Think my Dad has a virus problem

Status
Not open for further replies.

PuritanCovenanter

The Joyful Curmudgeon
Staff member
He had AVG on his computer. It stopped working. He couldn't send emails or download programs.

So he thought he would purchase McAfee online. He went to download it and it wouldn't because AVG was still on it. Well, I am not so sure about that. He tried to uninstall AVG and it comes up with an error saying that its backup didn't work.

BTW, he is using Vista... on the update list it wants to download package 3 for XP. It won't download. It comes up with an error.

So he brought his computer by my house for me to look at. I can't even get AVG to start.

He contacted McAfee and they took over the computer and couldn't do anything and just told him he had a virus.

What do I need to do? Does anyone have any ideas?
 
Did you try uninstalling AVG using RevoUninstaller?

It's a very clean way to get rid of software and is often my fallback in case something won't cooperate.
 
Everything I download and try to open comes up with a C:\Users\Home\Downloads\......setup.exe is not a valid Win32 application.
 
Can you get to the Task Manager? I'd like to see a list of the active processes.
 
I say just take it to a computer repair shop and fork over the $40 to have a professional remove the virus.
 
Try Norton Utilities rather than McAfee, and go with a physical disk rather than a download. Your father's computer may indeed have a virus that is blocking downloads of anti-virus software.

It is much harder to block the inserting and reading of a CD. Norton disks will come with instructions on how to do special boot procedures if you suspect the computer is already infected. However, you do need to be prepared to spend a number of hours dealing with this if you really do have a virus since you may have to do a number of different things manually following the Norton manual's directions.
 
Take a screenshot of it. Just hit PrtScn on your keyboard (if you have a laptop, it may require another key in conjunction with PrtScn). That is for Windows. It may be different with Macs/Linux.
 
Actually, for windows it's Alt+PrntScrn to copy a single window. Make sure you drag the corner out to make it big enough to see everything... if you can't, just take a couple screenshots. You can paste them into Paint and save as a .png file.
 
I had a recent similar problem with the anti-virus (and also using Vista). The anti-virus download would almost be completed when an error arises and the whole thing uninstalls itself. The problem was rectified by downloading service pack 2 for Vista from microsoft.
 
For what it's worth once you get your dad's computer fixed, consider installing Trend Micro. It is far and away the best antivirus and malware program I have ever owned.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top