I regularly run Spybot and today it showed the presence of Win32.Downloader.gen. Spybot was unable to remove this virus so I contacted online support. The contact, JOHN listened to me then suggested taking control of my pc with a view to removing this virus which I agreed to
JOHN ran some diagnostics and suggested using a deep removal tool. This was done and JOHN declared my pc clean and working fine. He said that my Norton anti virus included anti Spyware and he advised in being careful where any downloads come from. When I suggested that Spybot might be interested in hearing a Norton advisor say that running Spybot was a waste of time he stated that this was the case! He assured me that my pc was fine and returned control of my pc to me.
I immediately ran Spybot again and, sure enough, there was Win32.Downloader.gen. I am disappointed in the software and disappointed with the online help. It was useless. I am still left with an infected pc. Any suggestions please.
I did not ring JOHN. I was directed to him on live chat via Norton Management online help. I expect Norton to be running 24/7, protecting my pc. I only run Spybot from time to time. I am complaining that the Norton representative assured me the virus had been removed when it manifestly had not been. I have joined this forum in the hope that Norton can address my problem more successfully.
I regularly run Spybot and today it showed the presence of Win32.Downloader.gen. Spybot was unable to remove this virus so I contacted online support. The contact, JOHN listened to me then suggested taking control of my pc with a view to removing this virus which I agreed to
JOHN ran some diagnostics and suggested using a deep removal tool. This was done and JOHN declared my pc clean and working fine. He said that my Norton anti virus included anti Spyware and he advised in being careful where any downloads come from. When I suggested that Spybot might be interested in hearing a Norton advisor say that running Spybot was a waste of time he stated that this was the case! He assured me that my pc was fine and returned control of my pc to me.
I immediately ran Spybot again and, sure enough, there was Win32.Downloader.gen. I am disappointed in the software and disappointed with the online help. It was useless. I am still left with an infected pc. Any suggestions please.
It seems a bad deal when I am directed to free sites to cure a problem that I would have thought I was paying Norton to ndo. Also I was advised NOT to do just what you are advocating, ie downloading from free, dubious sites that can and do cause problems.
<< I am directed to free sites to cure a problem >>
Do you mean here in these forums?
It's not clear to me what actually happened and since you posted the case number which Norton asks us not to do for our own protection I've asked a moderator to delete that number from your first message -- Norton staff will still be able to see it.
I hope a Norton Staff member will join in helping resolve your disatisfaction -- you can tell them from us since their names are in bright red!
Could be a false positive, or any number of other possible explanations as to why one program would detect a threat and another program would not. Have you uploaded the detected file to VirusTotal or run a third program such as Malwarebytes to see if it is only Spybot that is detecting this? You might also check with Spybot as to why it is not removing what it found. Norton may not be finding this because there may not be anything to find.
Hi, icecake. I would suggest that Spybot is not the program is used to be. I stopped using it long ago.
Trained malware removers may well suggest you remove it from your system.
Users on this forum are not trained in malware removal, which is why you were directed to the free sites listed.
No one program can guarantee 100% protection, which is why we suggest Norton as your only real time protection, and the use of MalwareBytes and/or SuperantSpyware as back up scanners, as they concentrate on different malware types.
I can appreciate that forum members are not experts in everything pertaining to software issues but I was commenting on professionals employed by Norton who take me through procedures designed to remove a serious Trojan virus that has not been picked up by Norton. At the end of the procedures I was assured by a Norton expert that Trojan virus had been removed when, in fact, it had not. That is why I am disappointed, not with forum members but in a paid-for system that appears to have failed me.
As F4E stated: "Users on this forum are not trained in malware removal, which is why you were directed to the free sites listed."
The folks you get put in contact with @ Norton are not trained malware removalists neither. The folks on the sites that dickevans referred you to are trained and fully qualifed to remove malware. They have been completely trained, remain up to date on the latest dasterly invaders and have been vetted by the sites they represent.
Not only are those sites trained to remove the malware, they will also tell you what programs to run to see if you actually do have a virus. Remember what also was mentioned about having Spybot installed. If Spybot was installed before your Norton product, it may have interferred with the proper installation of the Norton product. The same thing would happen if Spybot was installed afterwards. Any security program can have false positives as has already been mentioned.
I can appreciate that forum members are not experts in everything pertaining to software issues but I was commenting on professionals employed by Norton who take me through procedures designed to remove a serious Trojan virus that has not been picked up by Norton.
Hi icecake:
Customers who purchase their Norton product directly from the Norton website are asked if they would like to add Norton Virus Removal Assurance for an additional charge. I can't recall what the annual fee is for this service (I think it used to be around $39/year), but users who add this service to their subscription are given a 1-800 number and 6-digit code so they can contact a NortonLive expert for assistance.
For customers who didn't pay the additional fee for Norton Virus Removal Assurance when they renewed/purchased their product, NortonLive offers a one-time online Virus, Spyware & Malware Removal Servicehere for $99/incident.
I personally feel that Norton should offer Norton Virus Removal Assurance for free to subscribing customers (not unlimited, but perhaps 1 or 2 incidents per year) but I very much doubt that will ever happen. Because Norton's virus removal services are so expensive, users in this forum often recommend reputable malware removal forums like the ones dickevens recommended in message # 2 where trained malware removal experts offer their services for free.
Delphinium has posted an excellent review here for many of these free malware removal sites.
EDIT:
I have no idea what remedial action the Norton LiveChat agent took (what you described in your original post sounds like a scan for rootkits with the Norton Power Eraser tool) but it sounds like he overstepped himself when he declared your sytem was clean. I agree with huwyngr and hope a Norton employee will contact you to address your concerns.
----------- MS Windows 32-bit Vista Home Premium SP2 * Firefox 28.0 * IE 9.0 * NIS 2013 v. 20.4.0.40 HP Pavilion dv6835ca, Intel Core2Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83 GHz, 3.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
It seems a little odd to me that a Norton Tech would attempt to remove some malware which Norton did not pick up. Are you sure that it was actually a Norton technician who you were in contact with? I just looked in Google for Norton Management for online help. The first 3 or 4 entries on the page were actually ads, but they were not from Norton. Could you please give us the telephone number that you used to call up for this Norton Management online help? It has happened before where a user thought she was chatting with a Norton tech but was in fact talking to some other company. I'm not doubting you, it just seems to be a little odd to me. Just my opinion. Thanks.
As I said earlier, I did not telephone Norton, I clicked on "Support" and then "Contact Us" where I was invited to open a "Chat" with a Norton Agent who would talk/walk me through a resolution of my problem. This I did, the agent took control of my pc, used scans and software before declaring that my pc was rid of the virus and suggested that using Spybot was a waste of time!
It seems a bit much to buy a 24/7 anti-virus firewall then offer to sell me, for a not-insignificant price, software to remove a virus!
In no way am I trying to critiscise forum members for not having the expertise to remove a virus. I am critising Norton for what I consider poor service.