Hey gang. Hey this might be a coincidence or something else might have gone amiss but it appears there's some sort of scam that's infected my band in a box disc. It only happens when I run the audio file and it seems like it started when I downloaded an update but it's one of those stupid security alerts and a voice tells me my computer is infected and the virus is accessing my credit card Facebook blah blah blah and if I don't call their number immediately to have it cleaned off Microsoft will do something terrible to my computer. I realize it's all rubbish but has anyone ever gotten that on their audiophile drive before? AVG is scanning the drive right now. Thanks. WSS
Not quite the same as you, but one day I was on the internet when a pop up window claiming to be Microsoft Support said my computer was infected. I call the phone # and they wanted $500 for a year of protection. Final offer was $99 to do a scan and fix the problem.
Didn't buy any of that crap. But I ran every virus / malware software I have on the computer and nothing was found.
DE
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
Steve, that's unfortunate. You are the first I've read about here who suspected a PG Music drive for malware. I have to say, the odds of that seem awfully low compared to all the other ways you could have downloaded ransomware.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
I agree with the others. It's quite unlikely that the drive is shipped with any infection. Most likely any issue has infiltrated through a different source.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Chances are really good that you picked up a malware bug but not very likely that it came from PG on their disk or update.
All it takes to pick this kind of bug up, is for you to click on a link to a web page.
You need to run a GOOD anti-malware program immediately to rid your computer of this issue.
My wife picked one up from a search she was doing for an elementary teacher's website. It got in instantly and put her machine into a loop. Demanding that she click on a link to remove the hundreds of viruses that supposedly infected her computer. She couldn't get rid of the popup or run any other programs she needed.
It took me the better part of an hour or more to remove it. It slowed her computer down and caused all sorts of issues.
Anti-MalwareBytes is the thing I used to clean the computer. I have this program on my machine and run it periodically as normal maintenance on my machine.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
I agree with Herb that Anti-MalwareBytes is one of the best anti-malware programs out there. I have the purchased version of it on both my and my wife's Internet computers. It runs a scan every day.
Between these daily scans and the daily scans of my anti-virus program our systems have been bug free for a couple of years now.
PS - I hope that I haven't jinked myself.
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal". Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Viruses and Malware that infect a computer can plant themselves, or infect executable files on any drives connected to your machine. The thing you'll want to do is run malware/virus scanners while your drive is connected and check your entire PC (all hard drives if possible).
EDIT: DEddy's suggestions are all great. I personally use ADWCleaner if all else fails. It's pretty diligent in removing some very destructive malware for my friends PCs in the past.
EDIT: I personally use ADWCleaner if all else fails. It's pretty diligent in removing some very destructive malware for my friends PCs in the past.
Mat, I just wanted to say Thanks for this advice. I have Windows 10 with Defender on, plus I run Malwarebytes regularly. However, right after Malwarebytes said I was clean, I ran ADWCleaner on each of my computers and came up with malware. In one computer, it was 1 item; in another, 3, but in the third, 151 bad items!
Another good thing is this program is an EXE, so you can download it and put a shortcut to it; that's all that is needed.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Not quite the same as you, but one day I was on the internet when a pop up window claiming to be Microsoft Support said my computer was infected. I call the phone # and they wanted $500 for a year of protection. Final offer was $99 to do a scan and fix the problem.
Didn't buy any of that crap. But I ran every virus / malware software I have on the computer and nothing was found.
DE
More of less the same thing happened to me only two days ago. I was reading the opening page news page on Windows 10 Skype browser. I have never got such a warning previously. The alarm sound was extremely load! Since the introduction of Windows 10 the whole experience for me is more interactivity with Microsoft and unfortunately I believed it was them warning me. The lady I phoned gave me her name, phone number and employee ID and I let her access my computer to do the scan. Her 'close' was also to get some software from her ("Load and Go" card), or pick it up from a Woolworths store or Post Office. That last bit seems rather strange because I do not see how she was going to get anything from me.
I started to get a bit worried at the end of the conversation and left it with the fact she would phone back the following day.
Then I phoned Telstra Platinum, which is a technical support, personalised coaching advice service I get from my internet/phone supplier. The technician told me the supposed Microsoft warning was a scam and spent nearly an hour removing the many viruses etc. from my computer. He also set up a free version of SUPERAntiSpyware which seems to work very well. I now run that every day. I think I will probably have to purchase in the end.
I thought I was protected from picking up these problems with my Avast Malware software but it seems not.
Since then I have also changed my credit card passwords and banking access etc., just to be on the safe side.
I have a question coming out of all of this with regard to Band-in-a-Box. I use the Audiophile version on the external drive supplied. I had never imagined that it could contain a virus or that I could pick up a virus when updating from PGMusic. As a result I never had my previous software check the E drive, which is the location on my computer. The reason for this is that I was worried that the antivirus software might remove some important files, because it does this automatically, and I would not be able to use my Band-in-a-Box. I noticed with the new software that it was also checking the E drive and I am wondering if I should continue to allow it to do so?
I'm curious about the answer - I have the same concern. I don't allow malware sw to run on my USB drive for the same reasons as you. I disconnect all USB prior.
Hope people respond.
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
No matter how good your AV software is, it will NOT protect you from your own mistakes.
Allowing someone to access your computer over the internet is a prime example. Once they are allowed in, they can delete or download anything they wish, and your AV won't prevent that, just like it often won't stop you from doing likewise.
you have to use common sense. And only allow tech support folks into the machine that YOU CALLED.... AND.... that you know and or trust. For example, I have business software which I need some help on occasionally.... I have their tech support number and I let them in. I know who they are.
The guy who calls me, and calls himself Bob.... and has a barely understandable Indian accent who just happened to call me to tell me he's a MS technician and they discovered viruses on my machine...... no way.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
The first thing obnoxious faux-ransomware pages do is reset your browser's startup/homepage. Sometimes calling up Task Manager, even via Ctrl-Alt-Del, and closing out your browser, then restarting it, will get rid of the message; uninstalling/reinstalling the browser almost always gets rid of the false ransomware pages. If you can get to the feature of your browser that allows you to check/set your homepage, do that and make sure that only your homepage is showing in that setting.
Another tip: If you get an unfamiliar, suspicious or unwanted pop-up, DON'T CLICK ON THE X (Close Button) AND EXPECT IT TO CLOSE. If the popup is malicious, chances are the X is the trigger for the malicious activity---but that could also include any part of the popup. Close the entire page with your browser's Close functions or, slower but safer, close your browser entirely.
Another way to get suckered into these sites is to click on one of those tantalizing news stories ("Clinton Just Arrested by FBI", "Trump Apologizes", etc.) that appear on the right side of your browser pages, even on Facebook or your email account.
AND---don't think you're immune to this stuff on iOS.
Paj 8^)
P.S.: NEVER CALL THE PHONE NUMBER---unless you want to be put on the open-season world-wide harass-me anytime all-the-time list. They have better caller-ID than you can imagine.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
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