Virus alert

[hyped_up_boy 15]

Not sure if this goes here or in current events, but just warning about a pretty serious computer virus.  On friday, my desktop got infected with win32:vitro and immediately started attacking all the executable files on my computer.  A scan of my hard drive revealed that every .exe file from games to system files to notepad were all infected.  From the Avast! forums and elsewhere on the internet, it seems to be a variant or mutation on the win32:virut file infector which has been around for a while.  Solutions seem limited to a complete reformat or rebuild of the OS.

link isn't working, so http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=42709.0

It looks like it infects from any website that may have been infected.  Vitro can also jump onto USB and external hard drives, and from there, backups may re-infect freshly reformatted computers.

[jacqulina 162]

i sorted this problem out with this free program,heres the link.on a laptop that came to me with the virus you meantioned.i couldnt get on the deaktop,so i used task manager,file,new task run,and managed it from there,the program removed the virus and whatever other spyware.then once in,i revoved all restores and made a new one.no format required.

http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html

[Jezus53 18]

Did you get from a download or did it just jump on your computer from a website without any warning? I don't run any virus protection on my pc, I just go online on a limited user account so programs can't installe themselves but could this tactic not work?

[warrior 169]

You definately need a anti virus program, as many virus dont need to install them selves.

You can download a free trial of AVG, which is quite good. Then get some money to either buy AVG or some other Anti Virus (I personally wouldn't go for Norton or McAffee)

Jonathan

[hyped_up_boy 15]

Yeah, you need an anti virus, since viruses can infect the entire system even if you're on a limited account. Avast! Anti Virus is also pretty good, and I've heard good things about Kaspersky AV. I might as well reformat; my computer's been running slower lately, anyway and I'm sure there are other viruses on there too

[Jezus53 18]

grrr. I hate virus software. Always slowin me down. But I guess for the safety of my files and my sanity I will. I've heard Avast! is pretty good so I'll go with that. Thanks for the heads up too. I think my girlfriend got it so now I have to fix here computer. Hooray!!!

[warrior 169]

Believe me it is much better to have an Antivirus that works then having none, or one the doesn't work (*cough* Norton 360 *cough*). Even if it slows your PC down slightly.

I've had to reinstall twice due to viruses, and have had a couple more.

Jonathan

[Rymac91 15]

I just dealt with a computer infected with a virus like this(or maybe the same). I couldn't remove it from the computer itself because the virus had locked me out of every possible function to remove it.

It messed with the Task Manager so I couldn't use it to start tasks or kill processes, it locked the administrator account from safe mode and disabled User Account Settings, so I couldn't remove it, any time I tried to run a executable, it would be blocked, no matter what it was, it disabled the taskbar, so the start menu didn't work, it disabled the command prompt from opening on its own, so I couldn't bypass it with the command field and it remove the administrative tools from the control panel. I used a second computer to attempt a scan of it, and I couldn't remove it without it reestablishing itself when it was put back into the original computer. It's a nasty virus. I couldn't remove it, so I sent the computer to have the OS reinstalled.

[Jezus53 18]

hmmm. I see. And Warrior, I've had it installed, and it's not a slight slow down. I mean it took my computer 5 minutes to become usable. That was McAfee. Then with my church's computer, we had avast in it and it would crash if we tried playing videos or if it was running for too long. I've found Norton to be very ineffective. Along with AVast and McAfee. I have never found a virus program that work, thus my reason for never having one. Of sourse there are others that I have mentioned, but the fact that it never helped me when I needed it drove me away. I have had to reinstalle XP once because out of the blue a system32.dll file just disappered, and it wasn't too bad reinstalling it. I don't know. I'm still up in the air. The warning is great though.

