My friend's new computer is running NIS, fully updated. She brought it over to me because of numerous popups. It turns out that 24 rogue programs were all installed yesterday, she does not know why. In Programs and Features I see 24 programs such as Search Protect, Conduit, Wajam, PCFIx, SaveSense, PC Health, Optimizer Pro, Sendori, etc. I've restored the computer to factory original, but my question is how do 24 programs such as these get installed when Norton is protecting the computer? I understand that she must have clicked on a malicious attachment or link, but isn't Norton supposed to prevent rogue software from being installed?
At least one of the programs, I think it may have been PC Optimizer, gave her a list of 866 problems, and wanted $75 in order to repair them. And it clearly said that it was Microsoft providing this info. It also said there was no firewall, offered one for $169. and said there was no antivirus, offered one for $40. Would you put this in the category of a PUP?
Some PUP's are advertising and marketing tools. PC optimizer is actually available as a download on CNET.com. What you have isn't something you want, and it is annoying, but it isn't necessarily malware.
Since Norton products are designed to protect your system against high-risk malware that have the potential to corrupt your operating system or steal your personal information, many users on this forum run the occasional on-demand scan with free scanners like Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (my personal choice) or SUPERAntiSpyware to detect lower-risk PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) and PUMs (potentially unwanted modifications) like ad-ware and browser re-directors. I also have the Adblock Plus extension installed in my Firefox browser for added protection, and versions of this add-on are now available for other popular browsers like IE, Chrome, etc.
On a slightly different topic, Symantec has posted a support article here explaining why users should not run more than one security program in real-time protection mode. If your friend's PC came with a trial version of antivirus software like McAfee, Kaspersky, etc. that was re-installed after restoring to original factory settings then this AV software should be uninstalled from the Windows Control Panel (Programs and Features) and then wiped with the removal tool provided by the manufacturer so that it doesn't conflict NIS. ESET has provided links to removal tools for several popular AV software programs here. ------------ MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 * Firefox 26.0 * 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