…… Computer Problems! Can someone help me?

Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
I got up this morning to use my computer and starting getting pop-up ads when I open up Firefox. I kept hearing music in the background. It was coming from a pop-up ad.

Everything was okay last night, until I restarted my computer this morning. First thing it done was, it sent me a pop up warning saying, my flash drive needed updating. I told it to not update and it downloaded it anyway.

The ads are now telling me my computer has security problems and to call this number: 1-888-402-9127. I'm pretty sure all this is coming from an ad on or a virus.

I have a Dell Windows 8.1 computer. I have no ideal how to get into the brains of this computer to see what software has been installed over the past few days. In my old computer, I knew how to do that, but not with the 8.1 laptop.

I just got thru running Malwarebytes and it found over 80 problems and fix them. Then I rebooted my computer, but still can not use the Firefox server, because a warning page comes up, wanting me to call that number.

HELP!!!
 
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Sleeping Cobra

Sleeping Cobra

TB Fanatic
I would try to run Malwarebytes in safe mode. I always use safe mode when scanning. Update Malwarebytes / disable system restore / reboot in safe mode / scan / clean / reboot in normal mode / enable system restore / make a restore point when the computer is clean.
 
mzkitty

mzkitty

I give up.
I wouldn't call that number.

I think if you just go into your Firefox icon, there is a place to get your ad blocker enabled again.
 
Sacajawea

Sacajawea

Has No Life - Lives on TB
This sounds like another ransomware virus. When you call that number, they're going to ask for more information, like credit card info. Don't call the number.

You disable popup from the Tools on your browser -- no where else on your computer -- UNLESS it's a virus.

I haven't done helpdesk work for a few years now and am totally in the dark on Windows 8; but if you've got another way to get online, google the "popup ad virus" and see what it recommends to remove it.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Suzieq said:
The only thing it shows is bestadorblocker 1.0. Should that be turned on?
Click to expand...

Good Lord. :rolleyes: Well, it's too late now, isn't it?


FF is inherently NO MORE SECURE than any other browser, IE included. (Well, that's not EXACTLY true, but sorta is.) The ADD-ONS that you load are the things that make it secure. EVERYONE gets those two add-ons.

And - you have a single Admin-level user for your PC, right? You're not using a "low privilege" user for everyday work on the PC, right?

(This is why I rant about how much a disservice it is to people that the computer companies market PCs as "consumer devices." They're NOT.)

I'm sure you'll get some good advice here on this thread. My personal advice is to take it to GeekSquad and pay your $100 to have them clean it up and secure it for you.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Suzieq said:
Yes, they have taken over my computer, but only in Firefox. How do I get this off my Firefox server? In my tool bar?
Click to expand...

If your files are encrypted and a demand for money has been made, chances are you're screwed. You DO have backups of your must-have files, right? (Even if you could get ransomware off your computer by using your "toolbar" (lol), you'd find that your files are still encrypted. Unless this is one of the older encryption schemes (not likely), you cannot recover your files. Reformat your HD and reload.)

I say again - take it to GeekSquad. You don't know what you're doing, and chances are would have a hard time performing any of the fixes suggested on this thread. Not trying to be snarky, but actually learning computers, as I've said many times on TB, takes easily 5-10 years of DEDICATED effort and study. They are NOT consumer items.
 
K

kittyknits

Veteran Member
IMO, the Macs were consumer items because a computer illiterate like me could actually understand it and work well with it, even though that was 30 years ago.

I cannot understand these other ones and have a real mental block about it. As a result, I really don't like computers and frequently want to run over it in the driveway.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
One of the reasons I like my iPhone and iPad is because they are essentially virus-proof. Many people both on TB and IRL have said, "But they're so restricted", and to a certain extent they are. I could easily "jailbreak" them, which would give me total access to the device. It would allow me to see all the files and load non-Apple software onto it. But it would also open up the device to viruses and malware. Since these devices do exactly what I need them to do, I see no need to jailbreak them.

I agree that the Mac o/s is far more secure than WinDoze will ever be. But it's not at all invulnerable. Further, there are many reasons why WinDoze seems to have built-in security flaws, not the least of which is needing to be "backward compatible" with earlier versions. If they just dumped that one requirement, they'd increase their secureness by an order of magnitude.
 
MaureenO

MaureenO

Another Infidel
That troublesome piece of trash is malware. I found the source in my Add-on Manager, it was listed twice, so I hit the disable option on both of them, then it was smooth-sailing again. However, you need to repeat that "disable" option at least once or twice a day.

Good luck!

