Troublesome Virus

http://forums.cox.com/forum_home/internet_forum/f/5/t/13724.aspx

I downloaded the free version of Malwarebytes and ran a complete scan.   It eliminated 105 contaminated files.   (Not a ringing endorsement for McAfee ! )    So far so good.  Haven't had a virus return yet.  I'll let you know if it comes back.

I hope Malwarebytes eliminated the pop-up program.  You probably had a Browser Hijacker and it's not necessarily a virus.  The program could have installed while you downloaded another legitimate program...or you may have clicked another pop-up window...or visited a certain site.  Hijackers need "permission" to install on your computer and that permission could be interpreted as just a simple click.

Besides the annoying pop-up window, you got off easy.  Some hijackers disallow access to security software sites, such as Malwarebytes.org.

As Bruce said, it may not be a 'virus', so it wouldn't necessarily be McAfee's 'fault' for missing it. I'm not a fan of McAfee (or Norton for that matter), but we do need to be fair and understand how antivirus/antimalware/antispyware works and is capable of.

Most antiVIRUS programs are pretty good at detecting/eliminating/preventing viruses. But, they are a bit hit and miss when it comes to malware/spyware/ransomware/etc. That's why it is good practice to use a suite of products. Antivirus of your choice, and then usually a combination of antimalware/antispyware products. The reason to use more than one anti-whatever-ware product is because one product might pick up on 80% of what's out there. A different product might also pick up 80%, but part of product 2 might pick up all/some of what product 1 didn't.

Of course, NO product out there is going to be useful if your computing practices are not safe. Meaning, if you know a download contains a virus/malware and you go ahead and install it anyway, then you are now infected and you can't blame any product for missing it. Not that anyone would do this intentionally, but I just wanted to point it out. Of course, even if you DON'T know if a downloaded file is infected with something, and you download and execute it, you are going to get infected and no program can stop it. That's why if you are going to download any file from the internet, it's always smart to make sure that, at a minimum, your antivirus software scans that file specifically (either automatically or manually). At least that gives you a shot to stop something potentially dangerous. If even a scan comes up clean, that is not a guarantee that the file is safe. If someone wrote a virus/malware that is new and fresh, and antivirus companies therefor don't have it as part of what they scan for (yet...since it's new), then the antivirus program will not detect it and you will get infected with whatever it is. And this is why I said before about using safe practices.

I would need a lot more fingers on my hands to count the number of times that people I know that simply download mp3s from the net, and this caused some sort of an infection. ANY download from the net can contain bad stuff, so beware. Again...safe practices will beat any anti-whatever program out there.

Also, in regards to anti-whatever programs....make sure you keep them ALL updated regularly. New bad stuff is written all the time, and antivirus/malware/etc companies update their databases to include new founded bad stuff. But, if you don't download these updates, then you are not protected against the new stuff added to their databases. Again...more safe/good practices when it comes to computer use.

Also, sometimes when you get the 'popups' while on the internet, and your browser stops responding to your commands, nothing may be 'on' your computer at all. It may simply be the code of the popup that renders your browser inoperable. Simply using Task Manager to close any instances of your browser will close the popup, and then you can move along with your computer day. All the while, your computer was not actually infected with anything directly. It was just 'temporarily taken over'.

As far as anti-whatever products go, of course the big names in virus protection is McAfee and Norton...neither of which I like. They are both far too much of resource hogs. There are a couple free ones out there that are really pretty darn good, and are free for their base product (meaning, just basic antivirus). I've heard good things about AVG, and I personally use Avast. Good anti-malware products are Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy. Again, both free and do a very good job. Malwarebytes also makes a separate FREE product called Malwarebytes Anti-Root Kit. This is another great product that can search for 'bad stuff' on your computer.

Of course, you even have to be aware of viruses/malware that appear to be a legitimate warning. I personally had to fix someone's laptop that was using AVG, and they kept getting popup warnings from AVG that they had serious infections, and they had to 'click this link to visit our website and pay for the full version of their product to remove the infection'. Turns out the AVG popup was fake, and the link to pay was not AVG-related at all, but just a way to have you give these fake people money to remove something that they infected you with, but made it look like your legitimate AVG product detected a virus. If they would have paid, they would NOT have been paying AVG at all for their full product. It was a scam. So again, beware...and use lots of good, known products...and use safe practices. :)

I agree with everything that has been said so far. +1 AVG, Avast, Malwarebytes, etc. One thing I might add is the website Bleepingcomputer.com. It's a user forum specializing in virus/malware repair. Be prepared to do alot of tests and copy/pasting results, but the people there are very informed and helpful. Most times they will have a walk through on how to get rid of most popular malware, so you can just google "name of malware" +bleeping or see here for their removal guides.