Is Vista Antivirus a Virus?

J

jlrice

New Member
Recently my computer has been under attack by "Vista Antivirus 2010". I do not recall downloading it, or seeing it in my updates (though I never check it that closely). I have Trend Micro pro and scanned my computer and it says I am clean, however I keep getting a pop up that resembles an anti-virus whenever I start my computer. It says I have 22 viruses, trojans, keyloggers, etc.

It claims that it will remove the viruses if I sign up. I'm not that dumb, Microsoft would never hold my computer hostage like this...would they?

If not is there a program anyone recommends to remove said anti-virus? I tried going into Add/Remove programs and it isn't listed there. I know the file name that seems to control it is called "av.exe*32" according to my task manager.

Please, I understand computers very well, but I want some expert help on this crap.
 

My Computer

System One

jlrice said:
Recently my computer has been under attack by "Vista Antivirus 2010". I do not recall downloading it, or seeing it in my updates (though I never check it that closely). I have Trend Micro pro and scanned my computer and it says I am clean, however I keep getting a pop up that resembles an anti-virus whenever I start my computer. It says I have 22 viruses, trojans, keyloggers, etc.

It claims that it will remove the viruses if I sign up. I'm not that dumb, Microsoft would never hold my computer hostage like this...would they?

If not is there a program anyone recommends to remove said anti-virus? I tried going into Add/Remove programs and it isn't listed there. I know the file name that seems to control it is called "av.exe*32" according to my task manager.

http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html



Please, I understand computers very well, but I want some expert help on this crap.
Click to expand...

Hallo jlrice, good to see you were not fooled. As you are obviously well versed in security threats i will keep it simple, try these freeware on demand scanners they both are highly recommended by our members;

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

Hope this is of some help :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard, compaq presario CQ60-305AU
    CPU
    AMD Athlon QI-46 2.1 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Wistron 303C
    Memory
    2048 Mb DDR2 SD Ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidea GE Go Force 8200M G / 256Mb dedicated grapics memory
    Sound Card
    MCP78S NVidea High definition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" High Definition Brightview Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1336x768
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba MK2555GSX ATA
    Mouse
    Synaptics PS2/Touchpad
Mitchell has given you excellent advice. I agree with his analysis. Just another piece of advice.

First is sounds like malware and not a virus. They plan to bother you until you agree to have them remove it.

Now for the advice. If you have an option to remove the warning by clicking the red X, in the upper right, do not do it. That might be the way to unleash the nasties into your computer. Rather right click on task bar (bottom of screen) go to task manager and then go to process and delete it that way.

You will get this worked out.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I used the SUPERAntiSpyware program and it found 2 trojans/malware. I quarantined them and supposedly removed them, yet my problem persists.

The first program listed would not work for me for whatever reason.

I'm going to run SUPERAntiSpyware again, but does anyone else have any suggestions?
 

My Computer

System One

Try again with the malwarebytes it is considered one of the best. You have malware not a virus and malwarebytes is great for that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
If it started just a few days ago, you can try going back with system restore about 2 weeks and see what happens.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
This problem occurred yesterday, (2/23) and I restored my computer to the last restore checkpoint (2/20). Nothing. The SuperAntiSpyWare apparently only did a quick scan so I have it doing a full scan now. It found 3 new ones so far. If this doesn't correct it I'll screw around with the first program.
 

My Computer

System One

jlrice said:
This problem occurred yesterday, (2/23) and I restored my computer to the last restore checkpoint (2/20). Nothing. The SuperAntiSpyWare apparently only did a quick scan so I have it doing a full scan now. It found 3 new ones so far. If this doesn't correct it I'll screw around with the first program.
Click to expand...

I had a look around and overall opion seems to be that Malwarebytes is the one to remove this.
Sadly it seems that more & more malware seems able to block Malwarebytes, there is a fix for this i myself have not used it nor know anything about how it works so it is up to you if you wish to try it.
It is the 7th post in this thread the author is very reputiable;

http://www.vistax64.com/system-security/263598-malware-problem-please-help-6.html

The only other thing i can suggest is there are a number of manual removal guides if you google "remove vista antivirus 2010"

Hope this can help
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard, compaq presario CQ60-305AU
    CPU
    AMD Athlon QI-46 2.1 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Wistron 303C
    Memory
    2048 Mb DDR2 SD Ram
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidea GE Go Force 8200M G / 256Mb dedicated grapics memory
    Sound Card
    MCP78S NVidea High definition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" High Definition Brightview Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1336x768
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba MK2555GSX ATA
    Mouse
    Synaptics PS2/Touchpad
Mitch and I are very happy to help. Take your time and when you are ready, just post.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
laa123 said:
i am having the same problem too. it just popped up this morning. i have downloaded malwarebytes in hopes that it works.
Click to expand...

Malwarebytes is very efficient, download it, and then report back.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
The original poster received an answer in this thread making reference to another malware software, did you try that, also?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M1641
    CPU
    Intel Dual Core E2220 2.4GHZ
    Memory
    2GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Sapphire Radeon HD 3450 256MB PCI-E 2.0
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 192E WideScreen LCD Monitor 18.5`
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST3250318AS, Western Digital WD3200AAJS-22L7A0
    Internet Speed
    2048kbps downloading, 512kbps downloading
    Other Info
    Planning to Upgrade my PC...
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