So, yesterday I'm at work, browsing around. Being in an online business, I go to sites all over the internet, some of these sites could literally be considered the asshole of the internet (or close to it...since I'm pretty sure 4chan holds that title exclusively).
Well, lo and behold, I all of a sudden get a huge pop up on my machine saying "Windows Security 2012 Unregistered Version" then it starts "scanning" my computer telling me i have all these viruses and that my computer is at risk.
Now, I've seen this type of malware before...it's stuff that installs itself and tells you you have all these viruses when it's actually a virus just trying to get you to purchase shitty spyware software.
Well, naturally I go "oh shit" and x out everything. I immediately get my virus scanner (ESET) working. Unfortunately, it finds the infections but doesnt clean it. So, I take matters into my own hands...I see what is quarantined, this file "pal.exe" which isn't in the place it should be, and keeps firing up every time i try to open my web browsers (which results in the windows 2012 fake virus scan popup). When I end the process manually after a ctrl+alt+delete the pop up goes away, but it also force closes the web browser.
Well, I decide to delete this file straight up out of my temp files (where it was located). There was one more file in there that looked suspicious, so I deleted it too.
Good news: That pesky pop up bullshit is gone. When I open my browsers etc. everything is fine....ESET scans yield no infections.
Bad News: Now, every time I try to open a program (be it Quickbooks, Spotify, Firefox, Excel, etc.) windows doesn't know how to recognize the file...so I have to browse my computer for the actual .exe and select it, and I can't check the box "always use this program to open this kind of file"
Bottom line, it all works, but it's fucking annoying to have to hunt for the actual .exe file in my Program Files (x86) folder every time I want to open a program. Is there any way I can fix this? Is it just a side effect from that malware being a bitch, or did I delete something I shouldn't have in the process.
TL,DR: Tech question. GTFO
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