This is exactly how I feel today, after I spent all morning trying to fumigate my computer and then sadly gave it up and turned to a professional. The thing is, I’m the sort of person who never gets bitten by bugs. I can stay outside from 6 to 11 on a summer night drinking beer and talking about the new Alabama quarterback and everybody else is scratching and miserable as they try to swat away mosquitoes and I’m thoroughly enjoying the wonderful evening. But somehow that anti-bug protection does not translate to my laptop. This morning I was attacked by one of those “You’ve got a virus so click here to get rid of it” scams and the more I tried to combat it on my own the worse it got. And what’s so aggravating is that I keep my online security systems current and practice safe surfing — but this one got me. So please beware! I took my laptop to the local computer person who promised quick relief. In the meantime I’m using my daughter’s desktop, which doesn’t like me very much in the first place and is, I can tell, right now very suspicious that I’m a carrier of Bad Things and must be Dealt With Cautiously. Wish me luck.
Coffee with Cathy
Pour a cup & take a break
Coffee with Cathy 
Ah, good old Spyware Protect 2008/2009 – I’ve picked it up twice in the past month – neither Norton or Ad Aware caught it. Fortunately for me, I’m computer savvy and as suspicious as the day is long, so I did no clicking and immediately found how to get rid of it via the internet.
Purchase Malwarebyte’s excellent spyware/malware protection software; it got rid of the nasty bug when nothing else would for me.
Good Luck! I hope everything works out for you.
Good luck! I am transitioning from my old, heavy, old school laptop to a brand new light one…. I was hanging on to the old one for far too long. Too many trips lugging that heavy thing thru airports convinced me to upgrade. It was hurting my shoulders and back!!
There are also some very good quality freeware antivirus suites out there including Avast, Avira, and AVG antivirus. Check out this link for information on how to download these cost-effective AV solutions:
http://www.J-TownComputer.com?iframe=1&techtips=1
I’m pretty good about not clicking much of anything but I live in fear that the husband (Mister computer illiterate) will.
Sorry about that, bud. I know that was very frustrating for you.
Sorry for your loss–of time and confidence. I’m so proud that I caught a Paypal scam and reported it. Got a nice e-mail from the real Paypal in return, commending me on my vigilance.
Thank you all for your kind concern! Thankfully, our local computer guru said I should be up and running soon, so I’m still hanging out with Ye Olde Sort of Iffy Desktop.
Like Jan, I have Malwarebytes on my computer but I have the free version so I have to manually run it. It is the best software for trojans and not only found what McAFee didn’t but it removed it AND repaired my registry.
Rockync, that is good advice. McAfee has failed me, sadly, and the computer guys ended up taking it off and installing something else they said was much better.
yikes, reason #999 that I love my MAC!