THIS is going around...two friends have just emailed me that it appeared on their systems also.

Watch for it.

(This morning) Just got done getting rid of ....Win32-Fake.Alert-bo..a very interesting virus. It told me virtually every system and file on my computer was infected with something.

It blocked everything and would only let me respond to it. Had to work around, set up AVAST and do re-boot and finally eliminated it.

Looked real, authentic, etc. However to me the tip offs were that it wanted $59.95 for a year, $69.95 for two years and $79.95 for "LIFETIME" and I know of no reliable save security system for sale for a one time lifetime charge.

Also it said "Your credit card will only be charged one time."

Reckon what would have happened if I had actually subscribed to it.

I had that little nasty also. I would recommend downloading Malwarebytes and see if it finds any other traces of it. Somehow it got by McAfee. Unfortunately, sometimes ads are carriers of this kind of Mal-ware.

What pisses me off is some kid in his underwear, in his parents basement, is writing this **** and spreading it around!

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RIP Shipmate

Mine was the Win7.
Nasty, I'm telling you.
Blessings

__________________
TEXAS, by GOD

I always want to get a little bit Arabic in my treatment of these clowns that are nothing more than a plague on the society around them.

I have it on my laptop, I think I am going to have to take it in for removal. It is preventing me from even running the malabytes which i have on that computer.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

I'm glad I found this thread. I'm having to use a friend's machine due to what sounds like what you folks are discussing. It's one of those things that interrupts you with dire warnings that your machine is infected, then won't let you do anything else until you buy the supposed security software. Is that what you're experiencing?

Mine won't let me run anything but my email program.

Andy

We also had it. Malwarebytes works great to get rid of it.

Try starting your computer in SAFE mode and running your removal software

Just cost me $98.50 to get my wife's laptop cleaned up from this bugger!

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Doc Garrett
Dead Man's Doctor

Sounds like something I was dealing with earlier this year. It also disabled my control panel and prevented system restore by wiping out the restore points.

I started in Safe mode and ran AdAware & Malwarebytes multiple times.

It had gotten by MS Security.

Stopped it for ya.

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NRA Certified Instructor

It won't let me run Malwarebytes. What did you do?

Andy

Andy what I had to do was click on AVAST...it would not let me start it...so I right clicked and got to the start button and clicked on it and ran AVAST and it cleared it out.

Hope this helps..it can be a bugger. Had friend who worked about two hours to get rid of it....he has the MS Essentials security software.

I reallly like AVAST.

I just went through this too, took most of Friday and a part of Saturday but I beat it.

This virus also attacks your anti-virus program, for me it shut down McAfee hard and killed my firewall. Restart the computer and when the firts splash screen comes up start hitting F8, keep tapping that key until you force the computer to safe mode. I first ran safe mode to clean as much as I could then rebooted and came up in safe mode with networking so I could access on-line systems. A combination of Spy-bot S&D, Malwarebytes and system restore all in safe mode got me back about 85%. Be sure to right click Spybot and Malwarebytes to select "run as administrator". The last thing was the system restore.

While in normal mode the virus took control of the control panel so I had to restore from safe mode. Once I could start normally the McAfee firewall would not stay on for more than a few seconds and the trojan remains scattered about the infected programs would reactivate. A little searching revealed that McAfee needed to be removed and reinstalled, but McAfee is almost as difficult to clean as a virus. Due to the subscription you have to uninstall McAfee, then run an additional McAfee removal tool (MCPR.exe) which rids the system of the tendrils of McAfee scattered on the computer. If you don't, when you try to reinstall McAfee, their system will register it as another subscription rather than a reinstall. After all that I now have a clean, working PC. All it cost me was a bit of my time.

When you download replacement copy of McAfee, before you do that be sure to uninstall Malwarebytes and Spybot. McAfee does not play well with them. They can be reinstalled after a successful installation of McAfee.

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Non illegitimae carborundum

I got rid of it (I hope) by following the instructions on this website:

Bleeping Computer - Computer Help and Discussion

I had to download the FixNCR.reg on another computer and copy it to my laptop with a jumpdrive.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

There is no end to the good stuff I learn here.
I'm sorry you people had to go thru all the hoopla, but
I sincerely thank you for passing on the warning and clean-up
procedures. TACC1

I'd like to know if anyone running Norton Antivirus was infected with this? I am and haven't seen any sign of it?
Dick

Thanks, Bob!

