Malware Alert
•••••••1908 UTC••••••
OK, I messed up. I saw what looked like a legitimate alert from Google that my Chrome browser was out-of-date. I clicked on it and downloaded the "latest version". It was all a scam. I was sleepy and not paying attention.
It took me hours to scour out all the spyware and junk they loaded into my computer. My Norton Security Software didn't find any of it on quick scan, so I had to do the cleaning manually. Now I realize that my version of Chrome was not out-of-date to begin with. Don't know if I got all the crud cleaned out, but I'm hoping I did. I'll run some anti-spyware programs now to be sure.
So beware. If you want to check your browser to see if it's out-of-date, go to the browser website to do so or use the tools in the browser. Otherwise your computer could wind up in enemy hands...LOL.
Trust no one.
OK, I messed up. I saw what looked like a legitimate alert from Google that my Chrome browser was out-of-date. I clicked on it and downloaded the "latest version". It was all a scam. I was sleepy and not paying attention.
It took me hours to scour out all the spyware and junk they loaded into my computer. My Norton Security Software didn't find any of it on quick scan, so I had to do the cleaning manually. Now I realize that my version of Chrome was not out-of-date to begin with. Don't know if I got all the crud cleaned out, but I'm hoping I did. I'll run some anti-spyware programs now to be sure.
So beware. If you want to check your browser to see if it's out-of-date, go to the browser website to do so or use the tools in the browser. Otherwise your computer could wind up in enemy hands...LOL.
Trust no one.
Replies
You might just wanna do a reformat at this point. I\'ve seen that chrome trick. I get it all the time on the site I use to watch free streaming tv. It\'s a good idea to reformat every 6 months as part of regular maintenance, like changing oil in the car. Especially with Windows. You never know what can be screwed up and what kind of crap is hiding.
UGH! Sorry that happened to you Richie! I have Norton too! It usually does a really good job for me. I have no idea how to get rid of malware manually! Hope I don\'t ever have to find out! I hope everything comes out alright! You don\'t have time to mess with this! You have okra to tend to!!
Eventually I figured out that there were two Chromes on my computer...the original one hidden away, and the one I loaded from the spoofers with all the garbage built into it...redirected search, adware, and so on.
I figured out from the dates which was which and uninstalled the newer Chrome. Then I reinstalled Chrome from the installation file I\'d tucked away in case I needed to reload it. Somehow the software in the installation file found the legitimate Chrome and dragged it out of hiding.
I also went through a lot of directories looking for the bits and pieces of malware that got loaded along with the bad Chrome. I think I got them all...hope I got them all.
Learn as much as you can about your computer and it\'s intricacies. Your computer is important, and the more you know, the more you can do with it.
Don\'t be a \'fraidy cat, it won\'t bite you if you use common sense. Learn all the things task manager can tell you, that\'s a good place to start. It\'s all online, the knowledge is all right there on Google.