Need computer help

[MadMudder]

Hey guys I could use a little advice regarding my computer. About 3 weeks ago the computer im on right now got a pretty wicked bad virus. My anti-virus program (webroot) called it Wimad-N and Wimad-E. Also something called rogue security products were found. I swept it a few times and the problem was very reoccuring. It kept throwing popups on my computer and asking me to download some other anti-virus program that I knew was not legit. It was also locking me out of most basic programs such as taskmanager and whatnot. I tried sweeps and stuff and even tried a system restore checkpoint but nothing worked so I just closed it and didnt touch it for 3 weeks. Today I got it out and was backing up my files onto an external hard drive and I noticed that the virus wasnt doing anything. No popups or anything. It seems just like everything is normal.

Ok so I know that it cant just disappear. But what is the deal? I was going drop it off at bestbuy and have them wipe the computer for 130 dollars but im starting to wonder if I need to pay that money? Should I just do it anyway to be on the safe side? Has anyone had this problem in the past? Any advice or help is appreciated. Thanks.

[digginfool]

I had never heard of Webroot and did a quick review of the product and it would seem their are far better A-V programs available.  I had used Norton and wasn't very happy with it (a resource hog) and am now using Kaspersky.  It is a top notch program and I haven't had any issues with it.  It does a pre-scan before installing which is a plus.  If you can't swing the expense of changing programs, there are a number of sites that will do remote scans of your system  One of the best that I found was Housecall by TrendMicro.  Check it at housecall.trendmicro.com.  Good luck.  One other thing you can try is a free (at least used to be) trial of Blacklight, which is a root kit detector.  You'll have to Google that one.

[asmart82]

http://www.malwarecity.com/blog/how-to-remove-rogue-security-software-274.html

[MadMudder]

Ok just an update I swept the computer today twice. Once it found the same 3 usual problems. I did the usual quarantine and all that then swept again expecting them to come back up but they didnt. Restarted it and so far so good. Do you guys think I should still take it in to bestbuy and have it wiped anyway or you think im ok?

[shogun323]

I wouldnt take it to best buy. As an IT guy I usually end up wiping computers and reloading because I have the resources to do it quicker than fighting with malware/viruses. I certainly wouldnt take it to best buy though. Try these steps.

~Make sure your virus protection is up to date.
~Turn off system restore (hold window key and press puase/break) If using xp click system restore tab and turn it off there. If using Vista, Click system protection and turn it off there.
~Now reboot into safe mode. (reboot computer and press F8 while it is coming up ) Go into safde mode and run a virus scan from there.

[shogun323]

Since you are savy enough to backup your data, you could easily wipe it on your own if you deem it nessecary. All modern computers come with restore capabilities built onto a recovery partition or on restore media. It is all pretty user friendly.

[Yamichick]

It sounds like a malware not a virus. Back up your important data and run anti-malwares. If a specific anti-malware page keep poping up, that's most likely the name of the malware trying to make you buying it by annoying you. Once you identify the name of it the next step will be googling how to remove it in tech support websites/forums. You should be able to find how to do it without taking it to bestbuy (they charge usually $75 for diagnosis) save the money!
I don't have this issues at all since i run linux since few years. never had a single problem.. switching the complete OS is an option but not suitable to everyone.
Hope this helps