XP Antivirus 2009 Spyware

By far the most common and irritating spyware problem on computers today is the XP Antivirus 2009 spyware. It is extremely aggressive and can be very hard to remove.

The first defense is to keep from being infected.  XP Antivirus will use popups or other warnings to make it look like your computer is being scanned for viruses. It will then warn you that you are infected and ask to download sofware for a cleaning.  The page and the software looks very professional, but don't be fooled.

Do not download any software!

This is an old trick -- you are told to download a scanner, but then have to pay to clean the spyware.  In the meantime, the spyware is infecting your computer.

If you go to a page that purports to scan your computer, close your web browser immediately.

You may get a popup window warning you that you're making a mistake.  This is a lie.  Close the browser.

That may be enough to keep from being infected, but check.  You may see extra icons added to your desktop that will install the software.

If you have been infected.

You will know it.  Popups will warn your about viruses, and your antivirus and Windows update will not work.  The software may nag you to buy the program to clean it, but that will only cause more problems -- they will have your credit card number, and you'll have to clean it off anyway, and will have lost fifty bucks in the process.

We have put together a page of cleaning instructions. Use them to clean up your computer.