Sorry I am late getting back to your late reply, I thought everyone was finished replying and maybe you threw up your hands and were hiding from my lack of computer literacy. ;) I hope you are feeling better, you mentioned a cold but flu is also very bad this year.

Yeah I checked the boxes. :D After your comments it occurred to me one line was green and the others orange and that was probably trying to tell me something. haha Computer was unstable for a bit but like I mentioned I restarted it and its running much better now so guess I didn't need what I deleted or it came back. I won't do that again.

I already ran Malwarebytes but will do it again. I will try some of those other programs, I have never done anything as an administrator but I guess it is time to get brave.

Thanks, might be a little bit before I get it done but I will let you know.

I am doing much better :) If you already run malwarebytes then you should be fine. If your computer is running better then we can just let it be and see how things go. I will let you make the choice. Any way you decide is fine with me. Take care. Tom

We run malwarebytes once a week.

mrsD, running malwarebytes once a week is not going to solve all problems. I have been working on computers since 1997 and believe me I have just about seen it all.

One of the worst things I find is people click on things while browsing the internet not knowing what they are clicking on. We call this click bait. You computer can be taken over in a second.

Many times by just powering off a computer after something like this happens will fix the problem as it is only being held in memory. Many times it is to late.

Malwarebytes is just one program and not a fix it all. Right now malwarebytes has some issues itself. I have ran into several computers in the last few months that malwarebytes caused more problems than before the problem.

They are supposed to be working on this issue now but so far it has not been resolved.

Internet explorer which comes in all operating systems has issues and windows 10 has just about got away from this browser. They now recommend
Microsoft Edge even though you can still start up internet explorer in windows 10 if you search for it. I stay away from that browser and always recommend safer ones like Firefox. Edge is also fine alone with Chrome. Microsoft will no longer update internet explorer 11. That is the last of it.

There is no such thing as a fix it all antivirus no matter what they tell you. I have worked on computers with the best antivirus money can buy that are just as infected as free antivirus. Windows 10 has antivirus already built in called windows defender. It is ok but you need more tools and know how to keep a computer safe today. Cheers. Tom

You might even want to try a more secure browser free from Comodo, one is like Chrome & one is like Firefox - also some other free products -
Download Free Internet Browsers from Comodo | Free Web Browsers

I used these when I had Windows OS.
I only used IE when I had to due to certain site requirements , but most sites work with FF now..

I had something else alarming happen today. I tried to call my bank to get my balance and when I dialed the 1-800 number got some funny clicks and redirected to a recording that was apparently trying to sound like the bank recording by using some of the same phrases they do when they push promotions. This one asked me to take a short survey which said to press 1 if I was over 50 years old. I did and it then said I won a free life alert service and and to press 1 again and I hung up.

I went to the bank and they said it was not them and would check to see if they had been hacked and then call me. I have not heard from them yet.

I have Centurylink phone and internet through the phone line, does anyone know if I could be hacked on the computer and from there hacked into my landline phone? :mad: I am going to call the bank back tomorrow and call Centurylink as well. Old ladies don't like this garbage.

I will try the Comodo browsers, FF is kind of a pain but I use it because the browser crashes instead of the whole computer. :) Are their antivirus free and any good? I am about ready to download Ubuntu if that would work but I don't know if my old computer woud run it or tolerate the big download.

I would think maybe you hit the wrong number by mistake. Try calling the same number again and see what happens. I guess anything is possible but in your case I think you are fine. What is the number you called ? I can call that number and see what I get .

I had suggested in an earlier post for you to download the Farbar Recovery Tool. I can tell more about your system if you do this and then post me the log files. It will create two files. I need both

Farbar Recovery Scan Tool Download

I would not download anything else like the browser suggested until we know for sure your computer is clean. If you need more help on doing the farbar thing please let me know. Here is a link that will show you how
How to Run the Farbar Recovery Scan Tool - YouTube

Tom

If you do get tired of Windows & virus/anti virus issues......
You can even order Linux cds and not have to download or burn it to a cd. under 6.00 for a ready to use cd..
If interested- OSDisc.com - Linux, Beginners, 32-bit, Live

* If download & then burning a distro ISO , you have to make sure to set it to a slow burn speed for best results.*

*Or another option...if you have a large library or book/magazine store there might be Linux books or magazines with a cd inside..to test it out..
I found some many years ago in our library.

The Linux Live CD's are the ones you can run from the CD drive & see if you like it before installing anything. Like make sure wifi/internet connects and that you can navigate around in the program..they will be slower that way, but if you like it then you can click the install icon..
Most that I mention have every easy install, gives you options of wipe/format all & install, or install side by side with your windows and you can choose at boot screen which to use.. (dual boot) etc..
For Live cd - If you don't like it just shut down & remove the cd..

This page shows the top Linux and you can finds screen shots and such , I am most familiar now with Mint Mate, Zorin, Ubuntu/Lubuntu/Xbuntu ( lighter versions of Ubuntu) Linux Lite..
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

Jo*Mar, I am proud you like Linux but it will never take over windows. It is much harder to learn for most people plus nobody can help much on it as it has very little of the computer market. Probably never will.

Windows is here to stay and to be honest windows 10 is a great operating system. I have been working on computers for almost 20 years.

In the last 10 years I have got no malware or viruses. You just have to learn how to stay safe and don't click on bait. Watch opening unknown emails and just use common sense.

I have a laptop with windows 7 and I have no antivirus or malware programs loaded. It is still as fast as the day I installed the SSD. I just user it to pay bills and never go to any websites.

On my desktop I use what Charter supplies for free. F-Secure which is a top notch program. Never been infected on this desktop .

I have tried all the versions of Linux and I agree, it is a good operating system but for the everyday user I would never recommend it. I actually have a spare hard drive with Linux Mint loaded that I use on occasion just to play around with it but I had rather user windows any day. Just my take on this.

I sure would not want to confuse zygopetalum and tell her to install Linux and her problems would be gone for good. Virus writers do not target Linux because it has a low market share. Let it become the main operating system people use and the problems would show up with Linux like windows does now.

Cheers Tom

The major Linux distros are very beginner friendly..some others are tagged specifically as beginner friendly also.
The last few years things have really changed and with the Live cds you can try it right from the cd drive to test it out..a very nice option.

zygopetalum's laptop is an older one, that's why I mentioned the Lite Linux versions and gave more info when she mentioned Ubuntu.