Windows 8 Computer keep picking up malware.

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I posted about my friends computer that kept blue screening.
I finally got that fixed and the computer is running good, but he keeps picking up malware.

Today while I was talking on the phone he had the Java Update thing pop up 4 times.

Every time he runs Malwarebytes he finds PUPs and removes them but the phony popups etc keep happening.

He is running MSE and Windows Firewall, and he scans with Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware daily.

I checked and MSE and the Firewall are shown as running normally.

This all started a month ago when he moved to a new home, prior to that his computer was as clean as mine.

The new location has a very fast internet connection by Comcast.
It shows his bandwidth as 1GBps, and today he was downloading The Elder Scrolls online at 320 MBps, (I wish I could do that) I only got about speeds in the 30s.

I'm wondering it his new Router has something to do with the poor firewall performance, it is not the same as his old one, supposedly to support Comcast's new high speed service.

Anyone have any ideas, I don't really want to install another anti virus program but it's getting to be a real pain.

Mike

 

[Jimbo22]

It's possible with the router...but I highly doubt it. My concern; is there any active malware protection running? Or is the malware software just opened to run when one thinks it's needed?

I have Malwarebytes Pro the paid version and it runs 24/7 and is well worth the investment.

 

[badrobot]

The problem must be in the browser. There could be a browser extension installed that keeps doing it. I just had the "RightCoupon" crap installed on my Google Chrome 3 days ago and it keeps doing something on its own. I don't know how it got there but when I went to Google Chrome settings, under "Extensions" there are 2 entries there with remarks as "Not from Google Play Store, etc.". So I just hit the trash can icon (to delete it) and run scanners and it's gone.

 

[davidhk129]

PUP = Potentially Unwanted Programs.
In general, they are not necessarily harmful, just annoying. Of course, removal is the right course of action.
If Java really needs updating, one should go to Java website instead of accepting any website popup suggestion to update. Perhaps, you friend should be more selective when surfing the net.

Suggest to check the presence of Conduit .
If using IE......Tools > Manage add-ons .....

This article maybe worth reading......
Link Removed

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi guys.

Thanks for the response.

One of the things that we've done to try and fix this was to uninstall Google Chrome which he had been using for years and switch to FireFox.

When I looked at his security settings it says that MSE and the Windows firewall are both working.

I've been thinking about installing 3rd party anti virus software, but I haven't done that myself for years.

At this time he has no extensions installed, but he was running Adblock, and will probably install it in FireFox as it was in Chrome.

It seems like he's under a relentless attack of malware.
As I said this all started when he moved from his old house to the new one.

I don't really think that it is the router, his wife's laptop is running off the wireless connection from the same router and she isn't having this problem.

I tried to do a repair install, but it hung at the point where is was unpacking the install files and we couldn't get it to advance from there so we backed out and I had to fix the BCD file to get it to boot normally again.

He's running Windows 7, I was surprised that it wouldn't let me do the upgrade install booting from the disk. That's the way I've always done it, but it insisted on starting the install from inside Windows.

Other than the constant barrage of malware the computer seems to be running fine now.

Much better than before we went through everything.

We did got the the Java website and download and install the latest version but he still gets the popups. We also used the utility to confirm the version of Java that's installed.

It just acts like the Firewall and MSE aren't doing anything.
Maybe Malwarebytes Pro is something he and I should both consider.

Mike

 

[Joe S]

Well MSE doesn't rate very well in comparison tests. The last I knew AV Comparatives had decertified it. I removed it from my Windows 7 after I noticed it had stopped running a few times.
Joe