Windows Defender not picking up spyware?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jonhill
  • Start date Start date
J

jonhill

Hello,

Last night I got a pop-up message at the bottom of my screen (Windows XP)
informing me in a dialogue box with red writing that 'Your computer has been
infected!' and stating that Windows would download the latest software to
help me remedy this if I clicked in the dialogue box. I did click and
nothing happened.

The message continues to appear periodically (when it is minimised, it is a
small cross in a red circle at the bottom right corner of the screen).

I downloaded the newest version of Defender and ran a full system scan, but
it informed me that my system is operating normally and detected no unwanted
software etc. The message contineus to appear however.

I am confused, and very novice when it comes to computers. Can anyone help?

Many thanks in advance...
 
Jon:

I'm pretty sure that the pop-up box was nothing from Windows or
anything already resident on your computer. Rather, it's malware that was
just hoping you'd click it so that it would download to your system. The
creators of these nasty programs make them look very official and convincing.
My wife's computer was infected with this same thing and Defender and AVG
(our antivirus) do NOT find it.
Check the Internet for links to sites that will help you with this.
This is not a Defender issue and Defender (or this group) won't be of much
help. There's a two-pronged attack for this malware but I can't remember what
it's called. If you Google "phoney anitvirus" or something along that line
you'll find it. You need to download a couple of small programs, a set of
instructions you should then print out, and then run the fix following the
instructions.
Good luck and don't despair. It's a common bug and can be cleaned.
 
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