Member Avatar for margiek

Hi, my name is Margie and I live in Mexico with my husband Tom and dog, Chica. Tom and I are both writers - not technical stuff. We writes short stories and I write short stories and poetry. Right now it is pouring outside - June thru August are the rainy months. So here I am cofined to the indoors with a computer that's driving me crazy! I have never had a problem with viruses and suddenly I am told that I have 1653 of them. This came with a popup that almost complete covers the desktop and I can't get rid of it. So HELP! please.

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This kind of full-screen alert that lists thousands of infections and blocks the desktop is almost always scareware — a fake security program trying to frighten you into paying or installing more malware. Do not click any buttons in the popup, do not supply payment or passwords, and do not download or run anything the popup suggests.

Immediate, low-risk steps:

  • Try to close the window with Esc or Alt+F4.
  • If that fails, press Ctrl+Alt+Del and open Task Manager; end the task that matches your browser or the popup process. Do not end processes named winlogon.exe, csrss.exe, svchost.exe, or other core Windows services.
  • If Task Manager is blocked or the popup restarts, reboot into Safe Mode (older Windows: press F8 during boot; newer Windows: use Advanced Startup / Troubleshoot -> Startup Settings -> Safe Mode). Safe Mode stops most rogue programs from launching so you can run cleanup tools.

Cleaning and recovery:

  • From Safe Mode run an up-to-date on-demand anti-malware scan and quarantine/remove anything found. If a scan can’t run because the rogue program restarts, use a small stopper tool (runs before the malware) or a rescue environment on a USB/DVD to scan from outside Windows. Back up personal files first, but scan backups before restoring them.
  • After removal, check startup items (msconfig or Task Manager’s Startup tab) and uninstall unfamiliar programs from Control Panel. Change any passwords you used while infected — especially email, banking, and shopping sites.

If removal fails or the system is unstable, a full reinstall of Windows is the surest clean option. is right that an antivirus step is needed, and ’s point about saving logs first is important — keep any scan logs and a list of startup entries if you post for further help. Avoid paying for anything the popup demanded; those charges are commonly fraudulent.

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Member Avatar for selfhelpebooks

Hi Margie:
Welcome.
May I recommend AVG Free Antivirus.
That does the job for me!

Member Avatar for crunchie

Also, download HijackThis Executable from Save it to your desktop.
Start HJT & press the "Do a system scan and save a log file" button. When the scan is finished a window will pop up giving you the option of where to save it. Save it to desktop where it is easy to access. Open the log file and then go to the format Tab and make sure that wordwrap is unchecked. Copy the entire contents of the file & paste it into the body of your post. DO NOT FIX ANYTHING YET. Most of what is there is necessary for the running of your system.

Member Avatar for margiek

Thanks so much. I'll try this.

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