Maureen
 
Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
Richard said:
get a Mac.......
Click to expand...
I have been trying to tell my husband that for a longtime now! He said they cost to much money. I thought it was fixed, but it's not. It acts like it's been hijacked by the people who wants me to call them to fix it. I will not call them!
 
Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
MaureenO said:
That troublesome piece of trash is malware. I found the source in my Add-on Manager, it was listed twice, so I hit the disable option on both of them, then it was smooth-sailing again. However, you need to repeat that "disable" option at least once or twice a day.

Good luck!

Maureen
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information!
 
Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
I will be dropping off my laptop on Wednesday, to be checked out by a computer repair person.

Glad I have an iPad and iPhone to use while it's down. When my husband downloaded some new software last Saturday, that must have been when it happen. I went in and removed the new addons, but that did not fix it.

Thanks for everyone's help! I will keep you posted!
 
MaureenO

MaureenO

Another Infidel
Suzieq said:
I have been trying to tell my husband that for a longtime now! He said they cost to much money. I thought it was fixed, but it's not. It acts like it's been hijacked by the people who wants me to call them to fix it. I will not call them!
Click to expand...

That's EXACTLY what has happened. I was buggered by "Plus-HD-V1.6c" and variants.
 
Heliobas Disciple

Heliobas Disciple

TB Fanatic
There's no guarantee this will fix your problem, but it did fix a similar one on Windows 7. They could open a browser, didn't matter which one, but as soon as they clicked on a page - that pop up came up. They ran all the malware programs/anti-virus and it was still there. This is what fixed it for them.

Download CCleaner if you don't already have it.

Look on the left side and click on TOOLS.

Look for Startup. There are a bunch of tabs, you have to check up all of them. Look for any program that's running at startup that isn't from Microsoft or intel or your speakers, etc, or an add-on that you yourself intentionally downloaded and recognize. Disable the rest/any one that you don't want to run on startup. You don't need most of them to run on startup anyway and you are disabling - NOT DELETING - them. You may actually disable something you need - don't ask how I know that. (learned the hard way), and want to be able to go back and enable it again if it is needed.

I found a bunch of things running on startup that msconfig didn't have and disabled all of them and fixed their laptop. It's worth a try.

HD
 
minkykat

minkykat

Komplainy Kat
HD:
Thanks for the tip on CC cleaner. The alledged computer expert who "fixed" my lap top put that on there with nary an explation on how to use it!
I have gone on and disabled some bloatware he stuck on too.
 
Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
My husband used the CCleaner and it appears to have cleared it up. We also installed noscript on it. I'm learning how to use that.
 
the watcher

the watcher

Inactive
Go ahead and download and install the Opera Browser, as a back up in case FF goes down or becomes corrupted and requires a reinstall. http://www.opera.com/ If it asked to be default browser just tic no.
At this time avoid the Chrome Browser, it seems it installs some malware with it. It's happened twice on my win tablets, but I needed it to stream to chromecast. It just took me awhile to clean up the mess it brought with it.
 
Heliobas Disciple

Heliobas Disciple

TB Fanatic
Suzieq said:
My husband used the CCleaner and it appears to have cleared it up. We also installed noscript on it. I'm learning how to use that.
Click to expand...

you're welcome.

And I'm glad to know it worked for you too. I suggested this to another TB'er on a thread a few weeks ago but he never came back to his thread to say if it worked for him. It would be helpful to know if it worked because then we'd be 3 for 3, and at that point we could start a thread and let everyone know in general that they should have CCleaner on their computer already downloaded so that if this problem arises and they can't open their browser they're set to go. This isn't the first time I've used CCleaner to stop a problem that started whenever the browser opened. I'm not a computer expert but what I'm thinking is that these aren't set up as viruses or malware and that's why they can't be found by those methods but is down loaded as a software program that starts at startup. Of course disabling it isn't getting rid of it, it's still on the computer/laptop somewhere, it's just been disarmed. Sort of like taking the bullets out of gun, not taking the gun away. I was worried that if I tried to get rid of the program itself it would bury itself deeper where I won't be able to find it or disarm it so I left it the way it was on the laptop that it infected; as disabled by CCleaner.

minkykat said:
HD:
Thanks for the tip on CC cleaner. The alledged computer expert who "fixed" my lap top put that on there with nary an explation on how to use it!
I have gone on and disabled some bloatware he stuck on too.
Click to expand...

