help with computer virus

sorry wasn't really sure where to post this. I currently have an anti-virus on my computer called "Avira" it is a free program which has done well up to now. I currently have an adware virus make it through and is annoying the heck out of me but Avira doesn't seem to detect it and there for obviously can't remove it. Does any one know of a free adware program that you trust to download? Or a better free antivirus that has more coverage? I went on line and seen so many different ones but have no ideal in which one to trust. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks for looking!!

Well I am not sure about free but Norton anti virus software is really good and as far as removing a program that is on the computer all ready you could try resetting your computer to a previous date that will help you to remove th software.

If you're in Windows, Microsoft Security Essentials is free and has worked well on my son's computers. Sorry Sam, I don't like Norton, so I purchased ESET Antivirus for my machine.

If running an antivirus software does not help the next step I would take is to restore the computer to a backup long before the adware infected the system....if that doesnt work booting in safe mode and running the antivirus software from a usb...If the problem persists let me know, I have had to disinfect my own PC too many times to count and there are some more thorough and extensive ways to virus hunt. As far as security AVG Anti-Virus is what I have used to my past machines and I have always paid for a subscription to a full service. With AVG you get a whole slew of other services for personal security and virus protection for your machine and the resource usage is fairly low

I've had good service from both Avast and AVG. For persistent problems try "Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool". I'm no big fan of MS, but it's found stuff others missed. Also try Ad Aware, it's worked well in the past. For spyware I like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Spybot - Search & Destroy. Make sure you schedule at least one root scan from one of these. That can get stuff that's well hidden.
All are free and I trust http://download.cnet.com/ to get them. YMMV.

Avast is a great free anti-virus that also scans for potential unwanted software. Do a boot-time scan and select scan all hard-disks in the settings. They also have a browser extension.

I've had absolutely no problems and have used Avast for years.

Malware Bights is a pretty good free one. I run it from time to time. It has picked up things others have missed.

I would not use Norton. If you use it, and don't like it, you need to download and run a special program to get rid of it.

Spybot used to be good, but their technology is ancient, and will drastically slow down your internet browsing. They use a system that calls up a list of known-to-be-bad sites, and blocks your computer from going to those sites. Their list is many thousands long, and each time you click a link, or type an address, it searches that list before it actually goes to the site you typed...even if you have been there before.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, i tried to do a system restore to a time before the adware happened but it wouldn't let me so I'm sure there is something else on the computer too. I have the latest version of Windows and I HATE it! way too confusing and not to mention I'm not a computer wiz to begin with. But it came with the laptop when I bought it. I will try some other suggestions and see how it goes. Thanks again!!

ok so here is an update I downloaded "Avast" antivirus and "Super Anti-spyware Professional" I did as suggested and did a boot scan with Avast it found a virus called Win32 something or other and a tonne of corrupted files. It removed the virus but did not repair the corrupted files. I ran the Anti-spyware and found over 1000 tracking cookies and something called a PUP. Now it removed all of these BUT I still continue to have the adware pop up. So neither program is able to find it and remove it. Does any one have any suggestions as to what else i can do? Also I run the anti-spyware upon starting my computer and it is finding new tracking cookies like 150-300 of them and then removes them. I don't get it I only visit sites like this site, kijiji, face book and youtube how an I getting so infected with this crap? Any help again would be very much appreciated!!

Cookies aren't really a 'virus'. It's just a way for websites to track you.

Does the pop-up come from only certain sites? Or any time you launch your browser? You may have 'allowed' the pop-up previously.

You can disable cookies in the browser settings, but some sites may not function properly or at all without them.

What browser are you using?

Visiting Facebook is just asking for trouble, IMO.

I'm using Google chrome but I can't figure out how to block pop-ups. It doesn't matter what site I visit including this website the same ads keep popping up and sometimes i will be visiting a website and it will get re-directed to another webpage I didn't even click on.

You could try adding adblock and ghostery extensions to chrome. They may solve it.

If not, I would start by uninstalling chrome from the user control panel.

Restart, then do another boot-time scan without chrome installed. Make sure to select 'scan for pup' and set level to high in the settings. Do a scan of 'auto start programs for all users'. Restart, then do another boot-time scan of all hard disks. Restart, then I would re-install a new downloaded version of chrome with internet explorer, and add the previously mentioned extensions.

Just google 'adblock for chrome' and 'ghostery for chrome', then add them to your browser.

Not sure exactly what you have on there, but I imagine this may help.

Sam Barber wrote:Well I am not sure about free but Norton anti virus software is really good and as far as removing a program that is on the computer all ready you could try resetting your computer to a previous date that will help you to remove th software.

Yes Norton is indeed good antivirus software. I also use Norton Security Deluxe, it find it very light, provides enough protection for my usage and I got another year license. But I also like ESET a lot, and the latest version is not heavy at all, doesn't even use a lot of RAM like the older versions, and has great PUP detection and I base my decision upon bugs, the speed of bug fixes, performance, ease-of-use, features, support, malware removal support, and especially ready, direct access to staff.

AVG free antivirus software is insanely slow to install and hangs several times during the installation. It most likely installs a lot of files that aren't necesarry. People are reporting issues with uninstalling it.

I use Google Chrome on my device, but I was the failure to clear the cookies and for that reason, my system was getting slow day by day, but finally, I got some solution from Quick Heal Antivirus Customer Service, you can also try it, to resolve your problem.