"You may not have appropriate permissions..." - Win 7 Security Virus

[jane1234]

Hi, I have a major problem with my computer...

Whenever I try and open an application (e.g. Firefox, notepad, Photoshop, calculator... ANYTHING!) I get this message:

"Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have appropriate permissions to access the item."

The only things I can open are Computer, Control Panel, Devices and Printers, Default Programs and Help and Support when I first start up my computer. Then I find once I open Computer and access my files, I can open the shortcuts to Pictures, Documents etc. Basically everything on the right-hand side of the start-up menu.

Once I can get onto computer, I can open a file and it will open the relevant application (e.g. I had some basic .html files which could open and allow me to run firefox). I can do the same for Word, PS and the rest... BUT I cannot open the application directly.

Even through computer, if I click on something as simple as notepad, it comes up with the same error message: "Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have appropriate permissions to access the item."

So I can't open any application which doesn't have a saved file in My Computer. E.g. Obviously I have no saved files for "calculator" so I can't open it. And my sticky notes have disappeared, and I had so many important website links, reminders on it and I have no way of getting it back!!

I have googled this, and some say it may be the cause of some sort of virus. Recently I have been bombarded with virus notifications, but I have AVG and activated the in-built Windows Security thing (which is what was giving me the notifications). I didn't think anything of it, because every time I got a notification it would say "Threat Blocked" or give me the option to block the attack, so I assumed these Anit-Virus softwares were doing their job.

Apparently not.

So my question is this. If it is the cause of a virus, how can I get rid of it? And if not, how do I fix this??

I tried changing the permissions of the Windows folder by changing the owner to me. It didn't do anything. I have read other forums about this, but some require fiddling with complicated settings, which I don't want to do in case I stuff up something more.

Sorry for writing such an essay, but I'm scared for my poor computer and I have NO idea how to go about fixing this.
HELP!

EDIT: I am running Windows 7 Home Premuim on a laptop (if that helps)

EDIT 2:I tried uninstalling my AVG and re-installing it with the 2011 version, but it did nothing.

[DisaFear]

Looked it up, never had this happen to me before
Try starting up in Safe Mode with Networking, that should enable you to run stuff, apparently. Then I don't know what to do. Looking up help on official Microsoft forums is a good start.

To get into the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Safe Mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu" as shown below. Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.

You can't run your anti-virus can you?

Note: I used to use AVG as well, now I use Microsoft Security Essentials, it is also free, and much better, I hear, than AVG.

[jane1234]

Hey, I finally found WHAT was wrong...

and activated the in-built Windows Security thing (which is what was giving me the notifications). I didn't think anything of it, because every time I got a notification it would say "Threat Blocked" or give me the option to block the attack, so I assumed these Anit-Virus softwares were doing their job.

Yeah the "in-built" security thing was actually Win 7 Home Security... which was giving me all the notifications about viruses. After uninstalling and reinstalling AVG I thought I'd try and do the same with this "Win 7 Home Security" thing... but I couldn't find where the file was. So I had a quick google, and found that the only infection I had was the thing that was telling me I had infections... apparently this is a fraud that appears similar to anti-virus software, but it is just a scam that robs people of money and stuffs up their computers...

Sigh. Why am I so trusting of these things?

Anyway, so now I know what it was (I hope)... I've googled how to get rid of it... but I'm a bit sceptical of this Spyware software and stuff that claims to get rid of the virus.
So does anyone know any free legit software that will get rid of it?
"Spyware Doctor" sounds simple to use... but will it work and not infect my computer further?

Thanks

[DisaFear]

Yea, I once got virus'd, I looked up the name of the .exe that was the virus, it was actually a well-known Russian anti-virus program

[TrueLight]

yep its a rogue antivirus software and these keep popping up notifications that are fake and they also try to make you buy the product  

i would recommend downloading and running these
rkill, tdsskiller... watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sl_Xmsjhtk
"malwarebytes anti-malware"
"hitman pro"
yea u could also download spyware doctor as well.... actually if you are going to download an antispyware program i would go and download superantispyware

also after you kill it, just to make sure you can post a hijackthis log in a forum that help you get rid of any malware on your computer like spywareinfoforum.com


also i would really reconsider the antivirus you are using now, i was using AVG free for a long time before and it gave me too many problems with malware, in my opinion its crap. thats why i moved to paid kaspersky and norton on my other comp. but if you want a free antivirus i would use avast or something like that, for a firewall i would disable the inbuilt windows firewall and install something like comodo or onlinearmor or the like...just google good free antivirus and firewalls.

[jane1234]

yep its a rogue antivirus software and these keep popping up notifications that are fake and they also try to make you buy the product 

i would recommend downloading and running these
rkill, tdsskiller... watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sl_Xmsjhtk
"malwarebytes anti-malware"
"hitman pro"
yea u could also download spyware doctor as well

also after you kill it, just to make sure you can post a hijackthis log in a forum that help you get rid of any malware on your computer like spywareinfoforum.com


also i would really reconsider the antivirus you are using now, i was using AVG free for a long time before and it gave me too many problems with malware, in my opinion its crap. thats why i moved to paid kaspersky and norton on my other comp. but if you want a free antivirus i would use avast or something like that, for a firewall i would disable the inbuilt windows firewall and install something like comodo or onlinearmor or the like...just google good free antivirus and firewalls.

