Ok. There is *NO* record of this anywhere on the net that I have found. I fear I'm one of the first victims.
Today I came back from a 4 day business trip and got an unfamiliar window when I started my machine up. It looks very similar to an official Microsoft window with a blue background and white lettering. I tried control-alt-deleting into Task Manager only to find it had been "disabled by your administrator." Here is a transcript of everything:
"Microsoft piracy control.
Your copy of Windows was activated by another user.
To help reduce software piracy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now.
We will ask for you(sic) billing details, but your credit card will NOT be charged.
You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it.
Microsoft is committed to your privacy. For more information, www.microsoft.com/piracy (note: link does not work)
Do you want to activate Windows now?
() Yes, activate Windows over the Internet now
() No, I will do it later
To continue, click Next"
When you click next, it brings you to the next step:
"Activation of Windows.
Just 3 steps and you're done...
Step 1: [Select your location]
Step 2: Enter your contact information
Email [ ] Phone number [ ]
Step 3: Enter your billing information
Name on card: [ ]
Credit card number: [ ]
ATM PIN: [ ]
Important: your card will NOT be charged
Expiry date [Select Month] [Year]
CW2 code [ ]
To aid in the prevention of fraudulent credit
card use, we now require the 3 or 4 digit
code on the back of your credit card.
To continue, click Next."
I've run AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5, Spybot and Ad-Aware...no dice. AVG seems to find lots of stuff, but once I leave Safe Mode I am faced with the same screen and locked out of doing anything else.
Any ideas? I'm new to this "get a virus, go online and get help" thing, so I'm not really sure where to start. I could probably be better about using firewalls and the like... they seem to always mess up my ability to share files so I disable them. I know...stupid. So there you have it. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Dave
Today I came back from a 4 day business trip and got an unfamiliar window when I started my machine up. It looks very similar to an official Microsoft window with a blue background and white lettering. I tried control-alt-deleting into Task Manager only to find it had been "disabled by your administrator." Here is a transcript of everything:
"Microsoft piracy control.
Your copy of Windows was activated by another user.
To help reduce software piracy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now.
We will ask for you(sic) billing details, but your credit card will NOT be charged.
You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it.
Microsoft is committed to your privacy. For more information, www.microsoft.com/piracy (note: link does not work)
Do you want to activate Windows now?
() Yes, activate Windows over the Internet now
() No, I will do it later
To continue, click Next"
When you click next, it brings you to the next step:
"Activation of Windows.
Just 3 steps and you're done...
Step 1: [Select your location]
Step 2: Enter your contact information
Email [ ] Phone number [ ]
Step 3: Enter your billing information
Name on card: [ ]
Credit card number: [ ]
ATM PIN: [ ]
Important: your card will NOT be charged
Expiry date [Select Month] [Year]
CW2 code [ ]
To aid in the prevention of fraudulent credit
card use, we now require the 3 or 4 digit
code on the back of your credit card.
To continue, click Next."
I've run AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5, Spybot and Ad-Aware...no dice. AVG seems to find lots of stuff, but once I leave Safe Mode I am faced with the same screen and locked out of doing anything else.
Any ideas? I'm new to this "get a virus, go online and get help" thing, so I'm not really sure where to start. I could probably be better about using firewalls and the like... they seem to always mess up my ability to share files so I disable them. I know...stupid. So there you have it. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Dave