i keep getting a pop up from PC-CLEANER tellin me my pc is infected with spyware and to download there cleaner to fix the problm. Im updated with norton and when i click nortons spyware it says im secure. why do keep getting pop ups?
This is a windows software issue and the first mod that see's it will move it. Read this regarding PC-Cleaner http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic102175.html
PC-Cleaner IS spyware as far as I'm concerned, and you getting those ads means you already have spyware on your PC. Run an actual scan with your anti-spyware software and it should be picked up and removed.
A work friend had somthing very similar. To completly remove it you should follow this guide, its a copy n paste from link above Removal Instructions: In order to remove this infection we will need to use HijackThis to manually remove the infection: Print out these instructions as later in the fix we will need to shutdown every window that is open. Enter the Windows Control Panel and double-click on Add/Remove Programs. When the installed programs list appears, double-click on the entry for PCCleaner2007 if it exists and allow the uninstall program to finish. Then exit the Add/Remove Programs screen and the Control Panel. Download HijackThis from here and extract it to c:\hijackthis. Close all windows, even this Internet Explorer window. Navigate to the c:\hijackthis directory and double-click on HijackThis.exe When the program starts, click on the Scan button. Put a checkmark next to the following entry (There may be more than one of each): O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [PCCleaner] \SysCleaner.exe Then click the Fix button Exit HijackThis. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode Delete the following directories if they exist: C:\Program Files\PCCleaner2007\ Reboot your computer back to normal mode. If you continue to receive popups on your computer advertising PCCleaner, then there is a good chance that you are infected with the Vundo malware. We suggest that you perform the steps in the following guide to make sure you are not infected with Vundo as well: How to remove the Vundo infection Your computer should now be free of PCCleaner 2007.
Question was.. is Norton doing it's job... Well obviously NO.. Get this spyware cleaned out following the above guide, then completely remove that symantek built expensive junk and get avg antispyware http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/us/frt/0?prd=asf avast antivirus http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html Both are completely free, and IMHO make a far better team for antivirus/antispyware than anything you can buy.
Avast is good. AVG is junk. AVG gives way too many false positives on trojans it says in some software programs. I wouldn't let AVG near my computer.
The only false positives I get with AVG are CD-cracks for games. I'd far sooner get false positives than false negatives.
I'm not a gamer, so I wouldn't know about the cracks. I do know that, when I used it, it found trojans in Roxio downloads and in an older version of N-ero. I read about others having it find trojans in other software, where there were no trojans.
Is Avast the AV you use? I've not really looked into it much... I may consider changing if it cuts down on the false positives.
Yes AVG does not like certain packers that are popular with hack/crack makers. It is still effective though.
I'll let you all into a secret. If you download cracked warez and get false positives from a legitimate anti-spyware application whose fault is that.. The program or yours? AVG anti-spyware in my experience apart from no-cd cracks (which are a ligit form of malware by their nature.. they change application seek paths on the fly) only pulls up registry changing programs.. the main culprit is called T4R.EXE in the trade,(it's a registry modifier based on.. now what was it.. myz@r?) but is packaged to suit the application it cracks. I don't advocate avg antivirus because I have experienced it fail to remove a few trojans, and making the situation worse not better.. (it is still 1000 times more effective than norton) That's why I team avg-as with avast antivirus instead. Now you can complain about false positives (which are really real positives because malware usually uses precisely the same code with just a different target) with cracks, keygens and warez, but it's your fault for using illegal software in the first place :grins: Remember.. If an antivirus/anti spyware product DOES NOT detect the registry modifying strings in a crack or keygen then it will not detect the same string in a chunk of malicious code either. Once you know a little about how malware works and how cracks work it all becomes clear.. Use linux and forget about all this crap. (anybody want a set of the newest stormworm variant? I have them saved safe as houses on my linux drives where they have no targets... hahaha.. no C:\windows\system32 for them to write to.)
surprised nobody gave you the magical link yet http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/292257 disable all add-ons in IE as many viruses run as add-ons in IE that have downloaded themselves without your permission...... also look here for anything suspicious...looks odd do a google search on it C:\Documents and Settings\[insert user name]\Application Data -tripplite
