What is new:I Have a virus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[michaelb15]

I have a "trojan" and it is stopping me from accessing my "windows task manager", and also my "msconfig"

They just pop up, then go back down.....

well anyway, how can I manualy delete that... I am too cheap to get a ainti-virus program and my free version that came with the PC don't pick it up

Any ideas would be appreatied!

Thanks

[GeForce]

Well, if you can't get a decent Anti-Virus program, like Norton, then you're gonna have a hard time of it. The first step to manually deleteing it is to identify the virus or trojan. If you can give me that info, I can try and help you get rid of it .

Jonathan

[Hagar]

I am too cheap to get a ainti-virus program and my free version that came with the PC don't pick it up

Sorry but I have no sympathy. Anyone going online without proper anti-virus software running these days is asking for it. You are also most likely responsible for spreading that trojan to all your friends.

[GeForce]

You are quite right of course Hagar. I use Norton Antivirus 2003 and ZoneAlarm Professional. If you use ZoneAlarm (even the free version) you will see from the stats how extremely effective it is.

Norton found a couple of viruses in an image on a website the other day. As you said, if you go on the Net without proper protection you really are asking for it.

Jonathan

[michaelb15]

Where can I get that free versoin?

[GeForce]

ZoneAlarm is not a piece of anti-virus software - it is a firewall (http://www.zonelabs.com). Free anti-virus software is available from AVG 6/7 (http://www.grisoft.com), or do a Search on Google or similar for AntiVir Personal Edition. These are free, payware stuff like Norton (http://www.symantec.com) is about 20 times more efficient and effective, and you don't get an annoying splash screen at startup. I would even go as far as to say that these free programs won't pick up your virus. Believe me - it is worth paying out for good Anti-Virus Protection and a reliable, efficient firewall.

Jonathan

[michaelb15]

well I got an aintivirus and I got the file that was causing my taskmaneger from shutting down.... But the aintivirus wint load at the startup.....it just freeses my system ........   Well I guess I should feel happy that the trojan is gone...

P.S. in "my computer", the list arnt laid out like what they did before... it is not the catigory veiw, but just a list... I will  post a screenshot as soon as I get home

[GeForce]

OK - I know the My Computer problem. Post the screenshot, that'll help me

[michaelb15]

ok, good.... now after I fix that, my computer will be running great.....

one other thing..... will a virus slow down a system (drasticly slowed down) because now anything takes twice as long

I just removed the virus dismorning because the search tok almost all nite, so I didn't have time to test the computer... I did have it overclocked.... for about a day...
then I turned it back because somone told me that the fan was runnming faster then it should be... could that be the reason?

Ok, I will post a screenie as soon as I get home

Thanks for all of the helpfull tips

[GeForce]

A virus may slow down a system, depending on the virus, your hardware specs, your software specs, protection you have and a whole load of other factors. The virus could be programmed to slow your system down, or it may be doing it as a by-product of what its main job is - ie. accessing a frequently used Windows file that slows the whole system down.

Having a fan running too fast is not likely to be the problem (although it is possible). If your system was overheating, then you would experience crashed, freezes, and non-user initiated restarts. Slowing down is not usually a symptom of overheating.

Did you overclock the processor or the graphics card? (I assume you meant the grpahics card, but I'm not sure.)

Which piece of anti-virus software are you using, if you tell me this it could help me to determine the name of the virus, and therefore look at what it does and what its side-effects are.

As for the My Computer problem, please tell me your operating system and give a quick screenshot. I think (if you are using Windows XP) that I have this one sussed, if it is other Operating System then I will look again.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[RollerBall]

Please don't think that because AVG is free it's not effective.

My own (professional) experience of Norton is NEARLY ALL bad. It detects viruses maybe but it also has prevented me installing simple software required by a client (admittedly this is corporate edition) and there's no mention in the 5 million page manual of how to disable it. There are no support tel nos and emails sent to both the US and the UK offices remain unanswered to this day.

A second client with Norton Personal Firewall eventually had to remove it - because it stopped the computers on his internal network communicating in TCP/IP for gosh sake!

AVG works EXTREMELY WELL - I use it myself (for 2-3 years now) and recommend it to clients. Have NEVER been infected by a virus while running with it myself AND it's detected and removed several that have attacked my system (with a website and a public email address you are under attack the whole time from neanderthals who have just learnt how to turn on a computer). And updates are available every few days.

DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO SAYS AVG DOES NOT WORK AND RECOMMENDS A PAYWARE SYSTEM FOR A SINGLE PC. SORRY - GO TO SAY THAT. NO-ONE NEEDS RUN ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT EFFECTIVE PROTECTION AND AVG IS ALSO NOW DETECTING TROJANS WHICH SOME OTHER SYSTEMS DON'T.

PERIOD.

[michaelb15]

OK - I know the My Computer problem. Post the screenshot, that'll help me

I hope you can figure that out, cause I aint got a clue

[BFMF]

I've got AVG & Zone Alarm running. The only problem is that with Zone Alarm running, I can't use the network

Any Ideas?

[RollerBall]

I've got AVG & Zone Alarm running. The only problem is that with Zone Alarm running, I can't use the network

Any Ideas?

Andrew, it seems all firewalls are a problem when it comes to flying online.

I have AVG and I'm behind a router with NAT (network address translation) which acts as a simple firewall plus I have the XP Pro firewall in operation which as everyone knows is pretty useless when it comes to real protection.

I have configd the router to open all the ports required by the Zone for the flightsims (see in advanced questions on the Zone) and have disabled the XP firewall BUT I still can't connect.

I did manage to connect by removing the router, disabling the XP firewall and connecting directly via a DSL modem.

Trouble was in the space of less than an hour I had 2 virus attacks (thankyou AVG) and had to stop to scan my system and disinfect. I don't think this was a mere coincidence.

My conclusion so far is that online flying seems to be very dangerous as you apparently have to remove all your protection to do it. I don't like that. I already have a removable h/drive system on my PC and I think now that I'll have a spare disk for use online configd with my flightsim prog and connecting thru my DSL modem. If it gets infected at least my main system won't be affected with all my business and other stuff on it. It'll be cheaper in the long run!

Roger

[GeForce]

Rollerball, you're correct. AVG is perfectly good, in fact I had it running until I bought NAV 2003 Professional.

Michael - the solution is here (I think ;)).

Go to my computer, click View > Arrange Icons By > Type. When you have done that, go back to the Arrange Icons By menu, and make sure Show In Groups is selected. This will change My Computer back to the default settings that come with Windows.

.

If this doesn't help please tell me, I'll have another shot at it

Jonathan

PS. Sorry if I upset you Rollerball