IE "Your Computer May Be At Risk" popup

[tony22]

I had IE on my XP Pro set up so that I never got these odd popups, but on a couple of occasions recently on Win7 x64 I've had this come up from completely unrelated websites (one food site, one medical site). I honestly can't remember what IE Security setting would take care of this, but it seems like it's worth doing. Appreciate finding out which one it is.

In both cases I used Task Manager to terminate all IE windows including the popup. Am I safe as long as I didn't ever hit the OK button on the popup? Or is this one of those malware things that actually loaded something even without hitting "OK"?

 

[richc46]

Welcome,

There are two possible sources of your problem, the websites. I doubt it because you are getting the same pop up from different sites.

The second is that you have malware. Not a serious problem, if you catch and correct the problem quickly.

Download this Malwarebytes.org

Run a scan with the above as well as an antivirus scan. If you come clean with both, for now we will assume that it is the website.

 

[tony22]

Thanks Richard. Would Ad-aware and Spybot also be recommended?

 

[richc46]

Thanks Richard. Would Ad-aware and Spybot also be recommended?

I cannot know the quality of every spyware in use. I can only tell you what I use and which is considered one of the best by this Forum. It would be up to you to make the decision. If you do not want to download Malwarebytes, why not try yours, if it comes up positive take steps to remedy the situation. If it comes up negative and you still have the problem, I would download Malwarebytes and scan. You can just let it stay on your hide drive, hidden, until needed again. I actually have the pay version, which updates and scans automaticaly. It also warns me of sites that have known malware, before it lets me view the page. I like it.

EDIT: I can tell you that your choices do have a good reputation.

 

[tony22]

Richard, I've found in the past it usually takes more than one of these tools to trap most of these annoyances. I do plan to use the malwarebytes tool along with these others.

 

[richc46]

Richard, I've found in the past it usually takes more than one of these tools to trap most of these annoyances. I do plan to use the malwarebytes tool along with these others.

You are 100% correct. If that is your plan, you will find almost anything.

 

[tony22]

Well, I ran the Malwarebytes tool and it found only one problem - the NoActiveDesktopFound thing - which I understand really isn't a problem. Spybot found only 1 thing - a doubleclick cookie that I got rid of but wasn't flagged as a critical problem. So it appears my system is pretty clean. I suspect this weird popup may in fact be tied to some sites.

 

[richc46]

Yes, when I first got Malwarebytes, I had the same warning. That is a false positive. Let me read the posts again and then tell you the next step.

 

[richc46]

You look like you are OK. I think that the pop ups came from a website. There is malware, written, by people, and they put it on different websites. When I try to help and get computer information for posters, I often get a popup, which is the same on several sites. If you want to avoid having problems. Use Microsoft Security Essentials. It will warn you real time of any Virus or Malware. You will not get them on your system, you delete them before hand. You can, and should use Malwarebytes, too. Make sure it is the free version or there will be a conflict with the malware protection in Security Essentials and Malwarebytes.

My suggestion for the future. You are clean now. Make a system image and put it on an external hard drive. Save it in a safe place. Every month, if you are sure that you are clean and no problems, update the image. This way you ever have a problem in the future, you can always use the saved image to help you.

 

[richc46]

I just read the posts again. This is important, never hit the right hand corner X to get rid of the pop up. Always use task manager or the free version of Win Patrol, which I really like.

 

[tony22]

I just read the posts again. This is important, never hit the right hand corner X to get rid of the pop up. Always use task manager or the free version of Win Patrol, which I really like.

Yes, I made that mistake once on my laptop, but thanks for the reminder. I do try to image every month or so, so once I feel quite certain I'm good it'll be time for another one. Thanks!