Try starting in Safe mode. Start the computer & hit F8. Use the keyboard arrows & Enter vice the mouse.

Everyone is making darn sure their OS is as up to date as possible, right?

I picked up the win32 virus a few weeks ago. It got around Kaspersky software. I was able to perform a 'system restore' and cleared all the bad stuff out. Kaspersky identified the virus, but could not clear it.

I hate Windows...

snowman,
I had to remove the security program first the upload Malwarebytes. I will see if I can find the instructions.

Malwarebytes dot com for the free removal or you can buy full version.
good luck

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
cnet has the same version and you can read the reviews. This is a serious virus that can be transferred through email and other downloads.

I'm fighting a rootkit virus right now, on my primary computer.

They are NASTY devils, but other people have fought them before, and there is help to be found on the Internet.

I spent several days researching the particular virus that is inhabiting my computer. One thing it does is prevent you from running or installing any software.

I found a registery repair utility for my OS that defeated this.

I am running anti-virus and anti-malware scans, even as I type this, on my infected computer. The software found a LOT of infected items.

Below are the URLs that I found very useful. You'll have to dig through them, to find the information for your problem, and you particular OS.

I would VERY HIGHLY recommend saving these links, against future need!

Perhaps put them into a MS Word files, which allows for clickable hyperlinks, and burn it onto a CD-ROM. Then you can open the links in an uninfected computer.

In order to disinfect a badly infected computer, you really need to have another computer with access to the Internet, and the ability to burn CD-ROMs available to you.

That way, you can get copies of the software you will need, ESPECIALLY the registry repair utility, onto the infected computer.

I spent a LONG time digging this information up, so save yourself the trouble, and save them for WHEN (not IF) you need it!

Some of these links are specific to my OS and specific virus, but you should be able to find information for your particular virus, and OS, at the same link(s) at different places on the website.

Spyware Warrior: Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites

|MG| Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.51.2.1300 Download

SUPERAntiSpyware.com | Remove Malware | Remove Spyware - AntiMalware, AntiSpyware, AntiAdware!

Bleeping Computer Downloads: ComboFix Download

Malwarebytes won`t install, run or update – How to fix it | My Anti Spyware

Virus Removal Support

FileHippo.com - Download Free Software

Bleeping Computer Downloads: RKill

RKill - What it does and What it Doesn't - A brief introduction to the program

Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help

Remove XP Antivirus 2012, removal instructions

How to remove XP Security Tool 2010, XP Defender Pro, and Vista Security Tool 2010 (Uninstall Guide)

XP Security 2012 (Virus Removal Guide)

Good luck, if you ever need to do this.

Well, I don't know what the deal is, but I'm now able to use my machine again without having done anything about the problem. I suspect, however, that this is but a temporary respite; and that the virus or whatever it is will reappear and shut everything down. I hope not, but I wouldn't bet on something like that just disappearing, unless there has been a divine intervention.

Thanks to those of you who suggested ways to address the problem. I have to confess, though, that I don't really understand how to do much of what I've been told to do.

Thanks again to the OP for opening the thread.

Andy

Download Avast

Click "Scan"

Select "Boot Time Scan"

Re-boot.

This will go through your computer and wipe those bad things away before they can be re-loaded in your computer.

Takes a while.

Follow prompts.

Best of luck.

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and what his trumpet saith

Well, while my machine was mysteriously working I took the opportunity to update and run Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials, and together they eliminated the problem. I believe it was the latter which found "Win32".

Thanks again for all your help, friends, and to the original poster for alerting us.

Andy

McAfee couldn't catch a cold! It came with AT&T internet. Our son, a software tech, installed one of the free programs found on CNET.com. He chose AVG free anti virus and it caught our virus first run and we haven't been bothered since. He says these armature virus writers could be considered artist in their communities that compete with one another in what they can devise, put out and how much havoc they cause. They display and brag about their ability to other like "artist".

If I could I would invent a burgular alarm that would detect these incoming things and send a virus back at the sender.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD