Have I Malware or Virus?

[mshrmh]

silvery - no problem right-clicking the shield - just not prepared to download at the moment.
Thanks for the links but I can't access them - I get the message described in my post of yesterday 14.08.29 - that's the problem - my PC will not connect to these sites!

[silvery]

Here is a phone number then


Home and Home Office Customer Service (tel.) 020 7949 0107

Hope it helps



I have phoned it and it got a recorded message/choose a number message, but hope it gets through to someone.   

[mshrmh]

Silvery - thank you very much indeed!

I've had a nightmare since my last post - I decided I'd better print some stuff that I'd put on since my last backup (which was pre-problems) for safety - that really gummed up the works. It printed one thing OK then I got alternating messages of ink low and printer not responding - and I hadn't asked it to print anything. Clicking to get rid of one produced the other, like some mad duet. the only things I could then get to work were the close (x) boxes on each window. I eventually got things closed & back to the desktop still with the alternating printer messages. (Incidentally there wasn't a printer icon on the taskbar). If I clicked on the Start tab I could see the menu list briefly, before it disappeared - far too quickly to get to Control Panel or even to the Turn Off section. I turned off by holding down the on switch button. I left it a while, switched on again - two goes to boot up - tried printing, same problem. Left it longer before trying again - can't boot normally at all, I've had to go through Safe Mode to get here.

I know that if I get anywhere with McAfee it may take a while/ several calls, so as I'm away for a few days (and need to pack now) I'll leave the call(s) until my return. The number is now on a big piece of paper by the screen, ready for me.

Thanks once again!

[downside]

A bit more information ....

This freelotto banner thing may not be caused by FREELOTTO.COM.  According to their website other spurious websites or spyware might refer you to freelotto.  You also had an advert or you were redirected to a casino site, which would suggest you have a BHO.  This link has some useful advice on how to get rid of an unwanted BHO:

http://www.pcflank.com/art36.htm

If you cannot download a program to get rid of it then you could edit your registry and get rid of it that way.  I would suggest you open NotePad first so that you can paste those long GUIDs somewhere.  Right click a entry in your BHO section and select Copy Key Name and then paste it into NotePad like so:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{02478D38-C3F9-4EFB-9B51-7695ECA05670}

Once you have copied them all, copy just the curly braces part and click on Edit and then Search on the menu bar and then copy the curly braces number into the search box and click Find Next.  There may be several entries for one GUID, so keep searching until you arrive back at the first one again.

The article mentions that there is probably a .dll file out there that is being used to redirect your browser or causing banner ads to be displayed across the screen.  When you find the offending BHO make a note of the file it points to e.g.:

C:\Windows\System32\bannerads.dll

Delete the BHO and then delete the .dll file above.

[Nick29]

Just as an aside - if you ever get a pop-up on a website, do not close it by clicking on Cancel or the red X in the corner.  Instead, go to your task bar at the bottom of the screen, right-click on it, and select Close. 

[silvery]

Interesting Nick, now why is that?   What happens if you click red cross or cancel then?

[newbe_nz]

Yes Nick why is that?

Newbe

[kiwihalfpint]

Yes Nick, I am curious to know as well.


KHP

[DS]

 
 

I agree with Nick’s good advice. You can also use Alt and F4 sometimes to get rid of them.

If the pop up is a “nasty” it can have been programmed so that any part of it (including the two bits referred to by Nick) can cause problems if clicked on. Therefore, it is good advice to not touch it directly in any way but to use one of the indirect methods to get rid of it from the screen.

DS