Brownware
 

I really hate to bring this up but I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

My laptop at home was getting a lot of weird links to websites I don't use. And, I mean a lot of links. The same thing happened to the computer I use when I volunteer once a week. My laptop is on Norton's Security provided by Comcast.

I thought my laptop had a virus so I took it to the shop. They said they had never seen so much brownware on a computer! At my volunteer job, they removed the internet from that computer. Both companies blamed it on TOTV!

I now only use TOTV on my iPad and so far I haven't had a problem. Has this happened to anyone else? Any ideas?

I have never heard the term brownware and when I googled it I came up empty. What is it?

It's the "crap" that can wind up getting on your computer, I believe. Hence the term brownware.

Bill :)

I access TOTV from my laptops and an iPad. I've never encountered such a problem. I have Norton, from Comcast as well, but I also run CCleaner and MalwareBytes regularly on my PCs. Perhaps that has something to do with keeping them clean.

The techs in Michigan implied to me that the brownware was from ad posters on TOTV. I don't have a clue if that is correct or not. I would get several links on any webpage that I had open. One time I opened a link and it went directly to a webpage of one of the ad posters. I was just curious if this had happened to anyone else or if I needed stronger internet security on my computers? I've only accessed TOTV from my iPad since this happened and it seems to be okay.

Try these.
Go to Ninite.com and scroll down to Utilities. Put a checkmark in Super and Malwarebytes. Download both and install them on your computer. Run Super first and remove all the hits the program comes up with. Next run Malwarebytes. It is best to boot the system in Safe Mode but run it first under your normal boot and see what happens.

Brownware is a term they may have made up as I have heard of it but it was never defined per say in the computer world.

VG

VG, can you suggest a free antivirus other than avast? Twice now, o two different computers, avast has run out, and I've been unable to install a new one (even one I bought from them), nor am I unable to uninstall the existing version that's no longer working.

I've contacted them for help, since I bought the version, and the things they suggest I've already done, to no avail.

Malwarebytes continues to run fine.

I've used Malwarebytes in the past. I guess it is time to run it again. Thanks every one.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials on my Windows 7 computers and Microsoft Defender on Windows 8 machines. They are both the same product but Microsoft decided to change the name under Windows 8. I also run Malwarebytes and Super as described in an above post.

Remember you cannot have two anti virus programs running on your computer at the same time as it will only cause problems.

VG

Okay. If one stops working (updating and running--avast) but I can't uninstall it due to some error, will it cause problems if I install and run another program such as MSE?

The probable cause of the uninstall not working properly or completely was that Avast was running while you were trying to do the unistall.

There are a couple of things to try to make sure it is fully deleted and not running. First try to stop Avast from running and then go the the control panel and unistall the program from there.

Another thing that you may try is to go to the web site Ninite.com and scroll down to the Utility section and download and install a program called Revo. Run Revo to unistall Avast.

Now install Microsoft Security Essentials if you have not already done so and run a complete scan the first time.The complete can may take hours depending on how large the hard drive is but it will do a complete job.

Even though SE is running in the background on my computer I run a Quick scan about once a week and a complete scan about every three or four weeks.

VG

Here is a little help
 

This is from an older post and helpful
Malware Removal Guide for Windows - Select Real Security

Avast Uninstall Utility program
 

If you want to uninstall Avast it is best to use their own program - see link below.

avast! Uninstall Utility | Download aswClear for avast! Removal

Trend Micro is good too.