Question What is going on?

[SPECOPS70]

My sons computer keeps getting these pop up little windows that say. system alert your computer is infected. google chrome macafee pc is at risk. windows webadvisor viruses found. google chrome your browser is infected.\

I am sure something got into the system....but what?

i ran malware bytes and found some stuff and quarantined them but the pop ups are still coming.

Thx

 

[white.a.drew]

My sons computer keeps getting these pop up little windows that say. system alert your computer is infected. google chrome macafee pc is at risk. windows webadvisor viruses found. google chrome your browser is infected.\

I am sure something got into the system....but what?

i ran malware bytes and found some stuff and quarantined them but the pop ups are still coming.

Thx

At this Pont sounds like malware and the best option is to wipe everything... not even wipe it just straight remove all ssd's and hdd's then buy new ones before it gets to the bios if it hasn't already

 

[dwd999]

My sons computer keeps getting these pop up little windows that say. system alert your computer is infected. google chrome macafee pc is at risk. windows webadvisor viruses found. google chrome your browser is infected.\

I am sure something got into the system....but what?

i ran malware bytes and found some stuff and quarantined them but the pop ups are still coming.

Thx

What precisely is he doing at the time he gets these messages? If he is surfing the web they may simply be false alerts for some website trying to advertise some product.

 

[Math Geek]

At this Pont sounds like malware and the best option is to wipe everything... not even wipe it just straight remove all ssd's and hdd's then buy new ones before it gets to the bios if it hasn't already

there is no reason to get new drives and such. that's just WAY overkill and not needed.


if a virus/malware scan can't clear it up. then you have to hunt it down yourself. look at task manager. anything odd in there you don't recognize as installed? anything in start-up or task scheduler set to run you don't know about?

do these pop-ups occur with chrome open only? does it still happen with another browser? does it happen all the time no matter what is open? these answers will help you narow down what might be happening.

if you can't find anything, then your only option is a fresh windows install to get rid of it. takes time for sure, but probably less time than you'll spend chasing down whatever is on the system.

of course the user is the most important AV software out there, so your son needs to consider whatever he is doing on the pc that got it infected. if he goes right back to the same sites or installs the same stuff again, then it'll just happen again and again. pirating anything and porn are of course the most likely suspects, but could be browser add-on or other malicious actor at play.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will second the use of Task Manager to hunt down possible culprits.

You can also use Resource Monitor and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to help.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Plus, in full agreement with @MathGeek , online behavior and actions need to be addressed to avoid it all just happening again.

 

[white.a.drew]

there is no reason to get new drives and such. that's just WAY overkill and not needed.


if a virus/malware scan can't clear it up. then you have to hunt it down yourself. look at task manager. anything odd in there you don't recognize as installed? anything in start-up or task scheduler set to run you don't know about?

do these pop-ups occur with chrome open only? does it still happen with another browser? does it happen all the time no matter what is open? these answers will help you narow down what might be happening.

if you can't find anything, then your only option is a fresh windows install to get rid of it. takes time for sure, but probably less time than you'll spend chasing down whatever is on the system.

of course the user is the most important AV software out there, so your son needs to consider whatever he is doing on the pc that got it infected. if he goes right back to the same sites or installs the same stuff again, then it'll just happen again and again. pirating anything and porn are of course the most likely suspects, but could be browser add-on or other malicious actor at play.

And I will second the use of Task Manager to hunt down possible culprits.

You can also use Resource Monitor and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to help.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Plus, in full agreement with @MathGeek , online behavior and actions need to be addressed to avoid it all just happening again.

I would agree with all of you there's no point to get rid of the drives, "IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING" 90% of the people on here requesting help though have no idea what their doing digging through system files however. And you miss one corrupted files and it may be 1 min later it maybe never but 99% chances are it will come back sooner or later and you will keep fighting over and over till you decided to just blow the thing up..... easiest and best way to get rid of a virus especially if it is malicious is to get rid of the drives and start with new ones. If this is a kids system "I would 100000% get new drives there's no telling what could be getting stolen of this PC, and for all you know if it has a Webcam their stalking the child is this worth the risk to you??? Would you just let them continue to have access to your child's laptop/desktop

 

[Math Geek]

A fresh windows install involves formatting the drive and then installing windows.

A new drive would involve installing the drive, then formatting it, finally installing windows.

