Answer: Sal, your computer is probably not infected with that many viruses, but your computer is infected with at least one.
Ironically, the “antivirus” program giving you the warning is probably the worst virus on your computer. Fake antivirus and fake antispyware applications are becoming more and more common. The latest one I had to deal with was Antivirus Pro 2010.
Sometimes these programs are called “scareware”, because they try to scare you out of your money. Some security professionals call it “scamware”, also for obvious reasons. But, whatever you call it, this is a fake application that gets into your computer and pretends to scan your computer for malware. Its “scan” bar is just a fancy graphic. The list of files it pretends to detect on your computer is the same list it shows everybody.
When it comes to viruses and spyware, the fake antivirus infections are some of the worst I’ve encountered. I saw an explosion of these infections in July and August. They seem to be slowing down a little, but then again, that’s what I said in June.
Long story short, there a lot of reasons why you should seek some professional help on this one. Why? Because, even the pros have some trouble on these types of infections. In our experience, the best approach to virus removal is to combine some effective tools with some good ole fashioned sleuthing (tracking down files associated with running processes and other techniques).
Many IT professionals, out of desperation, have resorted to backing up the client’s data, formatting the hard drive and then reinstalling the operating system. By taking this approach, the computer comes back to you clean as a whistle. Not only is it virus-free, but it also runs a lot faster since there are relatively few programs on it. It essentially looks like it did when it came from the factory.
There is a problem with this approach, however… not a problem for the IT pro, but a problem for the client. Quite often, the client doesn’t have the original discs to reinstall certain programs back onto the computer. Lots of clients have told me flatly that they have no idea where their Office 2003 discs are, or their WordPerfect Installation CDs, or their Quicken discs, or any other programs for that matter.
Here at Aspen Computer Services, we have been doing this for a while and take all of this into consideration. Which is why we do everything that’s within our power to ensure that your computer is as close to the condition it was in when you gave it to us… minus the viruses and spyware, of course. We also do a number of other things to repair the operating system files, and clean-up / tune-up the system to optimize performance.
Although we highly recommend calling a professional (preferably us), if you still want to tackle a virus removal on your own, I have written a step-by-step process for do-it-yourself types over on Hubpages… here is the link: http://hubpages.com/hub/Virus-Removal-How-to-Remove-a-Computer-Virus-in-5-Easy-Steps
If that doesn’t work (or looks like Greek), give us a call. We would be honored to help you.
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