[ARC5] Off Topic - looking for a virus on my PC

[Jim Wiley]

I forgot to mention:

Running Bitdefender and Malwarebytes (doing a complete system scan after 
they are installed) will almost always pick up the problems programs and 
put them into a "quarantine" area where you can decide what to do next.

Also, and again using Google,  search for things like "removing a virus 
from malware installs"  and "Firefox came with a virus, and how do I 
remove it"  will produce some suggestions.   I run both Firefox and 
Thunderbird, and both programs have on-line help forums that can assist 
you.

Needless to say, neither program comes with viruses or installs "extra" 
programs, unless you specifically allow them to.

I get my master install files directly from Mozilla, and not from 3rd 
party sources.

One extra hint:   There is a free program called "MozBackup" that will 
backup your  profiles.  The profile files are the ones that store all 
your emails, address books, bookmarks, and so on. Having these backups 
(I do one weekly) will save your bacon if a virus or even a system 
reload erases these files.   You do have to remember to manually delete 
old backups occasionally to  prevent loading up a drive.  A set of these 
for Firefox and Thunderbird takes up a gigabyte or more, so unless you 
have very large drives, they can gobble up free space quickly.

- Jim,  KL7CC







On 7/11/2015 11:48 PM, Leslie Smith wrote:
>    G'day all,
>    About 1-2 months ago I found a mischievous/malicious "thingy" on my
>    PC.
>    Asking here,  I got some answers that solved the problem to a large
>    degree.
>
>    It was an "add-on" that displayed ads - coupled with Firefox.
>   Removing the 'add-on" mostly solved the problem.
>    (Some-one suggested Ad-Cleaner)
>   
>    However occasionally (and always after booting) I would find "thingy"
>    in my add-ons folder.
>    I would delete the "add-on", reboot Firefox and the problem would
>    absent itself for some time.
>
>    Now Firefox is slow, and I find ads popping up - but there is nothing
>    in "add-ons".
>    Also, note there is a 'counterfeit' version of Ad-Cleaner.  Yikes!
>            
>    A pointer in the right direction would be helpful, and appreciated.
>
>
>    73 de Les Smith
>    vk2bcu at operamail.com
>