Only difference is spending money for no reason to then follow the same steps you would anyway.

Sorry but it's just not needed to throw out a drive to get rid of a virus no matter the skill level of the participants

 

[white.a.drew]

And I will second the use of Task Manager to hunt down possible culprits.

You can also use Resource Monitor and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to help.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Plus, in full agreement with @MathGeek , online behavior and actions need to be addressed to avoid it all just happening again.

A fresh windows install involves formatting the drive and then installing windows.

A new drive would involve installing the drive, then formatting it, finally installing windows.

Only difference is spending money for no reason to then follow the same steps you would anyway.

Sorry but it's just not needed to throw out a drive to get rid of a virus no matter the skill level of the participants

Minis one issue with this formatting the drive does nothing but tell the system to make the space available again. It doesn't actually delete anything. So the virus will still be there, a fresh drive come with no active knowledge of life or history. So it's "clean" formatting the drive can still risk the virus re appearing over time unless you nuke the drive with all 0's before installing anything to it ever again

 

[Eximo]

ComboFix is usually sufficient to get rid of common pop-up malware/adware. Though it has been a while since it was last updated so might not manage to get everything. Malwarebytes is part of the procedure, but they have you run it under specific circumstances.

Download ComboFix

ComboFix is a program, created by sUBs, that scans your computer for known malware, and when found, attempts to clean these infections automatically. In addition to being able to remove a large amount of the most common and current malware, ComboFix also displays a report that can be used by...

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[white.a.drew]

ComboFix is usually sufficient to get rid of common pop-up malware/adware. Though it has been a while since it was last updated so might not manage to get everything. Malwarebytes is part of the procedure, but they have you run it under specific circumstances.

Download ComboFix

ComboFix is a program, created by sUBs, that scans your computer for known malware, and when found, attempts to clean these infections automatically. In addition to being able to remove a large amount of the most common and current malware, ComboFix also displays a report that can be used by...

www.bleepingcomputer.com

I wish they still continued support for this I feel like the only actual last change they did for it though was win8. Not saying it's not worth a shot... I loved combofix and don't really know why I stopped using it but I agree give this a shot...

 

[Eximo]

Worked wonders on my Dad's XP systems. He was always getting malware from sketchy sites that upload a billion different white-paper PDFs for various electronic components. Always using google instead of going to the manufacturer's site.

Still don't understand why google doesn't crack down on those places. Free drivers and the like.

 

[white.a.drew]

A fresh windows install involves formatting the drive and then installing windows.

A new drive would involve installing the drive, then formatting it, finally installing windows.

Only difference is spending money for no reason to then follow the same steps you would anyway.

Sorry but it's just not needed to throw out a drive to get rid of a virus no matter the skill level of the participants

I love how everyone was agreeing with this, when in all actuality like I said in the post after this. You can "format a drive all you want everything is still there just marked as free space till it gets written over.... in other words you will still have the virus.... not only this but most malware viruses and and any virus like malware. Can infected the memory controller of the drive as well so you can format a drive thousands of times and never get rid of it. It's a little disturbing that none of you are taking this into consideration. "EPECALLY WHEN IT AGAIN PORTRAYS TO A KIDS PC"

 

[USAFRet]

I love how everyone was agreeing with this, when in all actuality like I said in the post after this. You can "format a drive all you want everything is still there just marked as free space till it gets written over.... in other words you will still have the virus.... not only this but most malware viruses and and any virus like malware. Can infected the memory controller of the drive as well so you can format a drive thousands of times and never get rid of it. It's a little disturbing that none of you are taking this into consideration. "EPECALLY WHEN IT AGAIN PORTRAYS TO A KIDS PC"

In the context of a full reinstall, and you delete all existing partitions,. there is nothing left.
Any virus/malware that existed before cannot run in the new OS install.

 

[white.a.drew]

In the context of a full reinstall, and you delete all existing partitions,. there is nothing left.
Any virus/malware that existed before cannot run in the new OS install.

I'm not going to lie I'm honestly disappointed in this forum right now.... Your a moderator? And know nothing on how a simple hdd-ssd works?!?!?!? Do none of you even watch idk cold case files, the first 48, or any shows like these.... I don't watch them much any more but I can tell you right now you can learn from these series.... I learned about most of this in school......... You will never stop a virus and "YES I VIRUS CAN RUN IN A NEW INSTALL IF YOU FORMAT THE DRIVE OR NOT" ""unless you nuke the drive with 0 it will still be there till it's written over if it is in time.... And can reworm its way into new system files I've had to make a virus like this and then remove it...

