Windows antivirus pop up, possible virus?
Looks like one of the SCAMS for Personal or Green Antivirus (and there are others which are all part of
the same scam). DO NOT FALL for this. Ask for recommendations if you need antivirus/antispyware/
security products. There are a lot of good free ones for home use.
Download malwarebytes and scan with it
Here are some online free scanners to help
also install Prevx
Prevx — Home — Free — small, fast, exceptional CLOUD protection, works with other security programs. This is
a scanner only, VERY EFFECTIVE, if it finds something come back here or use Google to see how to remove.
http://www.prevx.com/
What antivirus/antispyware/security product do you have on machine? Include any you have EVER has on this
machines including those you uninstalled (they leave remnants behind which causes issues).
Start — All Programs — Accessores — System Tools — IE with no Addons — does this work better?
IE — Tools — Internet Options — Advanced Tab — click Restore Advanced Settings and then click RESET — APPLY / OK
IE — Tools — Internet Options — Security Tab — click Reset all zones — APPLY / OK
Close and restart IE and/or IE with no addons
Start — All Programs — Accessores — System Tools — IE with no Addons — does this work better?
IE — Tools — Manage Addons (for sure disable SSV2 if it is there, this is no longer needed but Java still installs it
and it causes issues — you ever update Java go back in and disable it again.) Look for other possible problems.
Windows Defender — Tools — Software Explorer — look for issues with programs that do not look right. Permitted
are usually OK and «not permitted» are not always bad. If in doubt about a program ask about it here.
Windows Defender pop-up «Virus & Threats» says Threats found by antivirus
I have scanned and run troubleshooter etc. The report says NO THREATs but a pop-up with notification sound keeps going off. I click and it shows details: items quarantined. I click «remove» … they are removed. Seconds later the whole thing happens again. Same warning, same sound, same report. This has been going on for hours.
I recently changed my monthly subscription to Office 365 to an annual. I was told I had to have a new account … maybe this has something to do with the problem.
Replies (7)
Sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, Thank you so much for your valuable question please, If my understanding is right, I would suggest you to please see the below mentioned thread once please (if not tried before) and see it if it helps. I am hopeful that your query will be resolved, If the issue persists or if my understanding is different from your concern, kindly do let me know,waiting for your kind reply please. Please check the solution given by A. User on August 11, 2015
Also for your kind assistance please
Please let me know, if that helps and feel free to ask back any question.
Kind Regards:
Yasir
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I have scanned and run troubleshooter etc. The report says NO THREATs but a pop-up with notification sound keeps going off. I click and it shows details: items quarantined. I click «remove» … they are removed. Seconds later the whole thing happens again. Same warning, same sound, same report. This has been going on for hours.
I recently changed my monthly subscription to Office 365 to an annual. I was told I had to have a new account … maybe this has something to do with the problem.
Any new extensions in your browsers that need to be uninstalled or disabled? Any new startup items? Any new programs downloaded?
Recommend you empty temporary internet files, restart the computer, manually update Windows Defender (WD) to get the latest definitions and then run a Quick Scan with WD.
You may need to reset your browsers.
If the detections are still occurring can you provide us the description (complete file path) of the malware file being detected/quarantined…look in History?
You may want to send a copy of the suspect file to VirusTotal for analysis: https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload
If the issue continues to occur suggest you scan with two or more of the free scanners in List of Malware Removal Tools
Remove Pop-Up Adware
This page aims to show you how to remove pop-up “virus” ads also known as Adware. The removal of Ads from Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer works for all versions and iterations of Windows (including removal of ads from Mac/OS X).
Pop-up Adware
Pop-up Adware is a type of aggressive add-on for browsers that keeps spamming the affected browser with aggressive pop-up messages. If you notice the symptoms of Pop-up Adware inside your browser, you ought to quickly find and remove the source of those symptoms.
Pop-under adware
In addition to the regular adware, there is what is called pop-under alternate adware. The pop-under adware opens a new window under the currently active browser windows. Unlike pop-ups, the pop-under will not immediately disrupt and alert the user of its existence, but only when the “covering” windows get closed down. This is an especially tricky practice as it makes it that much harder to determine the exact website that caused the pop-under adware to appear.
The whole reasoning behind the development of pop-under adware is that as the pop-ups ads became something more and more common many users developed the useful habit to close down the pop-ups as soon as they begin to appear, thus avoiding even a look at them. The pop-unders are believed to be less intrusive and thus make for better overall advertising results than the pop-ups according to some behavioral studies.
Security experts classify Adware threats as the least dangerous (because they rarely harm your computer directly), but they don’t take into consideration the negative experience for the user. You will get constantly harassed by the Ads and the Ads can also be harmful if clicked on. For these reasons, it’s highly recommended that you find the application responsible remove the pop-up ads immediately from your system. Adware like Weknow.ac is not to be confused for a computer virus, but it is still a type of unwanted software you need to clean from your system – the sooner the better.
Pop-Up Ads in Chrome and Firefox
An Adware in action.
Chrome Deals pop-ups
Online Advertisements are something we already expect to find on most web pages, yet sometimes their numbers can get excessive. If you constantly have to plow through several different pop-up ads to get to the web page underneath and that happens on almost every page you visit, then it’s likely that your computer has been infected with some kind of Adware or PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program). Regardless of what exactly has infected your computer, you’ll likely also experience general slowdown and/or instability. Your CPU has to effectively download and render the information for the Ads in addition to whatever content needs to be displayed for the page itself. This process can be excruciatingly slow on older computers or if the Ads have any animation or sounds attached to them.
How did you find yourself looking to remove the Ads?
