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[It]’s happening again. Ran adwcleaner and Malwarebytes and they didn’t find anything. It hadn’t been happening for awhile so I thought they worked but now . . . Is there anything stronger?

It happens sometimes when I’m browsing, usually in Yahoo. The page gets redirected to another. It’s titled “Urgent Firefox Update”, firefox-patch.js, download now. It’s fake malware c*** trying to put s*** on my PC. I just want to know how to stop it.

Something in my PC is making a distinct whirling sound again. Is this normal or should I replace something? I’m hoping it’s not the hard drive, it’s still reasonably new.

Okay, NoScript. I went to the site. I’d like some more opinions before I continue. It looks promising, I admit but I’m cautious. Any other possible explanations for the buzzes and whirls from my PC?

I recommend that you install NoScript, and see if that fixes things.

Here is more info: http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread//174227-Adblock-Plus-and-NoScript-greatly-speed-up-browsing-in-Firefox!

To sum up: I have installed Adblock Plus and NoScript, and I have uninstalled Flash. My web surfing is a lot faster since doing that.

Oops! Late at night, frustrated, not thinking. Win 8 (I believe, it’s a newer hard drive, the old one was Win 7, so I think I got Win 8 for the new one.) Firefox for the browser.

What OS? (Win7, Win8/8.1, Win10, etc). What browser? (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc).

We don’t think anything if you don’t tell us enough about your setup!!!

I used the Panda. I don’t know; my unease seems to have abated somewhat. Maybe I should use Eset too. Anyway, thanks Paul T

Try the Panda one and Eset. That should cover most.

cheers, Paul

Well, I downloaded and ran a free MalwareBytes. It didn’t find anything either. When the ransomware initially appeared, I clicked the X in the upper corner a couple of times and it disappeared. I’m wondering if I did something before it could do something. Maybe I should download another scanner.

Are you getting any indication of the malware?
Have you run the scanners from post #5?

cheers, Paul

I followed the instructions on that link you sent me. According to my startup folder, there’s nothing in it. I don’t know if that means I opened the wrong folder or I should open something else or I managed to click off Reveton before it could do something nasty. I still don’t feel safe; I’m still wondering if that thing is in my PC somewhere.

Booting into Safe Mode is required to access Windows to clean up the malware.
I don’t know if MB will clean that infection for you.

cheers, Paul

Reveton details and removal.

Using malware removal tools should not conflict with Norton, but you have a full backup don’t you?

cheers, Paul

Booting into safe mode seems a little much. Can Malware Bytes take care of this? And yes I have backup.

We’ve all heard horrendous stories about ransom sites. Never happened to me or family, but stuff happens. What exactly does one do if this ransom thing ever appears?

I think I found out what this thing was; I believe its called Reveton. It’s a police/cop trojan. I found it on Wikipedia when I googled ransom virus. Its description pretty much fits what I saw. Am I compromised? Can my Norton Security Suite deal with this? I clicked it off as soon as I saw it but I’m wondering if it’s still hiding somewhere on my PC. My PC’s working okay now but I’m wondering . . . And would a malware removal tool react with my Norton?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransomware

Don’t know about the first one, second one is just a redirect with something trying to get you to click on it further to indeed try to get you to help malware get on to your computer.

How did that redirect get on the computer? Was it the site or a crack in the system?

Well, it’s uninstalled. I’m taking the risk it might affect my other programs. It seems to have already affected HP update.

Better still, uninstall it.

Well, I don’t think I have the right equipment for it. Maybe I can borrow a sledgehammer from the CONSTRUCTION THAT’S GOING ON RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, AAAARRRRGH! Now I seem to be having issues with my Windows and HP updates. Something seems to be blocking them. I tell you, the software gods hate me. Grrrrr!

Now’s your chance to take the old disk apart, so you can see what is in it.

The platters make good coasters.

Well, I installed the new hard drive. Everything is performing at a much better level. Loading speeds are far better, no freezes or plug-in and script issues. Thanks everybody for your help. I probably wouldn’t have been able to track down the problem without it. This site’s terrific and so are you

Installed it. Didn’t see much of anything on it. Couldn’t figure it out. So I uninstalled it.

All you need is a SATA hard disk, all cables already exist in your PC.
If the fan is unwell you will see high CPU temperatures. You can check this with HWMonitor – the free edition.
If your PC is dusty you can clean it with a vacuum cleaner on low power.

cheers, Paul