 

[USAFRet]

I'm not going to lie I'm honestly disappointed in this forum right now.... Your a moderator? And know nothing on how a simple hdd-ssd works?!?!?!? Do none of you even watch idk cold case files, the first 48, or any shows like these.... I don't watch them much any more but I can tell you right now you can learn from these series.... I learned about most of this in school......... You will never stop a virus and "YES I VIRUS CAN RUN IN A NEW INSTALL IF YOU FORMAT THE DRIVE OR NOT" ""unless you nuke the drive with 0 it will still be there till it's written over if it is in time.... And can reworm its way into new system files I've had to make a virus like this and then remove it...

I recently did a test on this.

3tb hdd, with just under 2TB data on it.
Not the OS drive, just data.
Thousands of files, both large and tiny.

A simple Full format in File Explorer.
Took several hours.

After, a full scan with Recuva, to see if there was anything left.
Nothing.

After, a deep scan with Autopsy. Took 36+ hours.
Literally, nothing recoverable. No "files" at all.

For a virus to be able to run and do its thing, it would require enough of it left over, in an original configuration, to be able to "run" and do whatever.

During a fresh OS install, and you delete all existing partitions to proceed on...there is not enough left, if anything, of a virus to be able to run.


Could the NSA or similar break out the electron microscope and recover some scattered bits of text? Maybe.
But thats not what we're talking about here.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm not going to lie I'm honestly disappointed in this forum right now.... Your a moderator? And know nothing on how a simple hdd-ssd works?!?!?!? Do none of you even watch idk cold case files, the first 48, or any shows like these.... I don't watch them much any more but I can tell you right now you can learn from these series.... I learned about most of this in school......... You will never stop a virus and "YES I VIRUS CAN RUN IN A NEW INSTALL IF YOU FORMAT THE DRIVE OR NOT" ""unless you nuke the drive with 0 it will still be there till it's written over if it is in time.... And can reworm its way into new system files I've had to make a virus like this and then remove it...

I mostly, sort of get where you're going with this.

But done correctly, a new physical drive is not needed.

Of course, there are multiple ways to do it wrong.
And even with a new OS drive, what might still exist on the other drive is still suspect, if you don't take care of that as well.

A clueless user will always find a way to screw it up.

 

[white.a.drew]

I recently did a test on this.

3tb hdd, with just under 2TB data on it.
Not the OS drive, just data.
Thousands of files, both large and tiny.

A simple Full format in File Explorer.
Took several hours.

After, a full scan with Recuva, to see if there was anything left.
Nothing.

After, a deep scan with Autopsy. Took 36+ hours.
Literally, nothing recoverable. No "files" at all.

For a virus to be able to run and do its thing, it would require enough of it left over, in an original configuration, to be able to "run" and do whatever.

During a fresh OS install, and you delete all existing partitions to proceed on...there is not enough left, if anything, of a virus to be able to run.


Could the NSA or similar break out the electron microscope and recover some scattered bits of text? Maybe.
But thats not what we're talking about here.

I mostly, sort of get where you're going with this.

But done correctly, a new physical drive is not needed.

Of course, there are multiple ways to do it wrong.
And even with a new OS drive, what might still exist on the other drive is still suspect, if you don't take care of that as well.

A clueless user will always find a way to screw it up.

Thank you that actually clarifies a lot for me I honestly didn't realize that. The more you know always helps, I appreciate I the insight added knowledge to my computer Repertoire. That will actually come in handy in the future.

 

[Chicano]

My sons computer keeps getting these pop up little windows that say. system alert your computer is infected. google chrome macafee pc is at risk. windows webadvisor viruses found. google chrome your browser is infected.\

I am sure something got into the system....but what?

i ran malware bytes and found some stuff and quarantined them but the pop ups are still coming.

Thx

If Malwarebyes got some, they are malware, those it didn't get may be Adware, but probably not viruses, that should have been detected by the antivirus. There's plenty of info on these scams and give detailed information for the specific Web Browser which is infected, and the suggested Adware and malware remover is AdwCleaner

Fake virus infection pop ups

AdwCleaner