You're welcome too:). I'm glad it worked for you for what you needed. Ccleaner should be used every night when you're done with the computer for the day for it's main purpose of cleaning up your harddrive of traces from the day's activities. I have found two other programs that do an even better job - Wisecare365 is a paid program but is periodically offered as a freebie on the software-for-the-day type sites. If you want I can pm you the next time it's around for free. The other one is Privazer. I've been using it for a few months now and really like it and it's free. It gets things that neither of the other 2 get. Here's a link: http://privazer.com/

HD
 
Heliobas Disciple

Heliobas Disciple

TB Fanatic
summerthyme said:
HD... I've LOVE a PM the next time Wisecare365 is free. Very much appreciated!

Summerthyme
Click to expand...

No problem. :)

If you are interested in free software, and they have GREAT free software on these sites, these are the links I check daily, as the deals on one site is for one day only and the 2nd site is for 2-3 days only. They have all kinds of software - photography and video programs, security programs, partioning and recovery programs, etc. And the best part is they are rated and voted on by a bunch of pretty savvy followers so if it gets a bad rating I don't bother and if it gets a great rating I always try it. Their comments are also informative, it was in the comment section that I found out about Privazer.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/
24 hours only; click on 'proceed to download' link to get the comments and the rating, you still have another click to do to download so it's safe to go to that page. You'll see on today's giveaway there is an 81% thumbs down. When I see that I don't even bother to investigate further;). Although sometimes the comments will give a better free alternative to whatever is being offered.

http://sharewareonsale.com/shop
Usually have 2-3 days to download the software; click on view details to see comments and questions, etc. In the right corner is a thumbs up thumbs down graphic. Today's partition software has an 84% thumbs up. Partioning is way above my computer know-how and I think I'd get myself into all kinds of trouble doing something I have no idea how to do, so I skipped this program myself but they have a new one everyday.
 
Rastech

Rastech

Veteran Member
the watcher said:
Go ahead and download and install the Opera Browser, as a back up in case FF goes down or becomes corrupted and requires a reinstall. http://www.opera.com/ If it asked to be default browser just tic no.
At this time avoid the Chrome Browser, it seems it installs some malware with it. It's happened twice on my win tablets, but I needed it to stream to chromecast. It just took me awhile to clean up the mess it brought with it.
Click to expand...

Chrome has major issues. As it is open source, there's a non-Google incompetents version that has things pretty much sorted, called SRWare Iron. I've been running that for a few months and it's pretty good.

Opera isn't what it used to be. I still occasionally use an old version, which is easy to disable cookies and Javascript on (it's Javascript that's a real security liability, and most of the bad stuff is let in with that).

I do use Malwarebytes (it is good), but keep finding that Superantispyware consistently has the edge on it, and always seems to find stuff that Malwarebytes misses.

I'm not finding Firefox to be as good as it was either (I run that as well).

I really wish BlackBerry would do a version of their superb browser, for Windows.
 
the watcher

the watcher

Inactive
Rastech said:
Chrome has major issues. As it is open source, there's a non-Google incompetents version that has things pretty much sorted, called SRWare Iron. I've been running that for a few months and it's pretty good.

Opera isn't what it used to be. I still occasionally use an old version, which is easy to disable cookies and Javascript on (it's Javascript that's a real security liability, and most of the bad stuff is let in with that).

I do use Malwarebytes (it is good), but keep finding that Superantispyware consistently has the edge on it, and always seems to find stuff that Malwarebytes misses.

I'm not finding Firefox to be as good as it was either (I run that as well).

I really wish BlackBerry would do a version of their superb browser, for Windows.
Click to expand...

Lol totally agree. I only use Opera as a backup when someone is hammering on FF or to diagnose whether FF is having problems getting into a site. . I so agree on FF, it used to be pristine and quick, now not so much. I'll check out the browser, thanks.
 
Suzieq

Suzieq

Veteran Member
I got my computer back from the shop today and noticed I am still getting these ads on TB200 that keep flashing. I don't think these ads were mean to be on this website. Is anyone else having strange ads on this forum that's flashing? I only get them when I am in Firefox. These ads are not on here when I am using Internet Explorer.

Here's are some ads, I'm getting on TB2000's website. Is anyone else seeing these same ads?
 

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the watcher

the watcher

Inactive
Yeah you still have some malware in there. Run CCleaner again, if nothing found install and run Spybot and maybe MalwareBytes (Free version). To anyone that has Win 8, there is a small program you can put on them called Windows Classic Shell. I installs a Win 7 desktop, Just a GUI. But with a swipe from the right, you can go back into the Win 8 Metro interface. Then to get back to the Win 7 interface, look at the tiles on Metro, and it will be there. You tic that tile and it reopens Classic Shell.
 
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