Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

jakeny

Baseband Member
Messages
89
Location
United States
Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

I was browsing the internet last night using Google Chrome browser and suddenly I see a message at the bottom of my screen showing a download progress bar thingy and before I could do anything a file called "fl_setup.exe" had downloaded onto my computer.

I don't know exactly how/why it happened, but I believe I accidentally clicked some ad somewhere and it redirected me to a malicious page.

I had about six to seven Chrome browser windows open as I was using the website Rate My Professors - Review Teachers and Professors, School Reviews, College Campus Ratings to check out which professors I might want to avoid next term and I noticed after that suspicious file downloaded that one of the Rate My Professors pages had disappeared and in its place was a weird page with a very weird web address (something something.info ...I've never seen a ".info" web URL before). And even more suspicious was the the content on that page said that it was an automatic Flash Player update and that my computer was vulnerable, because I didn't have this key update. I exited that page by clicking the X at the top right corner of my Chrome ....but not before that weird filed downloaded.

The suspicious file that downloaded was titled "fl_setup.exe" so I thought well ...maybe it really is from Flash. The "fl" in the title looked possibly related. But I Virus Total checked it just in case (thanks to you guys here I use it all the time now!!;) ) and it came back with LOTS of red warnings.

19/53 were bad.
It also says:
The file being studied is a Portable Executable file! More specifically, it is a Win32 EXE file for the Windows GUI subsystem.

There's lots more technical jargon and info that can be found on this file at Virus Total, but the point is that I've got it!! :eek::confused::facepalm:

I didn't know what to do, so I went to my "Downloads" folder and deleted that file from my computer before sleeping last night.

My question:

Would I be safe if I never clicked on that file? Is it a type of file that only activates and causes damage if I open it first? Or, could I still be infected and vulnerable even having never clicked/opened that file myself on my computer?

Thanks to every for your help!! I really want to get rid of this thing fully :trash: and be safe :thumb:.

(p.s. My Norton anti-virus oddly said the file was "safe." :rolleyes: Thank goodness I Virus Total'd it as well.)
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Even if you never clicked on the file it may still be able to create problems. Run Norton (I'd get rid of Norton and get Avast its better) and see what it picks up then run the http://www.computerforums.org/forums/cyber-safety-computer-security/pc-cleanup-toolbox-219988.html except blackviper tools which is for more advanced users..

Hi, BK

Just finished my Norton "Full System Scan" and it returned 0 threats. 384,387 files were scanned and nothing can back as a risk. But, of course, Norton initially said the "fl_setup.exe" was safe!!! :rolleyes:

I'm going to do the PC Cleanup right now! Thanks.
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Ahhhh!!! :eek:

I clicked that link you posted above, BK, and it went to a thread by user: "setishock."

There are a bunch of links that he/she posts on that page that supposedly are for cleaning up a PC. I clicked the first one called "CCleaner" and it sent me to a page where there was a "download" button for the program. I clicked the download button and immediately Norton blocked it and a message came up saying it was a dangerous malware/virus program/site.....

You guys sure about these tools? That first one came back a dangerous program that Norton flat out blocked. :ermm:
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

These tools are legitimate, Norton thinks everything is a virus, Temporarily disable Norton so you can download the tools.
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Norton couldnt catch a viral fly. I promase you that.
Check this out: Remove Fl_setup.exe from PC [Removal Guide]!
I trust Spy Hunter, and that is part of this guide.

But there may be other thing wrong. First try that, and let us know what happens.
I would have gotten to this sooner if it was not for a stomach virus I have had for the last few days. I give you my word that you are in good (Practiced) hands.

If you have any trouble, please let us know.
Also, as has been said above, please remove Norton, and replace it with somthing better. My bet is on Avast. It kills most malware, and has a free version that will be free for your entire life. The paid versions include a firewall which you do not seem to need.

If you are still having trouble, let us know because I can include a scan for log files telling us exactly what is wrong.
 
Last edited:
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Alright, just had time this morning to download the first program on the PC Toolbox Cleanup page.

