I just wanted to warn of a non-lethal but annoying virus that I encountered over the weekend that seemed to be undetectable by Ad-Aware. I have Ad-Aware 2008 (the free version, so I can't really complain) and did not have it running as the virus was downloaded to my computer, but the virus was not detected even after doing a full system scan (yes, I did download and install the latest virus definitions for AA08).

The virus is called "Anti-Virus-1" or "Anti-Virus Number-1". It made it seem like your virus software detected a ton of bad stuff on your computer and directed you to a website to "purchase an upgrade" to solve these problems. The program throws a lot of annoying and convincing stuff on your screen (even a bogus "crash blue screen") to make you think that your computer is toast.

I don't think of myself as terribly naive, and in my 15 years of experience with home computers, this is the first time I've fallen for this crap.

I just would like to make Lavasoft aware of this issue. But they shouldn't feel too bad as even my own virus protection software didn't detect it either (and after calling them they wanted $99 to fix the issue - fortunately, I found some good detailed instructions on how to remove it from my computer).

May I ask what Virus and other Spy/Ad programs you use?

I don't think free Ad-Aware 2008 includes any live protection, altho that is being included to some extent in AnniEd 2009.

I have seen computers infected with such and cleaned them with other programs. My Avast and Spybot S&D seems to protect me pretty well, and I am adventurous on my surfing.

Hi STS,

DDon is right. The free version of Ad-Aware 2008, unfortunately, will not protect against nor remove viruses from your computer. You need the pro/plus version for virus protection.

But thanks for the info, if you should run into trouble with viruses again - feel free to post in the HJT forum for help with removal.

Casey