Tech Advice Needed - Malware Problem
Last night while browsing the internet, my anti-virus program (Avast) detected a Malware virus. Windows Security Centre then popped-up alerting me to a viral attack with over 30 possible infections detected. Windows Security Centre also informed me that my firewall had been disabled and when trying to remove the viruses stated that my subscription had expired and to purchase the upgrade.
Thinking that it was a bit ‘off’ that Windows Security Centre would tell me that my credit card details have been compromised and then to purchase the upgrade just didn’t add up. I obviously did not take this action.
Avast would not launch in order for me to run a scan so I logged into my partners profile (partitioned) and was able to run a scan on the whole computer. The results turned up nothing.
Logging back into my profile (and even restarting the PC) just displayed the pop-ups and Windows Security Centre alerts again.
I performed a system restore from the day before and this seems to have removed / prevented the pop-ups from reoccurring however I am a bit worried that any viruses present may not have been removed completely. Of course, that might just be me being overly cautious.
A Google search today (on another PC) showed that this was obviously a virus that tells you that you have one and to purchase an update which is a virus in itself.
Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this and what steps did you take to remove the threat / nuisance. Did a system restore only work for you? Did you run Malware detection s/w?
My knowledge of accessing the registry is very limited therefore I am hesitant to do this if it can be avoided. Like I said, it appears to have been removed after the system restore, but I have also read that perhaps this is not the preferred way of removing malicious programs.
Any assistance / help would be appreciated.
