Overzealous Anti-Virus Software - Security Protection

[Marechal Ney]

I have the "Security Protection" anti-virus software that actually is a piece of malware itself on my laptop (I didn't download it, oh well...). I found that the anti-malware system STOPzilla can remove it; however, to install STOPzilla I need to start the installer.exe, and my laptop is so infected by this "Give me $50 or I will not let your computer work!" anti-virus program that I can't run .exe's.

Does anyone from the technology crowd know an ingenious way to be able to run this .exe, start up STOPzilla, and defeat the virus, when nothing on my computer can start? Security Protection prevents all programs from starting by claiming that they are infected with a non-existant virus. I would post screenies, but PrtScr isn't working.

Or, if you could point me to how to manually uninstall it, that would be fantastic. Thanks! Much rep awarded to whoever fixes this problem.

http://www.stopzilla.com/products/st...1&t=r&d=072010

[PoleCat]

Do you know how to enter Safe Mode? Enter Safe mode, find and run this STOPzilla.exe and then reboot. Enter Normal mode and see if it has solved your problem. Good luck!

[Marechal Ney]

Do you know how to enter Safe Mode? Enter Safe mode, find and run this STOPzilla.exe and then reboot. Enter Normal mode and see if it has solved your problem. Good luck!

I'll try. Thanks. I feel kind of dumb for not trying safe mode first, but oh well

EDIT: Fixed it, thanks! Both of you repped.

[_Elysium_]

Restart the computer and tap one of the function keys (probably F2 or F8) when the system starts to load. This should take you to a screen with options, such as "use last known good configuration". Boot in Safe Mode, then run System Restore when the computer is finished loading, restoring to a point before the infection.

I've had a number of those fake security things over the years, with almost all of them coming from those Flash advertisements that appear on websites. One was even from the BBC website.

Using System Restore while in Safe Mode solved this problem for me on every occasion. I'd still recommend a full system sweep with whatever scanning software you have once the restoration is complete, though I never detected anything after the restore.

DISCLAIMER: I'm by no means an expert on this. I'm simply suggesting to you what I've done multiple times on two different computers and a laptop.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

DISCLAIMER: I'm by no means an expert on this. I'm simply suggesting to you what I've done multiple times on two different computers and a laptop.

A disclaimer on an anonymous post on the internet?

[_Elysium_]

I'll try. Thanks. I feel kind of dumb for not trying safe mode first, but oh well

EDIT: Fixed it, thanks! Both of you repped.

Congratulations on sorting it out. Those things really irritate me.

A disclaimer on an anonymous post on the internet?

Its not anonymous. Its by me.

I feel like I should do that sometimes, because I once recommended software to someone but their computer was so old it wouldn't load properly after the installation. They tried to blame me.

Thus, a disclaimer.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Its not anonymous. Its by me.

I feel like I should do that sometimes, because I once recommended software to someone but their computer was so old it wouldn't load properly after the installation. They tried to blame me.

Thus, a disclaimer.

Even someone who fixes computers as a profession can accidentally screw a computer up doing something that should work just fine, as long as your advice is good that's all that matters, what unexpected things the computer does in response is uncontrollable. Technically we'd all need disclaimers in our posts here however we are all anonymous on this forum so any advice given is obviously our best guess / recommendations that we can't possibly be held liable for. Worst case scenerio is you give someone good advice and they yell at you over the internet for an obscure negative reaction on their PC.

Disclaimer: The above is my opinion, and must be taken with a grain of salt... or a can of old-fashioned root beer, whichever is more readily available or of your personal preference.