I have been using Avast free anti-virus and Malwarebytes paid version (as I found that Avast did not pick up some things that MWB did.)
Prior to using Avast free I had used AVG paid but found that AVG was getting very bloated with add-ons and becoming a nuisance.
For 4 years this new PC and security seemed to keep me free of problems. I also had Windows Firewall and Defender running.
2 days ago I was suddenly blocked by ‘UK Police/Interpol’ with the usual demand pay £100 to unlock the PC.
The PC would not even run in Safe Mode with Networking… as soon as Windows desktop opened the Bad Page filled the screen.
Once or twice previously a similar threat had shown but I was able to Ctrl Alt Del, use Task Master to end the offending IE pages.
This time it was a full hijack.
With my laptop I was able to download AVG Rescue Disk and Kaspersky Rescue Disk. AVG said it found some bits but nothing that looked related to ransomeware. Kaspersky allowed me to start the PC and look at files but not start Windows or use the internet. Kaspersky did not indicate that it had found anything.
After contacting Avast Tech Support http://www.avast.com/en-gb/total-support and paying $179.99 for 1 year support, I was given a number to call Avast Tech Support. The guys I spoke with all said AVAST many times so I assume were indeed employed by Avast, or on behalf of Avast.
After many attempts I was able to get Safe Mode with Networking running and the Techie could get into the PC… he seemed to do a good job as the PC is running well now and, according to Avast and Malwarebytes, is free of problems. Having said that neither software had detected any problems in the last few weeks… Avast and MWB run scans every second day as does Windows Defender and none of them alerted a problem.
So what are my problems/questions now?
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Should I have Windows Defender running or should I disable it (as I was told by Avast Techie that it might conflict with Avast)?
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Should Windows Security Centre service be running? it is alerted as ‘turned off’ and when I try to ‘Turn on now’ it shows ‘Windows Security Centre service can’t be started’. I have tried some Microsoft advice to restart Windows Security Centre service but without success.
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Should I trust that the Avast Techie has done/cleaned all possible or should I run any other test?
Thanks for looking.