Help with computer virus please

[brassdoorknob]

Thanks, but that didn't work for me Barzey... suffice to say I did remove the melange of malware in the end.

One tip, however is that once cleaned, you set up a separate ID on your PC that does NOT have administrative rights and therefore provides a reduced risk of infections slipping in, i.e. create standard user account(s). Particularly useful for kids or less trusted users!

[Barzey]

Nice tip - Well worth doing -

[Pat-H]

Still clearing the virus - I feel somewhat violated by the internet? Cant think what I opened or clicked on to do all this?

The key is to be protected in the first place. Much as you have a lock on the front door and check who you let in.
An unprotected or poorly protected computer is an open invitation.

My advice would be to make a copy of everything that is important. Have those files scanned on a system that is known to be clean.
Then re-install the OS and applications.

A system that is that massively infected can take far more effort to repair and sometimes never come right.

[Mancunian]

very true what Pat-H has said, i had the exact same issue you have Reg some time ago on my old laptop, had adverts poping up everywhere but the strange thing was i did have protection but so much for that, anyhow what i did to resolve was to copy all important stuff and then did a complete wipe back to factory settings, old laptop is now fine and it used to be vista but now with windows 7, my new one is on windows 8 and ive had sophos protection put on it as i work from home a lot and it's what we use at work. never had a problem since.

[MJ_Game]

I use a dropbox account which I use to save everything too. Anytime my computer goes funny it just gets reset to factory settings

[brassdoorknob]

Dropbox backs up files including infected ones - not a get out of jail card.

[Alec]

Dropbox backs up files including infected ones - not a get out of jail card.

But, as it keeps old versions of changed/deleted files for 30 days, Dropbox is a get out of jail card, as long as you spot your problem in a reasonable time.

Of course, all caveats about free cloud storage apply - your views may vary.