XP holding me to ransome
 

Im writing this on my mobile because XP anti spyware has taken over my computer. Its disabled everything because i got an infection this morning and wont let me disable it. My only option is to pay $59 to licence it. How do i turn it off so my installed antivirus can take over and heal it?

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

It sounds to me like you have a virus pretending to be anti spyware

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

im always told to restart machine in safe mode then run anti spy and anti virus to clean it off

not much help but hope its some use

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

Its Malware.

Download malware bytes or adaware and then run that, let it scan your machine and it should clean the pox off of it.

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

You cant.

You have been infected with Ransomware, the latest Virus "trick".

Ok so maybe "you cant" is a bit strong, but my usual response is to reformat the hard drive and re-install windows from scratch.

Recovery if possible is VERY involved.

There are ways of saving your data, but it involves new hard drives, external USB hard drive caddies and Linux which may be out of your comfort zone.

Whatever you do - DONT give them any money, they are NOT a legitimate company.

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

If its the pox I think it is, it wont let you run any executables, saying that it has disabled that for your safety and security.

Worth a try but...

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

and also, dont type your credit card details in anywhere or any bank details, dont check your online banking.

I suspect Soulkiss is probably right it wont let you do anything or download anything.

If it were me I'd grab any data off it that I needed then format the thing and start again. It'll probably be quicker than faffing about trying to clean it.

Remember that your AV software is more than likely disabled, so anything you take off it might also be infected, just be careful.

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

agreed

rip your data and refresh the machine...

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

If you are gonna re-install I would reccomend installing Windows 7. This is not only a much better and safer OS but will also give you the option of keeping your old Windows installation and therefore all your data.

Re: XP holding me to ransome
 

whats the program called, we can google it for ya and find the removal instructions!