Lost a day...

to malicious software that had found its way into my computer. It was this stuff:

Antivirus System PRO is a fake security software which uses fraudulent strategies by displaying false or exaggerated security issues on your computer rather than any legitimate ones to coerce you into purchasing their
software.

I did some research online on how to remove it and then spoke with one of our technical services people at work. He said the software (or malware) was really bad and that the best thing to do would be to restore my system to a date before the software invaded (I have Windows XP). So I restored it to last Wednesday. You can also remove it with Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware or Windows Defender (which I thought I already had), but it's best to do a restore, since the malware can mess up your Internet connection in the meantime.

The first thing I did tonight when I turned on the computer was to disconnect the DSL line from the wall. The malware keeps letting more damaging stuff into your computer via the Internet, which is one reason why it's best to nip this in the bud before it increasingly damages your computer. (Sure enough, the malware was trying repeatedly to connect to the Internet, without success. Ha!)

Actually, before I located the System Restore option on the Control Panel, I'd started running the Malwarebytes software (which I'd downloaded at work and saved to a CD). It had already found 26 infected files by the time I did the restore.

About the only thing I could do last night was email. It was also playing audio (e.g., a Lysol commercial and music). I had to turn the speakers off--it was so annoying. And the fake warning screens popped up constantly. (Click on the images to enlarge.)

Meanwhile I've downloaded Windows Defender and run a scan now just for the hell of it. (All clean.)

I see I did manage to post something last night. I wasn't sure whether it posted or not. Also, anti-virus software doesn't detect this type of software. By this morning my anti-virus software hadn't found any viruses. (Glad to know that, at least.)