UPDATE: Well, after trying a bunch of stuff, I installed Spyhunter software and that did the trick. There were other things out there like rkill to try and stop the virus from running, but I had no success with it. If you want to kill the process, start up the Task Manager and look for a .exe process that has a name with 3 random letters. If you can kill that process, then you’ll gain the ability to use the browser again, at which point you can download SpyHunter, install it and run it. It costs $40, but it’s better than having the virus running on it.
To be honest, at this point I can’t even remember why I sat down at the Wife’s computer lo those many hours ago. All I know is that when I did, I was bombarded with dire warnings of security threats to my computer, spyware was infesting the machine, dogs and cats living together- MASS HYSTERIA!
But not to worry, because a “friendly” program call “Win 7 Ineternet Security 2013” was on the case and could fix all my problems. But in order to do that, I needed to purchase it and lo and behold up would pop a friendly screen asking me for all my credit card info.
That’s when the red flags went up. In fact, by that point, several flags had gone up and something seemed suspicious. I don’t want to get into it in too great a detail, since some malicious prick might happen across this and build a better mousetrap next time. Suffice it to say, I smelled a rat.
So I went to my LINUX computer, which doesn’t get infected with the nasties, and looked into it. I simply typed “Win 7 Internet Security” into the search bar, and, unfortunately, my suspicions were confirmed. The good news is that it’s unlikely I’d done any real harm to myself. The bad news is I’ve got to figure out how to remove this little bugger.
For the moment, my one advantage is it seems to have victimized the boy’s account on the computer. Which means I can log on as the Wife and access the network without this virus blocking me. But as yet, I’ve been unable to remove it. Some software that could supposedly help, well, hasn’t and I’m currently trying another piece of software, while in Safe Mode.
Which, incidentally, seems to be completely pointless. The virus is alive and well while in safe mode, blocking me from normal internet access through the boy’s account. So what’s the point of a “Safe Mode” if it’s anything but?
Anyway, keep an eye out for this, it does a good job of looking like a legit piece of virus software. Just know if you see “Win 7 Internet Security” software suddenly come to life, it’s anything but that.
I’ll update when I successfully remove the damn thing.