Google added this month a malware, or spyware, warning that pops-up to warn your computer is infected, and it offers a link for information that can help fix the problem. On the Google support page they list several anti-virus software that may help including, BitDefender, F-Secure, McAfee (my personal favorite), Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Safety Scanner, and Windows Defender. Notably left off the list is Norton Antivirus, which I have found to slow down computers. Google also suggests using the search term "antivirus" to find additional software.
All that software is great, except none of those programs remove malware or spyware that might be infecting your computer. It is also concerning the warning says "malware," but the suggestions on the help page say "antivirus." Those infections are not the same, and the software required is more difficult to find. I tested this out on one of my computers, tried the Google suggestions, and confirmed that none of them worked.
After one malware infection Google Chrome was redirected to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/aa570318.aspx every single time I tried to use Google search.
The fix comes as a free download, and is called ComboFix. If you have an infection, or weird behavior in your web browser that can’t be explained, run ComboFix. Running ComboFix is accomplished by double-clicking on the file, but it might produce a ton of pop-up windows saying it can’t find a specified file, which you’ll need to keep clicking OK until the program finishes, which can take a long time. All the time spent will be worth it when the malware, or spyware, is removed, and you can go about enjoying your computer again.
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