# A virus called Cortana **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272 "2017-09-01T21:15:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/1 "2017-09-01T21:15:45Z")
Some ghastly virus called Cortana has taken over my wife’s computer and does not allow her to do anything. It simply pops up every ten seconds, interrupts whatever she was trying to do and also loads some app called a brain fitness test. Does anyone know how to get rid of it. It has literally prevented her from doing anything. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/2 "2017-09-01T21:23:00Z")
Is this really a new virus, or are you making a joke about the Win10 assistant Cortana, that is so unhelpful, the old Word paperclip has wet dreams about it? If you are just making a joke about Cortana the assistant, I’m pretty sure there’s a way to turn it off. If it’s a real virus, go to another computer, and Google “delete cortana virus.” There is probably a tool for it. If you can’t download it onto the infected computer because of the virus, download it on the other computer to a flashdrive, and then upload it from that. Or try restoring the computer. Or delete everything that has been downloaded since you started having problems. Also, delete cookies. Sometimes if you are having trouble downloading the delete tool, deleting cookies will buy you the time to do it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/3 "2017-09-01T21:27:14Z")
Can you go back to Windows 7? [Cortana](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/cortana) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/4 "2017-09-01T22:19:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Is this really a new virus, or are you making a joke about the Win10 assistant Cortana, that is so unhelpful, the old Word paperclip has wet dreams about it? > > If you are just making a joke about Cortana the assistant, I’m pretty sure there’s a way to turn it off. > > If it’s a real virus, go to another computer, and Google “delete cortana virus.” There is probably a tool for it. If you can’t download it onto the infected computer because of the virus, download it on the other computer to a flashdrive, and then upload it from that. > > Or try restoring the computer. > > Or delete everything that has been downloaded since you started having problems. Also, delete cookies. Sometimes if you are having trouble downloading the delete tool, deleting cookies will buy you the time to do it. I guess it is the real thing, but I cannot figure out how to quiet it down and it has rendered the computer quite unusable. No one asked permission to install it–it just installed itself and goes on and on about how wonderful it is. Maybe Unix time after all. Why do they hate us so? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/5 "2017-09-01T22:35:06Z")
Ask cortana how. How to murder itself. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/6 "2017-09-01T22:40:48Z")
> **[Killing Cortana: How to disable Windows 10’s info-hungry digital assistant](https://www.pcworld.com/article/428635/killing-cortana-how-to-disable-windows-10s-info-hungry-digital-assistant.html)** > > Cortana, Microsoft's supremely useful digital assistant, is a highlight Windows 10 feature—but not everyone will appreciate the amount of personal information she demands to be helpful. Here's how to disable Cortana in Windows 10. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/7 "2017-09-01T22:55:02Z")
I don’t know why the real Cortana would keep trying to get you to do a brain fitness test. I can’t find anything about that online, either. I would suspect it is some virus pretending to be Cortana. Unfortunately, I am finding no reference to any adware that pushes a brain fitness thing, nor one that pretends to be Cortana. The real Cortana shouldn’t be doing anything unless you ask it to. Voice activation requires you to say “Hey, Cortana,” and [can be shut off](https://www.groovypost.com/howto/turn-hey-cortana-on-off-windows-10/). And even that requires that your computer has a microphone. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-virus-called-cortana/795272/8 "2017-09-02T00:19:25Z")
When I got a new laptop quite recently, Cortana was quite obnoxious in trying to introduce itself, until I went through the first couple of steps of the “Hi, I’m Cortana,” or whatever, then told it I’d had enough and wanted to skip further steps.