Do I have a virus?!

[Legio]

These Discs, X and Y, appeared out of nowhere and neither Avast or Malwarebytes will scan them. They look shady. Oh God help me

[irishron]

Do you have external drives even though the ones I've seen start with E:?

Do you use Microsoft Office for uni and have to download stuff to and from the uni? Most I've seen use Q:.

Run adeep virus scan, yet?

[Legio]

I'm running a Malwarebytes on C right now, as I can't scan X or Y. I have Microsoft Office but uni ended in May so haven't used it in a while.

I have an external HD but I haven't had it plugged in for over a week. I'm also looking at the 'Disk Management' in Control Panel/Security/Partition Hard Drives and everything seems to be fine.

[irishron]

Have you ever the the Command Prompt?

[Legio]

Is that the black box thingie? It's been starting up when I start my computer for a while now, but it disappears on its own.

[irishron]

It should not being doing that unless you have a very good reason and I assume you dont't.

If Malwarebytes finds nothing, in msconfig, check Diagnostic startup, restart and see if it goes away.

If so we have some work to do.

[PoleCat]

The Microsoft Office bug made a phantom Q:\ drive - not X:\ or Y:\. You could try that fix but you should have noticed those drives before now if you've been using Office throughout Uni.

A question - do you have a different OS partitioned on your external drive? Say Ubuntu or Wine maybe? Good luck!

[Legio]

No, I only have Windows 7.

[Legio]

Malwarebytes is still running a scan. One more thing is weird on FireFox - if I google 'tomato', for instance, I get this:

FireFox

But on IE:

Internet Explorer

All Google search results are similarly skewed.

[PoleCat]

Do you have History and/or cookies turned off in both browsers or just FF? Also for FF are you using AdBlocker and NoScript? That could have an effect on search results.

[Legio]

I've been using AdBlock and NoScript for years along with Private Browsing; nothing has been amiss until today.

[PoleCat]

I've been using AdBlock and NoScript for years along with Private Browsing; nothing has been amiss until today.

Just so I could calm your mind I duplicated your exact test and got the same results you did and I'm sure this system isn't infected and isn't showing two phantom removable drives. Your browsers are behaving as I would expect - two different products that Google will see and affect differently. Just concentrate on getting that Malwarebytes log out to us. That's where the real story will lie. Good luck!

[Legio]

Still running. 13 Objects detected so far.

[Legio]

MALWAREBYTES LOG

It's weird, because all the files are from a mod hosted on TWC; I haven't played it in weeks or made any changes to the folder. This is from a Malwarebytes scan on C.

[irishron]

Keep the list handy. We'll need it.

[Legio]

I restarted the PC and the X and Y are gone. What does this mean?

[irishron]

Google adware.onlinegames and you will get a full.

In Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, see if it is in there as a toolbar. If so uninstall it.

In computer, unhide all files, folders, and drives in Folder Options, and use the search function in the top-right corner for it.

Use regedit for it.

It's malware and odds are your troublemaker.

Edit: A good sign but could come back. Do the above just to cover your ass.

[Legio]

Deleted the files.

Couldn't find anything in REGEDIT, although I didn'tknow how to look.

[PoleCat]

It looks like Adware.OnlineGames may be a false positive in this instance. Malwarebytes took no action beyond reporting them and the files themselves look innocuous at worst. None of those files seem to warrant that tag....

You say you got this mod from TWC? The new Vault maybe? Can you provide the link please so we can look at it?

My two cents - I'm not getting a malware vibe from this end. I'm still leaning towards something else software related. Do you have Advanced SystemCare installed on that computer? Maybe Game Booster was your gateway? Good luck!

Google adware.onlinegames and you will get a full.

After parsing a lot of pages I'm only seeing a handful that are actual threats. The real reason I'm not on board with malware yet is that the files themselves are basically harmless in the context of a mod. We need to take a look at that mod....

EDIT: Legio - Did you do anything different this time when you rebooted? Even the slightest change? Have you installed new hardware recently? Thanks for your answers!

[Legio]

It was installed months ago and I haven't played it in weeks; it's the IBFD 7 mod and I don't think it's a virus.

I don't have Game Booster. Where do I find Advanced SystemCare?

Nothing new and no new hardware. I installed the HUndred Years War mod for Warband last night, though.