# My home computer has been infected **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896 "2025-12-20T18:58:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/1 "2025-12-20T18:58:59Z")
A pop-up every few seconds, alternating between a McAfee warning that my license has expired, a Norton claim that my computer has five viruses, a Windows warning that my computer has five viruses, and a warning that Russia is controlling my computer remotely. All the little pop-ups have various buttons to push and little "x"is that supposedly close the boxes. Yes, I know not to click on any of them. The only virus protection I actually have, Defender, can’t find jack. What is my next step? ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/2 "2025-12-20T19:01:23Z")
Is it a Windows computer? I ask because my MiL frequently gets similar symptoms on her Mac. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/3 "2025-12-20T19:02:39Z")
Is Windows 11. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/4 "2025-12-20T19:12:46Z")
Do the pop-ups continue if the browser is stopped? Do they persist between reboots? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/5 "2025-12-20T19:17:22Z")
Yes, and yes. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/6 "2025-12-20T19:18:11Z")
I have very little experience yet with Windows 11, but I was under the impression that the built-in Windows Defender was pretty good. It may be that McAfee, expired or not, was preventing Defender from activating. I don’t trust McAfee and the first thing I did on the new W11 laptop was uninstall it and made sure Defender was active. You should do that too. If you have sufficient functionality on this machine to download and install stuff, and Defender can’t find or can’t fix any viruses, I’d suggest the free version of Avast and running a full scan with that. If you can get it downloaded and working with all these popups happening, it’s actually a pretty good AV The free version periodically nags you to buy the paid version, but it’s quite functional. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/7 "2025-12-20T19:20:03Z")
I never had McAfee or Norton on this computer. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/8 "2025-12-20T19:22:26Z")
Then where are these warnings coming from? Are you saying they’re just an artifact of virus activity? Many new computers, notably Dells, come with a trial version of McAfee installed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/9 "2025-12-20T19:23:03Z")
I just reinstalled a previous version and, _so far_, no pop-ups. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/10 "2025-12-20T19:25:45Z")
Can you wipe the whole thing and start over? Delete all your settings and files and have it redownload Windows from the cloud and reinstall itself: > **[Reset your PC - Microsoft Support](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reset-your-pc-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e)** > > Learn about the different reset options in Windows and how to reset your device. You’ll lose everything on your computer though, so hopefully you have it all backed up. If you don’t want something that drastic, you can try this: - Use the [Norton uninstaller](https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v20240301142500636) to remove Norton, even if you don’t think you have it (it’s possible it was secretly bundled with some other app you installed) - Use the [McAfee uninstaller](https://www.mcafee.com/support/s/article/000001616?language=en_US) to remove McAfee - Try a [MalwareBytes scan](https://www.malwarebytes.com/) Then, make sure to add uBlock Origin/Lite to all your web browsers, and remove all the other extensions in them that you don’t use, especially if you don’t know where they came from. But it’s safer to just wipe the whole drive and start from scratch… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/11 "2025-12-20T19:28:19Z")
Apparently, these pop-ups are fake McAfee/Norton/Windows/Russiabot warnings trying to get me to click on _anything_ in that pop-up. Lying jerks have this tendency to, well, _lie_ about who they really are. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/12 "2025-12-20T19:29:20Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > - Use the [Norton uninstaller](https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v20240301142500636) to remove Norton, even if you don’t think you have it (it’s possible it was secretly bundled with some other app you installed) > - Use the [McAfee uninstaller](https://www.mcafee.com/support/s/article/000001616?language=en_US) to remove McAfee Neither one is installed on this computer. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/13 "2025-12-20T19:29:24Z")
It’s entirely possible, but that _anything_ is able to show you that many pop-ups is not a good sign, especially after a reboot. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/14 "2025-12-20T19:31:34Z")
Apparently, a complete reset wasn’t necessary. The reinstall from a previous version might have done the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/15 "2025-12-20T19:31:44Z")
The reinstall of what? You mean you rolled Windows back to an earlier recovery point? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/16 "2025-12-20T19:32:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I just reinstalled a previous version and, _so far_, no pop-ups. I assume this means you installed a recent backup of your computer? If so, and if this indicates that you had contracted a virus of some kind between the backup and when these messages started (sorry to dwell on the obvious, I do it so you can point out where I’ve gone wrong) then I would consider getting a more robust anti-virus software than Defender. I’ve been using Malwarebytes and I have been satisfied with that, for my moderate computer use (on Windows 10 still). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/17 "2025-12-20T19:33:13Z")
Yes, that is what I meant. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/18 "2025-12-20T19:34:24Z")
Great, glad that fixed it for now. An adblocker is still a very good idea if you don’t already have one. Specifically uBlock Origin Lite (or regular/full if you use Firefox). They’re not just for ads, but will block a lot of malware and such too and help prevent re-infection. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/19 "2025-12-20T19:37:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Neither one is installed on this computer. Period. Did you double-check the installed programs? McAfee is very commonly bundled with a new OS, but it’s indeed strange that they would both be there. I would (a) make sure that Defender is running, and (b) consider installing the free version of Avast, even if just temporarily, and running a full scan with it. Malwarebytes is good, too, but I think it covers a somewhat different spectrum of malware. Wouldn’t hurt to do a full scan with both to make sure that there’s nothing still lingering. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896/20 "2025-12-20T19:38:56Z")
If this is happening when browsing the web, it’s a rogue popup and there is no virus. The fix is simple in Window: 1. Press Ctrl-Shift-Esc to bring up the task manager 2. Find all instances of your web browser. Highlight them and press End Task. 3. When you bring up your browser again, you will get a warning that it has closed unexpectedly and it will ask if you want to bring up the old tabs. _Do not do this_, or you’ll get the same problem again. That usually fixes it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-home-computer-has-been-infected/1025896.md?page=2)