There has been a rash of posts here at Xomba and elsewhere on the Internet by unscrupulous individuals asking us to click a link to view explicit videos we supposedly cannot get anywhere else on the Internet. Once the link is clicked we are taken to a webpage that requires that we install a special "codec" to view the videos. Wanting to see the video, maybe our common sense took a back seat to other senses and we say, "Sure, why not?" and install the codec. We may or may not get to see the video, but our computer starts behaving verrrrry badly.

Congratulations, you've just downloaded a virus on your PC. The first thing I want you to do is slap your forehead because you broke the first rule of downloading off of the Internet: Never, ever download anything unless you can absolutely trust the source. Okay, penance covered, let's address the virus.

Chances are pretty good that you've downloaded the IE Defender "trojan horse" virus--a popular choice among those who embed such viruses. It's not the end of the world, but you do need to act quickly with certain actions before further damaging your computer.

The first step is to run an anti-spyware scan to check for the IE Defender virus. If you don't have such a program, slap your forehead again, then click here to download and run SpyHunter's Free IEDefender Scanner.

The scan will indicate whether you have the IEDefender virus--make sure you allow the virus removal tool to remove it. When you are done, reboot your computer and scan again to verify removal. You may also find that you have other spyware, too, and can remove it at the same time.

If you've acted quickly enough, you will have saved your computer and files. If not, then you may have to do a clean reformat of your hard drive and reinstall all of your programs.

This is also a good time to check if you have up-to-date anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall programs. Also check--if you are running Windows and Internet Explorer--that you have Windows Update set to "automatic" to ensure you are downloading the latest security fixes and patches from Microsoft.

Above all, don't click on links promising to show you videos that you can already find on the Internet and watch without installing any questionable codecs.