[Jezus53 18]

Update on the virus alert. Just to warn everyone, there is a worm going around and they say it's going to be pretty nasty. It's one of those April fools day worms.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/24/conficker.computer.worm/index.html

[blade2k5 1,523]

Originally posted by: Jezus53

hmmm. I see. And Warrior, I've had it installed, and it's not a slight slow down. I mean it took my computer 5 minutes to become usable. That was McAfee. Then with my church's computer, we had avast in it and it would crash if we tried playing videos or if it was running for too long. I've found Norton to be very ineffective. Along with AVast and McAfee. I have never found a virus program that work, thus my reason for never having one. Of sourse there are others that I have mentioned, but the fact that it never helped me when I needed it drove me away. I have had to reinstalle XP once because out of the blue a system32.dll file just disappered, and it wasn't too bad reinstalling it. I don't know. I'm still up in the air. The warning is great though.quote>

Try this one http://www.avg.com/ . You can either use the free trial and buy it later, or use the free version, like I do. It doesn't slow my pc down and I haven't contracted any viruses yet.

[ArchangelMichael 51]

Avira AntiVir has been the best free (and paid) anti-virus program for a couple years, but is just now beginning to really turn heads. The recent update is drawing greater attention because it adds previously-premium services to the free package, namely spyware detection and removal. What makes it better than Avast! and AVG? Two independent test sites have posted recent results: VirusBulletin and AV-Comparatives (click on "Comparatives/Reviews," then "Main Tests" and grab the PDF of last month's test results). The findings of these sites reveal just what a waste of money the big-name suites are. I am running the new AntiVir version 9 on Windows XP SP3 on a six-year-old system (P4 @ 2.4GHz) and it is currently using less than 10MB of RAM and has no noticable impact on performance. Right now, you can only download it here. G-DATA AVK is also very good (better than both Avast! and AVG), but offers no free version.

Looking for the best firewall? Comodo is free, but not so easy for average users; Online Armor is also very good and simple to use, but the free version lacks some important features (the results at the Matousec site show lower results than Comodo for the Online Armor free version). Past complaints of Comodo slowing down systems have been resolved -- it's using less than 5MB of RAM for me, and never slows me down like the four most popular all-in-one suites are known to do (Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, ZoneAlarm).

My two cents.

Hope it keeps you virus-free!

Mike

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

Originally posted by: ArchangelMichael

Looking for the best firewall? Comodo is free, but not so easy for average users

quote>

Comodo was great for me, until it missed Kollah and virtumonde. It is also irritating with constant alerts over nothing. I also run Spybot, and the free scan in the Yahoo toolbar. Between these 3, I have very few problems.

Norton is trash, causing as many problems as it fixes in my experience. It was also quite difficult to completely uninstall once I wanted to.

[Easy Bakes 253]

I have used Trend Micro: Internet Security for a few years now. when Norton missed something and i had to reinstall.
It much cheaper then norton and uses a lot less resources the norton did. with Sybot S&D running also, havent had any problems for a few years.

[hyped_up_boy 15]

An April Fools Day virus that's actually not a hoax? Haven't seen that in a while, but since it's Conficker, I'm taking it seriously. Though the experts (whoever they may be) say that if you have up-to-date AV software and all the Windows Updates then you should be fine.

[Eastwinn 6]

...I know this a more than kind of late, Rymac, but if you had another hard drive, I would have set up the old drive as a slave drive and installed XP on a new drive as the master. That way, the virus would be contained and you could easily retrieve your files in a safe manor.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

here's a new one that bedeviled me, none of the AVs could find it. It's called overlay xul, and it hides in the extensions folder of your Firefox browser. All it does is redirect Google searches to various shopping sites. If you have a problem with adware redirection, it's likely your problem. Just file search for overlay xul, and delete it. Problem solved.

[cubenax 2]

I use an iMac for internet use and hope to hell nothing happens.

Needless to say, I won't be downloading anything onto my flash drive to put on my laptop in which I play SimCity for a while.

[Jezus53 18]

Thanks for the tips Archangel, blade2k5, and Manticorefan. I'll look into it. I currently use Spybot since it is not a resource hog and has worked extremely well for me. Right now I'm just staying safe, I only download from sites I know are safe, such as here or SC4 Devotion. I usually only go to sites recommended by people I can trust and place I know are safe. It's easy to not get viruses even without a virus program. You need to surf smart.

I wouldn't get too comfortable with that imac. Virus makers are starting to realize mac ownership is increasing and it's starting to become worth the effort to infect them. Just a warning. I know a few people with macs who think they'll never ever in their entire lifetime get a virus.