Brand new M11X.. already have a virus w/in 20 minutes

How frustrating.. I've only had it for less than half an hour and I have been trying to set up my laptop and checked to make sure McAffe was working and downloaded Firefox when I get this virus on my home screen.. and a bubble pop up on tray that says system is infected.. use system tools to scan and erase, in which it costs money. And I can't do anything on it.. to try system restore or Recovery media (which I didn't do yet).

I called Alienware and its costs 80 bucks to fix any spyware..

Anyone have any solutions ??? LOL. .thank god i have an old laptop to use.. now I just have a pretty little m11x sitting here..

The home screen now says -- "WARNING, you're in Danger! Your computer is infected with spyware! All you do with computer is stored forever in your hard disk, When you visit sites, send emails...all your actions are logged. Ad it is impossible to remove them w/ standard tools. Your data is still avlb for forensics.
And in some cases For your boss, your friends, your wife, your children. Every site you or somebody or even something, like spyware, opened in your browsers, w/ all the images, and all the downloaded and maybe later removed movies or mp3 songs - are still there and could break your life!" .. and then an add..

 

If its asking you to pay for something to fix it....then its not from Dell/Alienware. What do you mean by you used 'system tools to scan and erase'

If your home screen says that, then you've gotten one of the cheezy viruses that tries to redirect you to their site and have you pay them to remove their virus.

Just use Microsoft Security Essentials, its free and even better than most pay anti-virus programs.

To be honest, it would be VERY hard to get a virus from just downloading firefox. There must have been some other website visited in there, some other toolbar installed, something else has to be the factor that caused it to get installed.

Take a look at this post over at lifehacker about these types of viruses:
Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done

 

Comodo Internet Security:
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/1000/standalone/cispremium_installer_x64.exe

Malwarebytes:
http://majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=5756&file=15&evp=693ee0b20204960edfd909666f809b26

 

I just had to remove it from my girlfriend's computer, it's a single file you gotta delete in safe mode located in one of the appdata folders, google it.

 

Use AlienRespawn to restore the system to the 'out of box' state. AlienRespawn is in your Start menu as well as the task tray (look for the funny orange/grey circle icon). Once done, re-evaluate the 'system tools' you are installing and running.

 

I deal with this stupid program all the time. I am the IT guy at a private high school and they get this stupid program all the time. H-Emmaunel is right it's easy to remove and it just takes a minute to look at the properties on the shortcut in safe mode to find out where the file is located. Just delete the shortcut, the file and folder it created and bam! you are free and clear.

 

you can try doing a system restore.

 

Thanks for everyone who has chimed in. I will try this method later. System Tool is the name of the system that downloaded itself on here.

It essentially locked me out from using any kind of programs, or restoring, etc.

It sounds like this is a common virus and it's very disconcerting on a brand new machine. I will try the safe mode and see how it goes and report back.

 

Yes, its unfortunate you have to deal with an issue on your new computer, but most likely it came from a site you visited and was not on the computer out of the box. It would be extremely unlikely for a new Dell/Alienware to arrive with a virus already on it, not impossible, but just very unlikely.

Just double-check which sites you were visiting and make sure they are legitimate sites for the software you were trying to install.

 

Install Avast... you will have nothing to worry about.

 

So the McAfee program installed on these laptops is pretty much useless? I haven't used an antivirus program since early XP. No need as I am careful about settings and what I install, but I might as well uninstall it if it doesn't do a thing.

 

Not even close to being true. There are no bullet-proof AV solutions. Malware is morphing on an hourly basis finding ways to circumvent heuristic and definition based detection methods. Avast is good as are are few other products out there, but it is by no means a guarantee of safety.

 

Avast.

It would seem the problem is between the computer and the chair.

It also helps to not be an idiot and go where you're not supposed to.

 

I would suggest in the future getting avast!
I've used Norton, AVG, MSE, McAfee, kaspersky, BullDog, and all have failed in terms of virus protection and also keeping my performance; accept avast!
http://www.avast.com

 

Virus scan your files with any current anti-virus program and that should prevent 99.9% of them. Having any of them actively scanning you shouldn't have many issues. All of them being talked about in here are decent.

I personally use MSE.

 

Well, I fixed it. It was a rogue site, and finally did a search.

For those who may get this Trojan, it's called 'System Tool' or a similar name.

I went into the C drive, ProgramData (if it's no hidden), then a funny sounding file name with letters and numbers.. hit delete and restart out of Safe Mode.

Worked great. I'm now deleting the useless McAfee and doing spamfighter and Avira.. as per everyone's advice.

 

Well it's not the brand new M11x's fault.
It sounds like you are blaming Dell for it by the name of the thread.
As long as you don't go to Crack sites or adult sites, it is pretty difficult to get Trojan.
avast! does it's job well for me. You should give it a try.