Last week my computer got hit with some sort of malware that calls itself "Adware.W32.ExpDwnldr". [img]graemlins/1pissed.gif[/img]

I kept getting popups like this.
Er, NO, just because you infected my computer with a virus I do not feel obligated to buy your software to remove it! [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img]

Other times the popup would start Internet Explorer at this antivirus retailer.
Later my desktop wallpaper would be covered with a bright red biohazard sign with a link to another antivirus site. [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] At random times within three minutes one of these popups would appear interrupting whatever I was doing and forcing me to "ALT+F4" it away.

Sympatic Antivirus (I scheduled this to scan every time I signed on) did not pick it up; I can understand that given that it is a trojan not a virus. AdAware did not stop the popups. Checking the forums here, previous members recommended Spybot SD. I downloaded it from Tucows website which also recommended Super Antispyware.

After hitting it with every scan I could use the popups stopped... for an hour... then came back with a vengence!

Symantic reported a "Winfix.exe" bug. It started in my son's .../IE/TemporaryInternetFiles/... directory. My son needs Internet Explorer for Maple Story- a MMORG he plays: for the record I use Opera exclusively. Google found a description of "Winfix.exe" that matched my symptoms exactly. It went into how to edit the registry to remove the pest. Unfortunately my computer skills were not up to the task so I ended up formatting the C: drive and reinstalling everything. :(

Be careful out there...

These losers have been in the news recently. Even Symantec took a run athem a while back. If it makes you feel any better, a lawsuit has been filed against them.
http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/law...d-drivecleaner

I think i had that same win.exe thing, McAfee took care of them all. I'm glad about the lawsuit, but I'd rather break my hand on some of the geek's faces. I really hate the people who send out spam and virus' and stuf. I don't know javan, your computer skills are better than mine, how did u do that fire and devil smiley?

There is a link at the top of the page

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/noncgi/iwbar_005.gif

Has all the smilies the forum has installed. For that fire devil one, believe it or not, it's :firedevil : (without the space between devil and the last colon)

[img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img]