"a serious malfunction has been detected"

[Daisy]

 The "serious malfunction" box popped up with the 800-number and obnoxious and beeping sound. I had to shut down the computer because I couldn't get the box close or do anything else. I did not want to press the X to try to close the window. On rebooting I ran malware bites, and no threats were found, but I still Cannot use the computer because the window pops up and blocks me from doing anything even though I could run Malwarebytes. I'm using my iPad.

[Corrine]

Hi, Daisy.

It would be helpful to have more information about your computer, Operating System, A/V, and particularly which browser you are using.  However, let's see what we can do to get things started.

1.  If the windows pops up after you've launched the browser, if you have a different browser installed than the one that results in the popup, see if you can use that to follow the Log Posting Instructions.

2.  Restart your computer in Safe Mode with Networking and run AdwCleaner (instructions below).  Again -- to provide specific instructions, I need to know what your operating system is.

3.  If you have a USB (flash drive), download AdwCleaner to your iPad and transfer it to your computer.  The instructions for AdwCleaner are as follows:

Please download AdwCleaner by Xplode and save to your Desktop.

• Right-click on AdwCleaner.exe and select Run As Administrator
  
• The tool will start to update the database, please wait a bit.
  
• Click on the Scan button.
  
• AdwCleaner will begin.  Please be patient as the scan may take some time to complete.
  
• After the scan has finished, click on the Clean button.
  
• Press OK when asked to close all programs and follow the onscreen prompts.
  
• Press OK again to allow AdwCleaner to restart the computer and complete the removal process.
  
• After rebooting, a logfile report (AdwCleaner[S#].txt) will open automatically (where the largest value of # represents the most recent report).
  
• Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.
  
• A copy of that logfile will also be saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder.
  

[Daisy]

Dear Corinne,  This issue hits me at a busy time, so I will not take advantage of your generous support and instead will take to our local computer shop.  I just don't have time to work on it. My apology for wasting your time with the reply and thank you.

Best wishes, Susan

[Corrine]

Try booting to safe mode and seeing if you can restore the system to prior to the infection.  Then, when things settle down, we can take a look at your computer.

[techie]

It's a scam-ware phishing for information. I ran into it the other day. The particular system i was looking at it would load at the startup screen even. X it out, it shutdown. I would run ccleaner or just clear your browsing history. I believe it came from a popup on Facebook. You know the safe way to give away all of personal information :(

I ran a number of checks to verify no virus or malware was in the system. It was still clean.