Yeah I downloaded Malwarebytes... it got rid of the actual program (well, for now) and I can now access all programs.
But some of the symptoms are still there... E.g. slowness at startup, redirecting when clicking on googled sites and some of my icon images are gone...
I'm scared I haven't got rid of all of it...
Do you recommend still downloading rkill and hitman pro even though I already did the malwarebytes one??
Also,

also after you kill it, just to make sure you can post a hijackthis log in a forum that help you get rid of any malware on your computer like spywareinfoforum.com

What do you mean by this? What's a hijackthis log and why wouldn't I be able to post one?

Thanks heaps

[TrueLight]

yes you still have traces of the malware in your system, so its not gone especially if you still get redirected!

i would recommend the other programs cause they might pick up further malware in your system

a hijackthis log (http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/?page=download) makes like a list of all the programs in your computer ["Scan your computer with HijackThis version 2.0.4 to find settings changed by spyware, malware, or other unwanted programs. HijackThis version 2.0.4 is now Windows 7 compatible. It generates in-depth log reports for Windows-operated systems, including Windows 7."] and if you post it in the correct section in that forum, a professional looks over it and tells you what to delete or what further action to take to get rid of it completely... ive done it several times and they have been very helpful

[TrueLight]

i would also recommend like just for now (if you dont want to pay) to get like norton internet security 2011 (has fantastic prevention, detection and removal capabilities) and download a trial version for 30days and do a full scan and once the trial has expired, remove it and get a free antivirus program like avast

also make sure you are running only one antivirus, one firewall and keep the antimalware program like free antimalwarebytes and hitman pro because you dont want conflicting software

[jane1234]

Thank you! This is so frustrating... do you have any idea how it got through in the first place (ie what kind of sites make it easier for viruses to attack your system)??

[TrueLight]

i dunno, did you go to a fake scanner page and click on it? or any pops ups saying your comptuer is infected and you clicked on it?
just make sure you don't go to any dodgy websites
also make sure you keep your windows up to date as you don't want any exploits getting through just by going to some random website

i would also download ccleaner which is great for removing temporoary files and other crap from your computer that sometimes malware can be in....so by running ccleaner it will remove any malware trace in the temporary files... it also has a reg cleaner

[jane1234]

Honestly I have no idea.
Now that I think about it, it's been going on for a month or two now... it started off with the "Blue Screen of Death" and other things started playing up before the Win 7 Security message came up, that's why I actually thought I did have the viruses it told me about...

[TrueLight]

ha man...hopefully you didnt do online banking ...yea i had a problem like that with blue screen of death and there was a malware i got that didnt even let my comptuer start up....horrible stuff

[TrueLight]

How Does a Computer Get Infected with Rogue Antivirus Programs?

The reason these rogue anti-virus programs are successful (for the malicious coders) is because the warning screens very closely resemble legitimate Windows warning screens, plus the rouge software program names closely resemble or sound like legitimate antivirus programs.

When you load an infected Web site you might see a warning screen pop up and think that it is a legitimate Windows warning. Users unknowingly are tricked into downloading the software because they believe the warning to be a legitimate Windows messages.

You might also be on a Web site trying to view a video and a screen may pop-up telling you that you need to download a codec to view the file. The window prompting you to download the codec looks legitimate, however you are not going to download a codec—instead you will receive one of the many rogue antivirus software programs.

In April of this year, it was also reported that systems that had been previously infected with Conficker, found this worm had began installing rogue antivirus programs on infected machines. In the early cases this turned out to be a rogue application called SpywareProtect2009. Kaspersky researchers reported this was a typical rogue program that offered to clean the computer for $49.95.

Lastly, if you use file sharing networks you also risk downloading a rogue antivirus as it can be easily hidden inside a legitimate program—that you may or may not be legitimately downloading.

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2009/Rogue_AntiVirus_Software.asp

[jane1234]

No I don't online bank thankfully ... or buy anything online...
But I'm definitely going to be more cautious from now on... I just read that illegal downloading sites (like uTorrent) can make it easier for viruses to infect... so I think I'll steer clear of them...

Yes, I definitely did believe it was legit anti-virus software... I must've allowed it sometime, but I can't remember because I ignored it for ages..

And I get what you mean about AVG. It won't block the real thing... but it tried to block me downloading rkill... :S

[TrueLight]

oh good! then at least you know they aren't going to clear out your bank account lol

well yea it does especially if you download bad links... (but i do it anyway lol)

yep its supposed to look like the real thing so they can trick you into clicking it and buying it

omg seriously uninstall avg it sucks badly, it lets so much go through

let me know how the it goes...