I, in the interest of safety, decided to go with the nuclear option of reformatting. So say we all.
I'm more confused about how I got it. I do not go to unfamiliar sites or download much at all. I run microsoft security essentials as my default virus protection, as well as Spybot. I have Malwarebytes that I run every now and then, too. I can't even remember the last time I got a virus.
The last thing I did was download a driver update from nvidia. It wasn't a fake website, it was secure. After I restarted my computer for the update, my PC was in the state described in the title. However, I don't restart often, so I could have picked it up some other time and just got the effects now. I don't know.
Any ideas on this type of virus? Ways to avoid it? I honestly thought I was doing as much as I could to keep my PC secure, but I guess not.
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Seems pretty random to me. I've cleared three of those kinds of viruses off of the computer of one family member, but only gotten one once myself. Best bet is just to have a regular backup image of your operating system drive (if you have one dedicated to that) or a backup of your main drive (bigger and takes longer if you don't have a dedicated OS drive) and revert to that if a nasty virus like that comes along. It's certainly saved me before.
As for what exactly hit you, I dunno. Like I said, these things can come from anywhere, since they can even lurk on normal sites if their ad server gets compromised. Those scripts are usually served from a different domain, though, so with NoScript on you'll still be safe unless the whole site gets hit.
I have ABP in Thunderbird but yeah, Javascript would still work. I've actually gone and disabled all all plug-ins in Thunderbird and just turned JavaScript off. I've actually now set Flash and Java to auto-update because it turns out the only thing I hate more than auto-updaters is getting infected with a virus.
I'm having a problem with Java - I can't change the update settings to check for an update and download it every day instead of monthly. I change the settings, but it doesn't save after I apply/close it. I try running it in admin mode, but it just won't let me - the normal right click/run as admin won't work, and I can't go into the properties to tick the box there. Any advice?