[1956brother]

i was wondering the other day.

the software provider which came with my computer from time to time offers free updates. for the most parts i gladly accept.

so i was curious with these these free updates do i need to go to their website and get the up grades or are they already given to me?

so, i went to their website and asked their "off shore" technical department my question.

they asked me for basic information. which i gave. i had no problem with this, since they came from the software providers website.

after a very quick scan they noted i had several viruses on my computer and promptly asked for a credit card number.

i told them i did not think this was possible. i had installed anti-virus software from the software provider and i had that which was provided by the manufacture of my computer. they had not indicated any problems.

they informed me that the anti-virus software provided by the software company and manufacture were totally inadequate. again, they asked me for my credit card number.

i just hung up.

i decide it was best to run a full scans using the antivirus software provided.

almost immediately i started getting virus attach notices.

the software provided by the manufacture crashed...died completely. the software provided by the software company kept running. it did indicate a problem existed and would clarify it at the end of the scan.

eventually, i was able to contact (through thier website) the software company provide by the manufacture. they opened a chat line and went to work on the problem.

problem resolved?

what happened to me maybe totally coincendental, but ..i would like to compliment my software provider on thier exemplary choice of "off shore" technical support.

nobody has yet to answer my inital question...

[Old Rich]

Who was your "software provider"?

[Elvandil]

Not all "updates" are created equal. Some are harmful. Legitimate AV software rarely requires a visit to a website or the provision of information for updates.

In any case, it sounds like you are now infected by a fake antivirus and they would like to sell you the cure for the disease they caused.

[1956brother]

i know this is vague, but there are not a whole lot of providers of software for home computers...

[1956brother]

trojan:win32/fakeXPA dangerous designed to be controlled by the attacker

trojan.fakeAV!gem29

are these the same or simular? what can you tell me about these viruses?

[loserOlimbs]

http://www.microsoft.com/security/po...in32%2fFakeXPA

Looks like we know what you have

I would recommend Malwarebytes as a free scanner for this case.

[1956brother]

i talked to them. they did not seam to offer anything new in the way of help...i was immpressed with thier honesty.

[Triple6]

You're being very vague and I'm not sure why? If you are looking for advice or help or to compliment a company there's no reason to refer to software or companies as "Software" and "Software Providers" instead of real names like Norton Antivirus 2010 or Microsoft. There are in fact hundreds of companies that distribute security software, some very good, some mediocre, some useless, and others are simply fake and in total there's are millions of hardware & software companies. And there is no 100% effective protection software against malware so it not at all surprising that you were infected. Also what is the initial question you had that you do not have an answer for?

Also this isn't "Tech-Related News" so I've move it to the "Reviews" section since I think that's what you gave in your first post of the thread. That could be wrong, and if so I'll move it somewhere else if you like.

[XTom_TomX]

Here's the deal.
When you buy a new device/PC?laptop/iwhatever these days.
it comes with a hot load of shite.

Rule Number 1.
When receiving a new device.
DELETE EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT instantly useful to you.

The EXCEPTION is:

web cam software
touchpad software

Use this rule.
Every bit of "free" software is not.

[1956brother]

i am being vague for a reason. i have been told by several people (one of them being a major anti virus provider which was taken out in the attack) that it is impossible to determine the actual source of the attack.

all the off shore technical people were interested in was trashing both my anti virus provider and the anti virus software provided by my software providers web site. they just kept badgering me for a credit card number so i could buy their product. i got fed up with them and hung up.

i find it very coincidental, that after giving my information to the off shore techinical support people the attack occurred.

to take out a major anti virus provider,the attack was not random.

[Triple6]

Hate to break it to you, but no "major" antivirus software is immune to being circumvented by malware, it happens every single second. There is no antivirus software that cant be easily disabled or worked around by malware, none.

Maybe this "off shore" provider was a rogue company, hard to say since you refuse to provide any useful information, in fact I am not sure what the purpose of your post is? There seems to be no question, no review, no tech news.

[1956brother]

this is my first home computer. i have used them at work for years. i have no real idea what is useful to me or not. i will say there is a lot of crap on this machine. but, i am still learning and exploring...

i agree everything free now has a bill down the road.

[1956brother]

what you seek has been sent to you

vague is being from canada

[1956brother]

go ahead...

if you can move anyones post anywhere you want than you should have no problem posting our private conversations...

you can live in your world...

there in no way that you can get me or anyone else to believe that at that moment in time that someone else in cyber land decided to 1956 brother

[Triple6]

Since this thread is going nowhere I am simply going to close it. Theres nothing we can do to prove or disprove where your infection came from, and it seems you have already come to your own conclusion and will stick with it.

Please do not use profanity on this forum even if you only use the first letter of the word. See the forum rules: http://www.techguy.org/rules.html

Please feel free to read the following links:
http://www.tech-linkblog.com/compute...-with-malware/
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/r...h-malware/5365
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2998/...n-my-computer/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10363373-83.html
http://www.windowsecurity.com/whitep..._checking.html