Get Help with Removing PAV.exe / PAV

PAV.exe Overview

PAV (aka Personal Antivirus) is a variation of scareware. Scareware (similar to a virus or spyware) uses tricks to get the consumer to install software that is very difficult to remove. Antivirus 2009 / Antivirus 360 is another common example. Some viruses / spyware steal personal information, or turn computers into email spammers. The goal of scareware like PAV.exe is to get you to believe your computer is infected with a virus / spyware so that you will install and pay for software to fix the problem. The trick is this - the software you are asked to install is the problem.

A common approach used by companies behind scareware like PAV.exe is to temporarily buy Internet sites that look completely innocent, populate the website with legitimate looking content and then include in that website bogus warnings that your PC is infected with a virus. The bogus warnings are drawn to look like a valid Windows operating system warning - if you see a warning like this immediately shutdown and restart your PC without pressing any of the buttons in the bogus warning. The sites sometimes show dynamic scans that make it look like your PC is being checked - in fact you are really only watching a movie created to trick the consumer.

Once installed, scareware is extremely difficult to remove. Scareware like PAV.exe burrows into your Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system - latching on to system processes and using a variety of clever tricks to prevent removal. While installed, this software can make a PC virtually unusable thorugh frequent pop-ups and warnings. The scareware raises the noise level while constantly asking for you to pay for the software. Once you've paid that's the end game.

The companies behind nasty software like this are hard to track down, operate outside the US and are constantly changing names to avoid being shut down. For more information on avoiding virus and spyware infections click here.

Symptoms that your PC has been infected by PAV.exe include:

• Fake antivirus software installed that you don't want (called Personal Antivirus) that is constantly asking you to pay a fee
• Frequent warnings and pop-ups of a virus infection from software you didn't install
• Problems surfing websites - you are frequently redirected to a different website than the one you entered
• Pop-ups and warnings that you need to pay to remove a virus or spyware infection
• Slow computer - your computer is running much slower than it was before
• Desktop keeps disappearing / crashing - your Windows taskbar (at the bottom of the screen) keeps disappearing
• Computer is restarting every few minutes
• More generally your computer has become unusable due to any combination of the problems listed above

support.com Customer Stories:

There are many forums and free help sites available for the more experienced computer user to help clean up an infected PC. If you choose to use support.com's experienced Solutions Engineers to help, here are recent comments from customers who had similar problems solved by support.com:

• "AVG connected me to Support.com and Mike was incredibly calm and professional. Personal Anti virus had tried to take over and replace my AVG virus software. He found it fixed it and ensured that the problem and my computer was cleaned." Ruth, Ontario, Canada
• "I woke up to my PC flashing I had many viruses on my home computer and it wanted me to download some kind of protective virus scan. It had attached to all my programs and it would not allow me to open up any programs. I thought I lost everything. Thanks to Sam I'm up and running." Trudy, New Jersey
• "My daughter downloaded a photo and the AntiVirus 360 popped up and I tried as much as I could think of to fix it -probably only making the problem worse not knowing what malware is. When I finally got on-line to look up the 360, what looked like a solution was actually the problem." Suzanne, Kentucky
• "I was printing when the 360 pop up came. Not being computer wise I could not get rid of it, nor could my son or daughter. A neighbor who is in computers told me I had a virus. We could not get your phone number on my computer, the 360 prevented any access to computer information and AVG." Carolyn, New York
• "Was talking on the phone with my sister - Googled a news article that we were referring to.... before my eyes... awful things started happening... messages popping up saying "you are infected" download Virus360 right now to save your computer files... then my computer settings appeared with Trojan and various numbers behind each file... so got even scarier..." Alice, Florida
• "I was on my computer when I got this pop-up telling me that I was infected with a virus. It advised me that I should download Antivirus360 (at a cost of about $150.00 U.S.) to solve the problem. It looked legitimate so I downloaded it. It basically took over my computer. Keith at support.com solved my problem. He was very knowledgeable. Very nice person to deal with." Denise, Florida
• "I had an antivirus 360 pop up on my desk top, unsure how it got there. I was unable to use my computer properly, the antivirus 360 blocked my access to internet on/off. The antivirus pop ups were annoying and I was unable to freely use my computer. support.com engineer, Troy, was so patient with me during the process and he was very knowledgeable about my problem and was able to solve it readily." Janice, Nevada

support.com Can Rid your Computer of PAV.exe Infections

support.com Solutions Engineers are experts in fixing all sorts of computer problems - and they are conveniently available online, right here in the US and Canada. Every day, thousands of customers use us to get support for a variety of problems, like PAV.exe infections. Getting help from us is simple, just call!

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