Watch out for a nasty virus affecting Facebook, Youtube and other popular sites.

[Shorty82]

There's a nasty virus out there that looks like a real virus scanner from Windows. I got it while watching a Youtube video and according to the lady at Geek Squad it is also coming from Facebook, Myspace, and Limewire.

I was just minding my own business surfing the Internet when all of a sudden my antivirus started screaming about malware constantly and the prompt asking for permission for a program to continue came up and kept coming up everytime I hit cancel. I had to do a hard shutdown to stop it. This virus screwed up my legit antivirus software.

I'm out $200 and without my computer for 2-3 days while Geek Squad fixes it as this one is to nasty for me to remove on my own. At least I have an iPod Touch I can get online from to get my SGT fix. Blame my iPod for any typos I make over the next few days, the keyboard is weird.

[delsdad]

Thanks for pointing this out Shorty. I am beta testing the new version for one of the major anti virus vendors. I will have to go looking to catch this one. I use a test machine for the beta, and it gets re imaged weekly to I am not concerned about an infection. If I can catch the virus, or the AV software blocks it, I will actually have something to report to them.

I wonder if there is a mobile plug in that Polar could add to SGT..... hint hint

[Zazu]

There's a nasty virus ....

I'm out $200 and without my computer for 2-3 days while Geek Squad fixes it....

Come over to the Dark Side, Shorty. We have cookies... and Linux!

No, seriously, I'll be glad to help you get that big Windows virus off your system and set you up for (almost) virus-free computing with free software.

[Shorty82]

Come over to the Dark Side, Shorty. We have cookies... and Linux!

No, seriously, I'll be glad to help you get that big Windows virus off your system and set you up for (almost) virus-free computing with free software.

I have used Linux some. I have a private webserver that runs Ubuntu. Some of what I do requires Windows so switching over to Linux fully is not possible at this time. This is the first time I have ever gotten such a bad virus.

[GaTechGal]

Shorty, what virus software were you using? I've determined that McAfee is just about worthless and slows down my computer. But I'd like to know what this virus is able to circumvent.

[Shorty82]

Shorty, what virus software were you using? I've determined that McAfee is just about worthless and slows down my computer. But I'd like to know what this virus is able to circumvent.

Avast! Free is what I use. Normally it stops most everything bad from even making it onto my computer. It did try to stop this one but it couldn't.

[felinefan]

Have you tried Vipre from Sunbelt Software? People who've used that say nothing can get past it. It's not free unless you download the 90 day trial, but I would think that alone would be worth it. You also have to remove any other antivirus/antispyware software you have before downloading it. But it's worth a try.

[Shorty82]

Have you tried Vipre from Sunbelt Software? People who've used that say nothing can get past it. It's not free unless you download the 90 day trial, but I would think that alone would be worth it. You also have to remove any other antivirus/antispyware software you have before downloading it. But it's worth a try.

I'll look into it when I get my laptop back. Thanks.

[kurtisnelson]

Never gotten a virus once in all my years of computing. And I run without protection. Just always run as a limited user.

[disneyprincess1988]

Never gotten a virus once in all my years of computing. And I run without protection. Just always run as a limited user.

Good idea. That's what I've been doing since I got this laptop a year ago. I just don't download anything I'm not familiar with.