anoying pop up balloon
that somehow got downloaded into my system tray and every few seconds pops up and keeps telling me your comp is infected with virus.need to download malware...seems like an advert,but when I click on it nothing happens..
I tried Lavasoft and Adaware and it got rid of some virus blast and other junk but this baloon is still there,(could it be part of windows xp)
thnx

well I got it fixed using Windows live Onecare,there was some kind of trojan virus

:eek: You really shouldn't click on programs if you don't know what they do, especially ones using obvious spam tactics.

Use this to check for viruses.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/


It is free!

Sometimes these free scanners dont work, and you have no option but to either format and reinstall or buy a pro version. Though some people download a "free" pro version of torrent and end up getting more spyware on their system.

Sometimes these free scanners dont work, and you have no option but to either format and reinstall or buy a pro version. Though some people download a "free" pro version of torrent and end up getting more spyware on their system.

That site is used by millions because Microsoft engineers send people there

all of the time because they built it to get rid of crap that infects Windows.

Housecall uses up a ridiculous amount of bandwidth...

Housecall uses up a ridiculous amount of bandwidth...

I'm only suggesting to use the free scan for viruses, Lavasoft is much better for just preventing cookies.

Sometimes these free scanners dont work, and you have no option but to either format and reinstall or buy a pro version. Though some people download a "free" pro version of torrent and end up getting more spyware on their system.
There are very few circumstances where you need to format. PC techs are lazy, money grubbing bastards, so when you take it to a shop and that's what they suggest, they are just trying to take the easy way out.

I do antivirus support for the ISP I work for (who offers a rebranded F-Secure product), and I clean infections over the phone. We have never recommended someone format their computer.

The more stuff you download the more likely you will get viruses , spyware

or malware. Just don't download stuff that you see just because its free.

There are very few circumstances where you need to format. PC techs are lazy, money grubbing bastards, so when you take it to a shop and that's what they suggest, they are just trying to take the easy way out.

I do antivirus support for the ISP I work for (who offers a rebranded F-Secure product), and I clean infections over the phone. We have never recommended someone format their computer.

Reformat Lazy PC Technicians and install 'Workload 1.0' :)

Pssh, don't take in so many computers if you can't keep up? ;)

It's not like it's that much quicker to back everything up then format and get everything back on the harddrive and reinstalled rather than clean out even the toughest infection.

It's not like it's that much quicker to back everything up then format and get everything back on the harddrive and reinstalled rather than clean out even the toughest infection.

You don't know what your talking about. I have a machine on my desk right now that has 5 different fake virus scanners on it, and 84 different viruses, not just cookies, but 84 viruses. There are over 750,000 files on this machine, and one scan took 5 hours. The customer wants the machine back today. It could take days to ensure I've removed every last vestige of this massive infection. A backup and reinstall takes a couple of hours. My company charges $50 an hour....so who's grubbing money? I'll charge him one hour labor to reinstall...or many hours of labor to try to remove the viruses. Not all techs are lazy.

Pssh, don't take in so many computers if you can't keep up? ;)

It's not like it's that much quicker to back everything up then format and get everything back on the harddrive and reinstalled rather than clean out even the toughest infection.


Actually if I was a Comp Technician I would build computers to a specification, the specification would obviously include a preloaded OS which I would have a backup image of. (The Image would be identical for every machine built).

Obviously as a Technician it's imperative to try and secure data, however if the system was that nerfed a clean install would obviously be quick with a straight forwards image copy.

I know I would have to learn a great deal more about the OS's logging methods to do such a job, since they are the footprints of all that goes on and allow you to trace down what was done, where it was done, how it was done and importantly when it was done.

Not all techs are lazy.
Obviously all computer techs are not lazy. I would never so foolishly make a generalization like that, but I apologize that I didn't go out of my way to make sure that people knew I wasn't doing so. I also apologize that you were so offended by my comment that you assume that I personally don't know what I'm talking about.

Sorry Idle, I hope I didn't insult you with my comment...I did get a little defensive there. :) I just take great pride in my work, and try to put the customers needs first. I hope you understand.

Of course I understand. I do the same line of work, in a way. You're lucky you have the luxury of working hands on with a system...best I get is remote desktop. That, and we don't have the option of formatting a computer because then it becomes a liability for us, so even in situations that warrant it, we can't. :(