What is the initial verbal meme that triggers the Pontypool outbreak in the movie Pontypool?
posted by benzenedream on Oct 18, 2009 - 4 answers

How do I make an Antivirus Pro 2010/Protection System infection go away? [more inside]
posted by momzilla on Sep 24, 2009 - 21 answers

Is the FanCheck application on facebook a virus? [more inside]
posted by KateHasQuestions on Sep 14, 2009 - 8 answers

While attempting to remove a virus from my in-laws Windows XP Home machine, I have now made it so that it boots to the login screen, and when you click on a username, it logs in and immediately logs my back out, leaving me at the login screen. Oh noes. [more inside]
posted by 4ster on Sep 6, 2009 - 19 answers

Medicalfilter: I kissed someone with a cold sore. Do i now have herpes? [more inside]
posted by freddymetz on Aug 21, 2009 - 12 answers

I just got a raging beast of a new laptop. Runs Left 4 Dead like a dream. Problem: I've been in Mac-world for 7 years. Now that I'm back in Windows Land, I gotta be careful. What's the best free/low-cost/open-source spyware/malware/virus protection around? [more inside]
posted by GilloD on Aug 19, 2009 - 24 answers

How do I get rid of this annoying virus? [more inside]
posted by Blackwatch on Aug 12, 2009 - 14 answers

Suggestions for cleaning a virus-infected Windows machine appearing in a non-administrator account without resort to (1) the administrator account or (2) a nuke and re-install? [more inside]
posted by Napoleonic Terrier on Jul 30, 2009 - 9 answers

There's probably a virus on my laptop, how can I identify it? [more inside]
posted by dhoe on Jul 26, 2009 - 8 answers

Last night, the volume control on my computer started acting up -- every few moments, it would turn itself down to zero. Can the hivemind hope me? [more inside]
posted by wandering steve on Jul 22, 2009 - 2 answers

I've been wondering if it is possible to apply the same solution to the never-ending problem of Windows corruption (and the resulting degraded performance) that data centers use. As I understand it, Windows is booted over the network, so what happens to the local hard drive does not matter. Is there a way of doing the same thing to a home PC? Can you make a hard drive "read-only" after putting a bootable Windows image on it, and then use a seperate hard drive for data storage? I really detest the solution that MS sponsors (virus protection/firewall software) because it is just another thing that you have to buy which supports it's business partners. Any other ideas?
posted by ackptui on Jul 16, 2009 - 7 answers

Computer froze completely during a game, all subsequent downloads of various installer files were corrupt. BSODs galore. Now, when I turn on my computer, no video input is detected whatsoever. Next step? [more inside]
posted by TimeTravelSpeed on Jul 13, 2009 - 19 answers

I recently met someone who told me he'd had to discard all the hard disks and memory chips from his computers due to their being infected by a virus. He'd had to discard graphics cards and even an expensive printer because its internal memory had become corrupted by the virus (rorschach, I think). I had never before heard of permanent damage to hardware from virus infection. Clue me in, please?
posted by carterk on Jul 12, 2009 - 46 answers

I've tried illegally downloading an application, and I'm pretty sure it is intent on messing up my computer and/or stealing my infos. Here's the catch- I'm runny the latest version of Leopard OS_X. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 1, 2009 - 5 answers

What are the common form of Computer Virus spread these days? I remeber back in the day it was all about Word macros, then Outlook attachmets auto-running, but therse days is it all Internet Browser Exploits? How does your computer get infected these days? Can you get a virus just by visiting a webpage (but not running any aps / agreeing to intall anything)? [more inside]
posted by mary8nne on Jun 22, 2009 - 13 answers

Do any of the major virus-scan software sites permit sending in a questionable programs for possible addition to the ongoing alerts? [more inside]
posted by Quarter Pincher on Jun 16, 2009 - 3 answers

So for the first time in...well, ever. I let my pc get infected. The virus is calling itself 'Internet Antivirus Pro'....and this is how it happened... [more inside]
posted by dawson on Jun 1, 2009 - 9 answers

Can a virus on my desktop infect my external HD? Solutions needed for backing up data on a computer I'm about to nuke. [more inside]
posted by gnutron on May 20, 2009 - 7 answers

Thinkpad T61 (Vista) doing scary things. Extremely naive about computer matters. Any help appreciated. [more inside]
posted by mustard seeds on May 18, 2009 - 12 answers

Trojan Virus Attack [more inside]
posted by roxiesmom on May 14, 2009 - 11 answers

Can anyone suggest a remedy for a slowed up wireless connection? [more inside]
posted by tangyraspberry on May 8, 2009 - 8 answers

How is the swine infuenza virus identified? [more inside]
posted by halogen on Apr 29, 2009 - 11 answers

Norton detected a virus (?), Downloader.MisleadApp, on my laptop. According to Norton, the problem has been "fixed." But ever since then, I cannot access the Internet. How do I get back online? [more inside]
posted by ihavepromisestokeep on Apr 27, 2009 - 8 answers

On or around April 1, my computer caught something that caused havoc with my antivirus programs but now everything seems fine--this can't be correct? [more inside]
posted by librarylis on Apr 27, 2009 - 5 answers

.mp3 and .wma (played with Media Player on Windows XP) files seem to have amalgamated into a file named 'USBC°ïæå.' of varying size. Any clue why and how to fix it? [more inside]
posted by sparklejess on Apr 21, 2009 - 8 answers

Is this a computer security issue? [more inside]
posted by Iron Rat on Apr 11, 2009 - 11 answers

