Hi All,
I bought a Windows 10 tablet a few months ago. I tried setting it up as
soon as I received it, but I had trouble getting it to accept my
Microsoft user name and password. I tried again a month or so later and
had the same problem. Weirdly, I tried just now, and the setup seems to
have been successful. Who knew?
Anyway, the problem I'm having now is about malware. I seem to have
some. I think I got rid of it, but I'm not sure. Here's the long story:
I recharged the tablet yesterday, and when I turned it on today, I
didn't have to log in. I thought maybe I'd need to create an account,
but when I went into the Desktop Icons screen to put This PC on the
desktop, I noticed that one of the options was a folder with my name. So
far so good.
The next thing I wanted to do was to install Firefox, so I launched
Internet Explorer, hit ctrl+o, and mistyped www.google.com. When I
pressed enter, I got an on-screen error message (268d3), and audio loop
telling me that my computer was compromised by hackers who could access
my credit card info and Facebook login. The solution was for me to call
Microsoft at the toll-free number provided for step-by-step instructions
on how to rid myself of the malicious software. If I closed the window
without calling, my computer would be locked so as to protect the
network. The message and the warning sounded scammy to me, but I became
concerned when I couldn't close the window at all.
Using my desktop, I researched the error and found out that (big
surprise) Error 268D3 is indeed a scam. The solutions provided by a few
different sources, including a source linked to from a Microsoft page,
was to run two or three different malware scans. The specific programs
varied. Malware Bites and Hitman were mentioned most often, but there
was no explanation about why this program needed to be used as opposed
to some other.
Back on the tablet, the error message and audio loop were still warning
me of bad things. I ran Windows Defender. It told me no malware was
detected, so I updated the definitions and ran another scan. Again, no
viruses were found, and tired of hearing the audio loop, I held down the
power button to turn the tablet off.
I restarted the tablet about 15 minutes later, and I went back into
Internet Explorer to try downloading Firefox again. I'd expected the
error message to come up again, but it didn't. I spent about an hour
poking around in settings and visiting the web, but apart from being
sluggish, the tablet seems just fine.
Was the error message just a popup on a website, not an actual virus, or
was Windows Defender wrong about no malware being detected?
I'd appreciate any wisdom.
Ciao
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