I might have a virus. Is there a free download which would sort it out? If not what should I get?

[Spidermama]

AVG don't seem to do free downloads any more. Is there a good free security thing I can download and if not which is the best value one to buy?

Thanks.

Malwarebites Anti-Malware, to sort out the current virus

Then for ongoing protection, you can still use AVG but apparently it's a bit rubbish now. (You have to search for AVG free in google - it's a bit hidden!) ESET NOD32 is a good (paid for) antivirus program, and cheaper than Norton etc.

Thanks Bertie.

Is Malwarebites free? I tried to download it last night and couldn't. I feel so out of depth with my computer and yet as a freelancer it's an essential tool.

My 10 year old ds is in training to be the house geek which is great.

OK I've now downloaded the free malwarebytes several times and my computer won't run it saying it's not a valid Win32 application.

What now?

I can recommend Ad-Aware for the detection and removal of bad programs. I don't know how it compares to Malwarebites but it is good and it is free. You can get it here:
www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

However it's not anti-virus so you'll still need something like AVG to do that job.

hiya i did a thread last night which may or may not help you.

have you tried your internet banking, does it ask you for your 'entire' security code, as opposed to just one or two digits?

here is my thread for anyone who is expereincing this

Thanks BP. I'll give it a go. I have AVG but it doesn't seem to work any more and there's an exclamation mark over the icon now which I guess can't be a good thing.

Pirate it was your thread which inspired me to get this sorted.

I haven't noticed the bank thing but haven't tried to log on with the bank any more. Will try now.

I installed Malware last night, am now installing Adaware too.

The virus had stopped my Avg free copy working, and had demolished my firewall. I only know this after much research last night, and windows flagged up that my firewall was disabled, (after I ran Malware which took 1 hour 40 mins, and put the infected files into quarantine.)

I am not techy at all so had to doa lot of searching around and hope now i am covered!!

Right. I just downloaded adware and my computer gave the same message which was 'not a valid Win32 application'.

What does this mean?

Where am I going wrong?

Maybe I should go to pc world and just buy norton or something but would this work?

try googling the exact message it is giving you? it's not the same as the one i was getting. Well i wasn't getting anything actually, just pc running very slow coinciding with the bank details problem.

"Right. I just downloaded adware and my computer gave the same message which was 'not a valid Win32 application'."

What exactly did you download? Right click on the file and click "properties".

What it the file name in the box at the top?

What is the "type of file".

What version of Windows are you on?

It sounds like maybe the virus is preventing you from installing any new software. I think on malwarebites website, you can do a scan without installing the software. Will try to find it for you.

Ah, sorry, it is Kaspersky (also a good AV program) www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

bertiebotts, now that the infected bits have been quarantined, do i just delete them all.

thanks!

I think so, yes.