My girlfriend's Thinkpad T23 is infected with a virus. [more inside]
posted by Student of Man on Mar 29, 2009 - 9 answers

My install of Windows XP got borked by a virus that necessitated the deletion of a number of .exe files needed by the operating system. I was kind of hoping to do this without re-formatting my C: drive, so I've been selecting the option to Repair the C:/Windows installation. It says that it successfully copies its setup files, and then restarts the computer. Upon restarting, it shows me a black screen with a mouse pointer but does not continue the install. [more inside]
posted by RobotHero on Mar 28, 2009 - 4 answers

I've been attacked by some malware called "Spyware Protect 2009". Have you guys seen this before? Screenshot and symptoms inside - hoping someone can help me kill this thing. [more inside]
posted by CRM114 on Mar 26, 2009 - 22 answers

Facebook-filter: Somehow two links have been posted to my facebook page, NOT by me, which directly people to a website to "Vote for my modeling pic please :) http://theimageparlour.com/images/?&uploaded=58291H560.jpg" or similar ... that pages contains malware or virus. How is this getting posted? How can I stop it? [more inside]
posted by unclezeb on Mar 15, 2009 - 8 answers

Is it a VIRUS? [more inside]
posted by seeminglyshy on Mar 11, 2009 - 14 answers

can viruses - specifically the pe_virut variants - survive re-imaging? [more inside]
posted by Davaal on Mar 3, 2009 - 5 answers

Is there such a thing as a "listless cold," with relatively few symptoms but a decreased energy level? [more inside]
posted by Gordion Knott on Mar 3, 2009 - 13 answers

Almost a week ago I had a stomach virus (or possibly food poisoning, I guess), and I still don't feel back to normal. Is there anything I can do, or is this within the realm of normal? [more inside]
posted by peep on Feb 16, 2009 - 15 answers

What Is The Best PC Anti-Virus Software? [more inside]
posted by Lipstick Thespian on Feb 14, 2009 - 45 answers

C5.zedo keeps opening tabs on Firefox and redirecting me to poker sites! I've run Sophos and Ad-Aware and the problem keeps continuing. Has anyone managed to get rid of zedo?
posted by TorontoSandy on Jan 31, 2009 - 4 answers

My laptop's been infected by something that is interfering with all the usual solutions. Please help! [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Jan 25, 2009 - 30 answers

So how vulnerable is the Internet to some sneaky worm attack that targets Windows? It looks like organised crime is running increasingly sophisticated malware attacks to control large numbers of clients, if I were a bad person I could imagine a smart, quiet rootkit or similar that infected many, many machines then went live and could be very disruptive. [more inside]
posted by bystander on Jan 23, 2009 - 14 answers

My google search results are redirecting me to certain sites (see 'more inside') due to adware/spyware that AdAware and Norton can't find. It's intermittent, and happening to both Firefox, IE, AND Chrome, although Chrome is choosing to simply not load the pages and gives me error messages. I can't google a solution because of the redirecting problem. Can you help? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Jan 10, 2009 - 20 answers

Something is eating up my disk space as I watch. What should I do? (somewhat urgent) [more inside]
posted by Gor-ella on Jan 3, 2009 - 18 answers

How can I scan a PST file for viruses? [more inside]
posted by momzilla on Dec 29, 2008 - 4 answers

How can I reinstall Windows onto an old Toshiba Portege 7010CT with no external drives? [more inside]
posted by ajp on Dec 21, 2008 - 13 answers

Firefox and sometimes IE opens random websites on its own , in new windows. I ran AVG scan and Anti Spyware as well as the Rootkit module. But even when it says my system is clean, the new windows come up in Firefox, about every two minutes. I noticed that Firefox doesn't even need to be running at first for this to occur. AVG resident shield does find sometimes a Trojan virus in some random dll (just popped up again, it's called Trojan Vundo) and I press heal or move to vault, but that didn't fix the problem. I also ran hikackthis and tried to delete whatever I deemed unnecessary or suspect from the registry, also deleting the associated files on the hard drive. But to no avail. My system is windows XP. Any other good free programs I can try to clean up my system? What about good cheap payware? AVG has been good until now but obviously it cannot cope with this new threat even in its most up-to-date form.
posted by spacefire on Dec 14, 2008 - 22 answers

Yo, immunologists/virologists! Do viral envelopes ever contain actual allogeneic MHC molecules? That is, if person X gets infected by an enveloped virus and passes it on to person Y, will person Y get some of X's MHCs? [more inside]
posted by greatgefilte on Dec 10, 2008 - 5 answers

I think I have this virus that was sent to me from a friend on Facebook? it's called 'Koobface'. [more inside]
posted by worthylakepix on Dec 5, 2008 - 4 answers

First-time Windows user. Brand new Asus Eee running Windows XP. Will installing Ubuntu get rid of these nasty viruses? [more inside]
posted by rebekah on Nov 23, 2008 - 17 answers

Infected computer needs help! [more inside]
posted by melgy on Nov 16, 2008 - 12 answers

My friend's only Admin account on Windows has been ripped to shreds by a virus, an uninstaller program, or both; his CD drawer won't open or shut manually at all; and his BIOS settings, which are protected by a password we don't know, are to boot from a CD in the drive before anything else. Help me to not destroy his computer with an axe. [more inside]
posted by Acheman on Nov 14, 2008 - 20 answers

Do I have a computer virus? How can I get rid of it? [more inside]
posted by Beardman on Nov 5, 2008 - 9 answers

Someone went phishing, and hooked my daughter. What can she do now? [more inside]
posted by iconomy on Oct 17, 2008 - 16 answers