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My computer has been hacked. If I uninstall and reinstall do I loose my files? The facebook tech tried to sell me a number of pkgs ranged $149-$299 and told me that my account was hacked as was my computer and I needed to clean it up and change all of my passwords. I also needed additional security..more than anti virus. What do you suggest?

what kind of software is needed to manage errors and tracking?

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The "Facebook tech"? Did someone call you up and tell you your computer has been infected? There's a large-scale scam going on that involves calling up unsuspecting users and telling them their computer is infected, then trying to get them to pay for "protection" which is actually just a fake AV product that steals your banking details. This sounds eerily like that kind of scam. – Polynomial Nov 12 '12 at 16:20
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What @Polynomial said. Facebook does not have tech support to help you with this, and even if they did they would not be dealing with cleaning your computer (and you shouldnt trust them either, even if they did). Also, last time I checked Facebook accounts were free, these packages seem a bit overpriced. – AviD♦ Nov 14 '12 at 10:14

closed as off topic by Rook, Scott Pack, Iszi, Gilles, AviD♦ Nov 14 '12 at 10:14

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I agree with @polynomial, this sounds like a scam. Facebook would never call you, there's no such thing as a Facebook tech. Do not pay them any money! It could be that your computer has been infected and that you are getting pop-ups telling you that your computer is infected and you need to call a number to get it fixed, this is also a scam where they sell you a fake AV tool that will remove the so-called virus.

If someone has called you out of the blue then tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. Make sure your computer has all OS updates, Adobe updates, Sun Java updates, etc installed. Also make sure you have an antivirus installed and it is up to date. Microsoft has a free one that is actually pretty good.

If you have pop-ups on your computer telling you that your computer is infected by a virus, then it is. The virus gives you a pop-up telling you your computer is infected in hopes you'll fall for the scam. The only way to recover from this is to re-build your computer. Get a portable hard drive and copy your important files to it, then completely re-install the operating system. Make sure it has all the updates on it, and an Antivirus program. Use the AV to scan the portable hard drive and if it is all clean then copy the files back.

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Also, make sure that if you went to any URLs that they told you to go to that were not for websites you would normally visit, there is a decent possibility that they could have infected your computer with a virus already. It would be a good idea to run a good AV and anti-malware tool against your system. Malware Bytes is my personal go-to tool, but there are other great tools available as well. – AJ Henderson Nov 13 '12 at 21:24
Also, as an aside, having gotten many of these calls myself. I always personally enjoy playing along with them but confusing them by saying things like "my screen says C:\Dos\" in the lower right corner. They have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. In one case, after I told them I knew they were a scamming ahole and they wouldn't get anything from me, we continued to talk for another like 15 minutes with the most completely irrational conversation path I've ever had, but I figured every minute I kept them on the phone was a minute they wouldn't find someone that didn't know better. – AJ Henderson Nov 13 '12 at 21:26
Telling them your name is Matt Allwright gets them to hang up pretty quickly. – Polynomial Nov 14 '12 at 7:10
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Nice one @Polynomial! I'm probably one of the few on this site who knows who that is! – GdD Nov 14 '12 at 9:26

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