttons that he should not be clicking). I then installed ad-aware but they still use Microsoft Internet Explorer. Now each week they have about 50 spam on their computer but none of them are dangerous. I run ad-aware whenever I am over there and it cleans out their spam very easily. Ad-aware does not allow the vicious spam programs (with viruses) to enter your computer. By the way my parents will not switch to Firefox because they are comfortable with Internet Explorer and some sites that they use do not use Firefox.

Techs also told me you should have 2 ad-aware type programs on your computer and 2 virus programs because 2 are better then 1 and whatever the 1st one does not catch the 2nd one will. I dont think it necessary but some techies believe it is.

I know it sounds techy but honestly its not. It is very easy.

Good luck & sorry for the long post...

 

[Nightbird]

Ok,

So I followed the really good advice Bobmi gave me below but I've run into a couple of Road Blocks.
The programs the website tells me to download to fix the problem at first wouldn't install. So I switched to safe mode and was able to install Spy Sweeper.
I ran a full scan and it did indeed find all sorts of the problems two of which happened to be Trojans. But after the scan the Spy Sweeper program told me it wouldn't remove the problems without me buying a subscription first.
Well no luck for me there. So I uninstalled that program and decided to try my luck with AVG. But I can't get AVG to install at all.. Even in safe mode.
Any ideas anyone?
BTW thank you to everyone who has responded so far, lots of great advice!!

Alright, the key clue to this isn't the name of the file. It's the URL.

Source: http://www.precisesecurity.com/adware-spy/olstab.htm

Onlinestability.com is a browser hijacker that was downloaded and installed on computer infected with Zlob.Trojan. It will display security messages regarding a threat on computer which does not actually exists. This is a trick to sell the products bundled with it.

Threat Level: Low
Type: Adware
Systems Affected: Windows All

Removal instructions can be found here: http://www.precisesecurity.com/computer-virus/avmyzor-may01.htm

Hope this helps.

-Bob

 

[Nightbird]

bump in hopes of more help