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Received a warning about a virus and a green progress bar started a download

  • 5 replies
  • 9 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by Helper7677

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Hello. I was on a website the other day and all of a sudden there was a warning that came down from the top of the browser. It was a grey warning box. Said something like your computer has a virus or is infected, etc. and will be checked for the virus. I could click on "ok" or "cancel". I clicked cancel but there was a green progress bar that started to show that a download was taking place. I forced quit right away but when I opened firefox it gave me the webpage again with the warning. I hit cancel again and the same thing started to happen (showed a download in progress with a green progress bar on left side of screen). I immediately closed all the firefox windows I had open. When I clicked on firefox again everything was fine. The new window went to the apple website page and everything seems to be working fine. I use a mac. Has anyone else gotten this warning before? And should I be worried that my computer was infected by a virus? I don't have an anti virus installed on my computer. With mac I always just keep the security updates up to date and I'm usually fine. I just want to make sure my computer didn't just get a virus. Thanks for the help!

Hello. I was on a website the other day and all of a sudden there was a warning that came down from the top of the browser. It was a grey warning box. Said something like your computer has a virus or is infected, etc. and will be checked for the virus. I could click on "ok" or "cancel". I clicked cancel but there was a green progress bar that started to show that a download was taking place. I forced quit right away but when I opened firefox it gave me the webpage again with the warning. I hit cancel again and the same thing started to happen (showed a download in progress with a green progress bar on left side of screen). I immediately closed all the firefox windows I had open. When I clicked on firefox again everything was fine. The new window went to the apple website page and everything seems to be working fine. I use a mac. Has anyone else gotten this warning before? And should I be worried that my computer was infected by a virus? I don't have an anti virus installed on my computer. With mac I always just keep the security updates up to date and I'm usually fine. I just want to make sure my computer didn't just get a virus. Thanks for the help!

All Replies (5)

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It sounds you got to a site that presented a rogue virus warning and was trying to get you to install some malicious software. Those sites are normally aimed at Windows users and will be trying to download a Windows executable file. I am not aware of any that target the Mac. I think it is unlikely that your computer is infected, but if you want to be sure there are some free antivirus programs for the Mac available.

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Thank you so much for your post. I really appreciate your answer!

Are you able to suggest any sites that are safe to download free antivirus programs for Mac? I have heard that sometimes those programs, like Norton for Mac, can significantly slow down the computer and cause other issues. Is this true? If so, is it recommended to install a program like Norton, test for viruses, and then uninstall?

Thanks again for your help!

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I don't use a Mac so can not recommend a particular product. Somebody may reply here, or you can ask in one of the Mac forums such as http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ about antivirus programs.

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Ok great. I'll check out the Mac forum. And wait and see if anyone else replies here.

Thanks again for your help!

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