OK you PC Guru's. I need help!!

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Rene T

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This started 2 days ago on this forum and a Montana Forum I'm a member of.  While reading a post, out of the clear blue sky, a word, and it can be any word, will change from lower case to upper case letters, it will turn blue and will be underlined. Also on the right end of that word will be sort of a green half circle and just inside the circle will be a small green arrow pointing away from the half circle. When I click on the word this is what I get:  [URL Removed]  What is it and can it be deleted.  Or should I go ahead and go thru the steps?
Also I'm getting these pop up advertisements now. it started the same time as the word issue. It's a window about 4" X 5".  They just show up anytime.
I subscribed to the program SOPHROS when I purchased this PC. I called them and they took control of my laptop and did all kind of scans. They found some issues but did not find any viruses and no malware. After retaking control I found that I still had the issue. I took the laptop to Staples where I purchased it and they kept it for 2 days doing all kinds of scans. This is pretty much what they found:  37 threats found and removed, 3 unwanted applications removed and a PC Tune up was run and fixed 925 registry errors and security issues.
Before I walked out of the store, we connected to their wifi and the problem was still there. The tech thought that it must be some type of advertising but he had no idea on how to stop
it.
Anyone know what it is and can It be removed?  Thanks.
 
 
Frankly, I just don't have the courage to click on the link you provided.  But if it were me, I'd back up my data and reinstall the OS making sure the drive was formatted in the process so whatever is lingering in there gets wiped out.  Kinda of a PITA to have to do that and reinstall your programs, but that may be what it takes.
 
Old Blevins said:
Frankly, I just don't have the courage to click on the link you provided.  But if it were me, I'd back up my data and reinstall the OS making sure the drive was formatted in the process so whatever is lingering in there gets wiped out.  Kinda of a PITA to have to do that and reinstall your programs, but that may be what it takes.

Jim what is OS? Is that Operating System? I'm not a PC person so that's out of the question. I may take it back to Staples.
 
It is adware.  To remove it, Google search "what is reimageplus.com". 
 
Go here and follow the directions to remove it.  If that doesn't do it, the a Google search on remove reimageplus will show many other references for removing it.
 
Malware bytes it probably what was used when you took it back where you bought it.  Just running malwarebytes is not enough to completely remove it.  Running malwarebytes is only the last step.

Google 'how to remove reimageplus virus'.  There are many websites that will give you step by step directions.  If that's too much 'techie' for you I suggest you take it back to them an have them google it and go through the complete uninstall.
 
Ned said:
Go here and follow the directions to remove it.  If that doesn't do it, the a Google search on remove reimageplus will show many other references for removing it.

Thanks Ned. Before you replied, I did google reimageplus.com like powderman recommended to do. I did come up with many ways to get rid of it. I clicked on one of them and it just so happens it's the one you said to try. I printed a copy and I'm going to give staples a call tomorrow morning first thing and see what they say.  Thanks again to all of you.
 
Late to this party, but powderman and 8Muddypaws are right, and I've found these kind of adware "infections" to be more and more troublesome to remove. Used to take me 10 minutes to fix; the last time it took me a couple of days. (And frankly, if Staples could not fix it the first time, I WOULD NOT trust them to touch my computer ever again unless they weren't charging me a dime. Why should YOU have to tell them how to fix it?? Just sayin'...)

It's too late now, with all that Staples has done, but often these can be removed simply by going to the last restore point before you noticed the change. (control panel > system > create a restore point). On the System Restore tab, click the System Restore button, which will bring up various dated automatic restore points.

This is not a scary or unusual thing to do and will not delete your files. In fact, iTunes is such a bloated piece of crap that when I HAD to use it for some reason, I would create a restore point before installing it, then "uninstall" it when I was done by using my restore point.
 
I wouldn't put a lot of faith in Staples, they're not much better than the Geek Squad and I wouldn't let them in the same building with one of my computers.  The removal process isn't that complicated, just read the instructions carefully and proceed slowly.

If you have a restore point from before the infection, the suggestion to use it is good.  Worst case, if it doesn't work you're no worse off.  Reinstalling the operating system is a very last resort. I haven't had to do that for many years, and I've fixed much worse problems than yours.
 
Considering the amount of money these hackers with their mal-ware cost the US annually (Way over a billion dollars..In fact Billions) I keep wondring why the Government does not make an effort to find them, Prosecuite them and fine them... I think to determine the fine they should determine how much hackers and internet scammers cost the US last year..And triple it.
 
Most of them are in other countries where the laws have not kept up with technology or enforcement is rare.
 
Seal Team 6....... Solves the problem and the problem stays solved. Only need a few examples before the rest get the hint.


Ken
 
I used this free program along with all the other regular ones a month or so ago.
This cleaned it all out.

http://www.downloadrecover.com/2014/07/adwcleaner-3216.html

You can find the download for Adwcleaner 4.021from a number of sites.


 
AdwCleaner was the first step in cleaning out ReimagePlus in the procedure I referenced.  There are 4 more steps to completely remove all aspects of the malware.
 
oldme said:
I used this free program along with all the other regular ones a month or so ago.
This cleaned it all out.

http://www.downloadrecover.com/2014/07/adwcleaner-3216.html

Dang, I'm surprised I've never heard of this!
Expect the next wave of adware hijackers to first find and destroy this application on your system. ;D

Removal used to be as easy as Ned implied, but my last one (maybe 2 years ago) really did take some concentrated effort over a few hours to get rid of. I had to try pretty much everything every web page suggested before every trace of that sucker was gone. Even using system restore didn't work; I don't remember why, but probably I didn't have a restore point far enough back.
 
I took a gamble this morning and tried to do it on my own. I got to a certain point in the procedure and everything stopped.  It was while the program "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" was running. All day long I had issues. I could click on programs and links and nothing would happen and I still had the Adware problem.  A short time ago, I decided to uninstall that last program. Lo and behold, knock on wood, everything seems to be working just fine now and the Adware appears to be gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few days.
 
Rene, sometimes you just have to be patient.  Some of those scans can take a looong time, just let it run.  Some may take an hour or more.  One trick is to start the Task Manager and see if the program is using CPU time.  If it is, then it's working.
 
Rene T said:
I took a gamble this morning and tried to do it on my own. I got to a certain point in the procedure and everything stopped.  It was while the program "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" was running. All day long I had issues. I could click on programs and links and nothing would happen and I still had the Adware problem.  A short time ago, I decided to uninstall that last program. Lo and behold, knock on wood, everything seems to be working just fine now and the Adware appears to be gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a few days.

It didn't last very long. The next day it was back to doing the same thing. I contacted  Sophos and they took control of my PC for about 2 hours running various scans. It's been almost 24 hours now and everything appears to running fine and so much faster.
I also went into my original post and deleted the link I provided in case it was infected with the adware virus.

OOPS, I thought I deleted it. I don't know if it can be deleted. So I recommend that nobody opens that link.
 

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