I'm trying to help a friend whose Windows 11 Home computer appears to be attacked by some suspicious notifications claiming there are viruses and that his computer is being taken over remotely. He has Avast installed, but I suspect that McAfee might still be running since it was installed first when he bought the computer. I might have disabled it, but it doesn't seem like it worked. The malware prompts are pushing a link to [prokermonantam.co.in](http://prokermonantam.co.in), which looks really sketchy. Also, at some point, Avast stopped launching at startup. I've checked the installed apps but couldn't disable McAfee. How can I effectively stop this?
4 Answers
Just go for a complete wipe and do a clean install of Windows. It's a solid way to ensure that whatever might be lurking is totally gone.
First, try turning off browser notifications because they might be the source of those weird pop-ups. If that doesn't help, you might be dealing with a more sneaky malware issue.
Those notifications often turn out to be just browser issues. Definitely check Chrome or Edge to see if any weird site permissions are set. If it feels too overwhelming, I'd recommend wiping the computer completely, especially since you're unsure about keeping McAfee.
I was okay with them removing McAfee until they mentioned they have Avast. That's a whole other layer of confusion!
If you're still having problems, a simple reset or clean installation of the operating system could be the best way to go. You'd lose some data, so make sure backups are in place before doing anything drastic.
I did that, but the notifications are still bombarding the screen. I even re-downloaded Avast, but it's finding nothing. Could I possibly use another computer to download a clean antivirus program and transfer it via flash drive?