I’m not familiar with SuperAntiSpyware. Is that an especially good antispyware program? I do know it’s always a good idea to try as many different antivirus/antispyware programs as possible because each one catches things others don’t.

Hope you get your mom’s computer problem fixed soon!

Curious whether your mom has Service Pack 3 for her version of Windows XP. Just read on the Microsoft website that support for the Service Pack 2 (32-bit) version has ended, which means that version is no longer eligible for updates. (The 64-bit, SP 2 version is still eligible.) Here’s the link: Support is ending for some versions of Windows.

Is your mom’s antivirus program working, and have you tried a boot-time antivirus scan? If it’s a virus, you may be able to get rid of it that way — before the virus has a chance to load. A boot-time scan helped me get rid of a bunch of unwelcome PC Antispyware 2010 files (once I got my antivirus program back up and running). You should be able to set your mom’s antivirus program to do a boot-time scan on her next restart. Then you can either restart immediately or let the program run the scan the next time she turns the computer on. Once you’ve gotten rid of the virus, you’ll be able to focus on figuring out how to get Windows Updates up and running again. That should be a lot easier once her browser is no longer being hijacked.

You might also visit the Microsoft Update Solution Center, where it’s possible you’ll find some info that could prove helpful in correcting the problem. Fixes are mentioned there for specific situations, which might just help if one of the Top Issues they cover happens to apply. If not, the above web page also links to the MS Support Contacts page, where you’ll be able to access support professionals or discussion groups to try to get an answer to the problem.

Another way to get answers is at BleepingComputer.com a website where computer experts help people solve their computer issues. The site has quite a few different discussion boards/forums, depending on the problem, and also offers tutorials on various computer issues, along with malware removal guides. I haven’t scoured the site for an answer to your specific issue, but it might be a good place to look.

Just so I understand what you’re saying, can you tell me exactly what comes up as “page cannot be displayed”? What link have you clicked or copy/pasted into your browser’s address bar before getting that error message?

You might also try doing some online research to see whether you can find others who have overcome this problem and who therefore know what causes it. That’s the way I found out how to get rid of PC Antispyware 2010/Braviax. (I’m not even a techie type — just an inveterate researcher and very persistent.) If I learn anything about it, I’ll come back and share what I find. You might want to stay signed up for comment notifications on this post or check back periodically just in case.

Good luck getting this sticky problem worked out for your mom! She’s blessed to have you in her corner!

It comes up as page cannot be displayed and even google redirects you if you search for windows updates. It’s a different virus than the PC AntiSpyware but it’s almost just as bad because we can’t get windows xp updates unless I search for them 1 by 1 and install them, which is pretty much impossible unless you kno exactly which updates that computer needs. Any ideas on which virus does that?

Even after I got it cleaned up, I made a backup for my pc and then reformatted my hard drive.

works like a charm now!

As far as I know, all these tools are free.

Take care!
Jeanne

Good move! Glad to hear you’re rid of it! Thanks for explaining how you did it! I’m sure it will help someone else!

It’s a great feeling to boot up and not see those annoying pop-ups anymore, isn’t it? Glad you managed to get the culprit out of your Startup list. That was definitely critical to your success in eradicating the virus. (Yes, it is Braviax/cru629 that’s at the root of this malware infection.)

Also glad you’ve managed to figure a work-around to get Malwarebytes up and running. It will help you get rid of many of the malicious files that are hidden in various places on your PC. I’d recommend that you download and scan your system with as many other anti-malware programs as you can, since I’ve noticed that different programs find and remove different malicious files. In addition to Malwarebytes, I’ve had good success with Avast!, Windows Defender, Ad-Aware, AVG, and Trend Micro RootkitBuster. Autoruns is also good for checking which programs are automatically loading on startup, and HijackThis can give you a comprehensive (though complex) picture of everything that’s going on with your computer system (though it can often require an expert to decipher it all).

Now that the infection is gone, you might want to follow my suggestions earlier in this thread to locate and restore your Windows Security Center. I still haven’t returned to describe the final step that fully restored everything to its proper place on my PC, because truthfully, I’m not even sure how it all happened myself and so don’t really know how to describe it. Yet, if you follow the explanation I’ve posted so far, you should at least be able to get a usable link to your Security Center onto your desktop, which will enable you to access it–and access is really the most important thing.

Congrats on your persistence and success in eradicating this infuriating malware!

It’s hard to say whether the program needs to have been installed in order to be uninstalled. I doubt any of us has knowingly installed it, yet suddenly there it was! This infection is highly complex and difficult to get rid of, so it takes real persistence and consistent attempts at trying various things in order to figure out what will work. Have you tried the things I mentioned in my earlier comment to you?

It’s important to make sure PC Antispyware 2010 is not loading on startup, so you’ll want to make sure it’s unchecked in your Startup list. You’ll also want to do everything you can to get your anti-malware programs working again and/or get new ones downloaded and operating, because they will find and handle all the malicious files the program has placed on your system.

I wouldn’t worry about trying to locate my Security Center at this point. It’s likely operating, even though you can’t access it (a fact which you can double-check by looking at your Services list). Once you’ve gotten rid of the main malware infection, you’ll be able to concentrate on accessing your Security Center and replacing its icon in your Control Panel. Getting rid of the infection is really top priority right now.