Hmm...XP, you say? A hacker with a sense of humor...

Dear lord, how appropriate.

I was surfing FF.net yesterday. Everything seems fine, though... does anyone know if it has some kind of incubation period? Like, is it a logic bomb or something.?

I had that one on my laptop. I found this site.
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/forums.html

You post on the Virus, Spyware, Trojan removal forum, and someone from their site adopts you, and helps walk through getting it off you computer.

They also have a guide that lists programs to install to put a multi-layer protection web around your computer. I haven't had a major outbreak of anything since then, and some of the programs really make things handier such as blocking ads and warning of sites with bad reputations. FF.net actually doesn't have a bad rep with that program--of course that one is based off user reports, so sometimes it over or under rates things.

Anyway, they have fixed my laptop and my desktop over the last year, and I never got a condescending vibe from them. And it is free.

I hate that thing. It's stuck on my computer, and I can't do a system restore without loosing an enormous amount of stuff. However, it is possible to neutralize it. I created a shortcut in my Startup folder (Start menu --> Programs --> right click Startup --> Open) pointing to taskmanager.exe, and that pops up before the virus can stop it. Go to the Processes tab, and scroll down, searching for a description that is the same name as the program it goes with (including the .exe ending). End any that you find. And switch to Firefox—I think that is the virus that also prevents IE from working (Tools --> Internet Options --> Connections tab --> LAN Settings --> uncheck "Use a proxy server" to fix that, but that is a lot of work). Whatever you do, though, you will have to repeat each time you start up. Oh, and I use (and dislike) Vista, so your paths might be slightly different.

I got it a while back. It masqueraded as Vista Anti-Spyware 2010. As much as I click out of the fishy stuff, it must have lodged itself in somewhere.

I had to return to a previous state in my computer before it got the virus. (I can't think of the proper term for that at the moment...)

I've been of ff.net since then... but I won't say anything to jinx myself. XD Originally, I thought I got it from facebook. Never thought about ff.net being a possible culprit.

I've had a few occurrences where that nasty little bug has come up. My computer has the McAfee system, which blocks trojans automatically. They still manage to get through security and try to download crap onto the computer, though...and I try to click out of the webpage as soon as possible to minimize the damage, but I'm not sure if that works.

I commiserate.