If you are wondering how your PC came in contact with these Ads – there are several ways in which you might have been infected. One of the oldest and still going strong tricks as e-mail attachments. Be careful not to open/download any attachments from e-mails with senders you don’t recognize. Be extra careful for “Phishing Scams” attempts, e-mails that look like the real thing but are in fact malicious. Another form of Ads spread out is through compromised executables downloaded from file-sharing websites or torrents. Be very careful and, if possible, scan the downloaded files first, before commencing any installation process. By far the most likely way though is through an infected executable file location in a “software bundle”. Most commonly these are installers for some kind of program, most often free, that have several other programs bundled inside of them. Most people use the Default installation option, which is a bad idea because it will install all the extra programs bundled in the installer. A much better alternative is to always select Advanced because you’ll get detailed information about what exactly is about to get installed. Remove the ticks from any additional programs and you’ll greatly decrease the chance of obtaining Adware viruses.
How to discern normal Ads from Adware generated pop-up ads
There are a couple of signs to look after. Here is a shortlist of the most easily recognizable ones.
- Adware generated Ads are much more aggressive than normal Ads and will follow you on most pages you visit (forget what I said – they will follow you on ALL pages until you get rid of the pop-up ads.
- pop-up ads often cover the screen and make your browser unusable by simply cluttering your screen. You will have click on them to close them, which can in turn open new pages and tabs.
- Some words are highlighted and transformed into hyperlinks and an Ad is displayed if the word is hovered over. This effect survives between multiple pages.
- New tabs and pages are automatically opened without your permission and link to sites you are unfamiliar with.
- Ads offer free software or crazy discounts, which you can never see in a normal shop.
Why are Ads like these being created?
If you have ever wondered why would anyone bother creating such an annoying software, then you probably already know the answer without realizing it – for profit at the expense of your time and nerves. Many of these pop-up ads generating programs are actually affiliated with the websites they advertise for. Whenever one of the Ads displayed by them is clicked on they get a small sum as royalty. If any purchase is made the amount of money earned is increased. There are two major implications to this
- These pop-up ads will get displayed on your screen regardless of whether you want them or not and the only way to stop the process is to remove the underlying cause.
- Shady and less known companies are much more likely to advertise in such a way compared to well-known reputable software developers.
This bears the question of why is this preferred as a form of advertising in the first place? The truth is for all concerns and purposes this is cheaper than a more traditional and above board form of online advertising like using Google Ads for example. If an owner of such a company or website decides quick traffic is exactly what he needs then it is not that hard to imagine him contacting creators of Adware software and commissioning the creation of Software specifically designed to redirect traffic in the form of unsuspecting users to his website. You might wonder how is the creation of such Software a cheaper form of Advertising? Well for starters by all accounts it’s not very hard for Adware to be created, in fact, only small changes to the program code are required for each new “client”. This allows for quick results, although it is undoubtedly a pretty shady practice.
The sad reality is nothing useful ever comes out of these pop-up ads
Ads created by Adware applications and PUPs are well known to link to other infected software. Useless bloatware applications are also often distributed this way. These programs usually pretend to be error fixing and optimization software, but they don’t actually do anything. They’ll entice you into downloading them for free, but when you try to use them for anything you’ll find you need the full/pro PAID version. In the meantime, you will be bombarded with different kind of error reports about non-existent or over-exaggerated problems prodding you to pay for the useless software. People that actually pay the scammers will get a confirmation message that everything was fixed, but no actual threat is removed or fixed. Instead, the fake error generating code is merely suppressed until the subscription for the program wears off. Another variant of this scam is when an online scan program detected viruses on your computer and you are offered to download it so it can clean them. Please remember that no online program can ever scan your computer unless you give it permission to do so!
There are several other such schemes used to install malicious software via the help of pop-up ads. They include
- Fake prompts to do system or program updates.
- Claims that you need to install a certain video codec, media player or missing plug-in before you can watch videos online.
- Messages about missing .DLL files. (Downloading a .dll file from the Internet is almost always a BAD idea!)
Finally please remember that in order to display these Ads into your browser the Adware/PUP has attached itself to your Chrome, Firefox or IE browser as an add-on. This gives it an almost unlimited ability to display stuff on your screen. Any system message that is closed when you close the browser is likely the product of the Ads and is entirely fake!
SUMMARY:
| Name | The pop-up ads usually have some sort of name – look for it at the edges of the ads, or within your browser extensions. |
| Type | Adware |
| Detection Tool | Some threats reinstall themselves if you don’t delete their core files. We recommend downloading SpyHunter to remove harmful programs for you. This may save you hours and ensure you don’t harm your system by deleting the wrong files. How to Get Rid of Pop Up VirusThe guidelines offered below will show you a possible way to remove this Adware app from your PC and browser so follow them carefully and if you aren’t sure about something, ask us in the comments and we will explain to you what needs to be done. Before the actual removal steps, we suggest that you boot the PC into Safe Mode as this could help prevent the Adware from interrupting your uninstallation attempts. If you need guidance on how to access Safe Mode, you can find it right here. The first step from the removal process is to go to the Processes tab of the Task Manager, to find the process behind the Adware, and to quit it. You can access the Task Manager though the Ctrl + Alt + Del or the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combinations. Usually, the process of the Adware would have an unfamiliar name that doesn’t seem to be related to programs that are currently open on your computer. Another common red flag is if a given process is constantly using lots of RAM memory and CPU. We suggest that you look up the names of any processes you think are suspicious to find out if they aren’t essential OS processes because those could sometimes look questionable despite being legitimate and even needed for the normal performance of the computer. If a given process seems like it can be coming from the Adware, right-click on that process, select the Open file location option, and scan each file located in that folder using the following free malware scanner: |
