Regarding the 2 issues you just mentioned, I activated the automatic update feature and yesterday a balloon popped up in the lower right that said "critical security updates have just been downloaded and installed and your computer will restart to complete installation". After the restart, an AVG balloon popped up that said " AVG has found the following malware items upon startup", so I looked at them and clicked "heal". AVG just finished a scheduled scan a few minutes ago and found nothing additional. Also, when I do a search and highlight a link, AVG search-shield pops up and says"no suspicious links found on this site". Since most of my web use is for email and shopping [craigslist and ebay] I feel pretty safe. Until I got this pernicious hijacker I have been able to solve most software issues on my own. I'm pretty sure I now know where it came from, so I won't go there again. It was hidden in a newsgroup message and AT&T security missed it. AVG seems to be more on the ball and I'm more diligent in the newsgroups. I picked this computer out of someone's trash and got it working, so I have no idea of it's origins. I also don't intend to purchase anything from microsoft, so I'll just use it as is. Thanks for all your help, John
Malware Removal Forums
posting logfile second attempt
30 min read
NonSuch
As we are unable to assist you at this time, due to software on this system that is not in compliance with MRU guidelines, this topic is now closed.
You are using an invalid Volume License Key. Therefore, your system is ineligible for updates and will receive no updates until you obtain a valid product key for your operating system. Although your system may continue to operate, an invalid operating system cannot be protected from malware infections nor effectively cleaned of them and will present a danger to other systems when it's connected to the internet.
If you later comply with MRU guidelines by removal of said software from this system, and it's doubtful that you will, given your present attitude, you may start a new topic.
You can help support this site from this link :
Donations For Malware Removal
You are using an invalid Volume License Key. Therefore, your system is ineligible for updates and will receive no updates until you obtain a valid product key for your operating system. Although your system may continue to operate, an invalid operating system cannot be protected from malware infections nor effectively cleaned of them and will present a danger to other systems when it's connected to the internet.
If you later comply with MRU guidelines by removal of said software from this system, and it's doubtful that you will, given your present attitude, you may start a new topic.
You can help support this site from this link :
Donations For Malware Removal