Interestingly, it may have been an ad that I clicked the first time that led Norton to block the page. I noticed on the CCleaner page that there are TWO download buttons. One is to the upper right and says "download the latest version" (which I just did successfully this morning - albeit after disabling Norton as you guys said) and the other is a HUGE "download" button in the center of the screen. But that other huge download button actually kind of looks like an ad. ...I don't know ....but just saying....it'd be weird to have a malicious ad on a PC Cleaner site. lol. Or, I could just be wrong.

Anyhow, I got the CCleaner up and running. Two questions:

i.) I used all the default settings and ran "analyze." It returned a long list of results that it recommended to be deleted. However, in the list are some seemingly "good" looking files like "Applications - Office 2013." I was thinking .....would my MS Office not work properly if this cleaner program deletes those files? Should we allow the program to delete everything it recommends or self-select them based on what we believe should be excluded?

And, secondly, should we just click "Run Cleaner" to delete them? I clicked "Analyze" when I first opened the program. The only other button I see on the main screen is "Run Cleaner." Is that essentially the delete files button?

ii.) The default settings don't seem to check everything as setishock recommended (except for wipe free space) in his thread. Instead there are unhighlighted boxes in the default settings, such as DNS cache, Old Prefetch data, etc. etc. Is there a way to check those areas as well? Should we even try to check those as well? setishock did say to check everything except for wipe free space, because it would take too long for that area.

Hope this makes sense. If needed, I can clarify anything, but a huge HUGE thanks to everyone again! You guys are life savers!!! :bow:
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Ccleaner is a program designed to clean up junk. Nothing more. It will not remove any malware from your computer.

You can select all of the check boxes safely with this program, as long as you do not mind loosing your saved passwords ect...
Otherwise, I suggest looking at each option objectively.


I still recommend the post above as well though...
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Norton couldnt catch a viral fly. I promase you that.
Check this out: Remove Fl_setup.exe from PC [Removal Guide]!
I trust Spy Hunter, and that is part of this guide.

But there may be other thing wrong. First try that, and let us know what happens.
I would have gotten to this sooner if it was not for a stomach virus I have had for the last few days. I give you my word that you are in good (Practiced) hands.

If you have any trouble, please let us know.
Also, as has been said above, please remove Norton, and replace it with somthing better. My bet is on Avast. It kills most malware, and has a free version that will be free for your entire life. The paid versions include a firewall which you do not seem to need.

If you are still having trouble, let us know because I can include a scan for log files telling us exactly what is wrong.

Virus Total says your link is a malicious site. :facepalm:

I went to that page for about one to two minutes, before running it through VT...I hope I didn't catch anything while I was there.
 
Re: Chrome Downloaded "fl_setup.exe" and Virus Total Says It's Virus - Now What?

Ccleaner is a program designed to clean up junk. Nothing more. It will not remove any malware from your computer.

That's what I figured, but there are also a cluster of links in setishocks's PC Cleanup Toolbox that do remove viruses. I'm going through each one right now. ...might take a while. But I don't mind.

I did take your suggestion to not allow CCleaner to remove everything automatically. I had important MS WORD files (for school) in it's clean list that I could not afford to be deleted!!! Weird how it considered my files junk. :rolleyes: There was no way to remove those files from the clean list either (maybe there is, but I couldn't find it). So I had to sort of "gamble" almost and manually watch the program clean things on the list and wait until it got somewhat close to my MS WORD files and then hit cancel. But it's a gamble, because had I waited too long, then maybe a few seconds more or a minute more and those files would have been next up to wipe. I had to count how many files were in front of it on the list and stop after X amount to give myself a gap where I could quickly react and cancel that cleaning.

^^^If that above part doesn't make sense, don't worry. I would just recommend, however, that people be careful with just letting CCleaner wipe everything without first manually inspecting the items it labels as junk. Although if you have backups for important files (which are labeled junk) in some other format like Google Docs or flash drive, etc., then I suppose you're still technically safe.
 
Back
Top Bottom