Virus? How Do I Clean It Up?

Virus? How Do I Clean It Up?

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk.

As soon as you suspect that your computer has a virus, remove your computer from any networks it might be on, as well as from the Internet, so that you don't inadvertently spread the bug to others. Unplug your network cable if you have to.If you have virus-scanning (anti-virus) software installed, run it. If you don't have anti-virus software, you'll need to obtain some.

Turn off system restore because this is where most of the viruses hide. Anti-virus programs can eradicate the virus in this zone unless system restore is turned off. To find this in Windows XP, right click on "my computer" then click on "properties" then choose "system restore" then tick the "turn off system restore" button. Run the anti-virus software then turn system restore on again.Follow the instructions that came with the anti-virus software. Keep running the virus-scanning software until your computer comes up clean.

Reconnect your computer to the Internet and check with the anti-virus software's publisher to make sure you have the latest updates. If not, download them now. After updating the anti-virus software, run it again until your computer comes up clean.

Sometimes viruses are very persistent meaning that if you kill it, it restarts itself automatically. If this happens, it is important to know where the program is located on your hard-drive. For this, I recommend Process Explorer. It is free, and works on all Windows OSes.

Run Process Explorer, and find out where the file is. If you aren't sure about which process is the malware, right click every one you know isn't bad, and click "Google Search" and that should tell you if it is bad. Once you know which and where the bad file is, reboot and tap F8 while booting. When you see the option, tell your computer to boot to safe-mode. This will run only the basic, necessary-to-run-your-computer programs. Then, go and delete the file that you have found to be malware. Do the registry check mentioned above, and boot normally. If you do not know how to access your registry, it is Start->Run->regedit in Windows XP, and probably older ones, but I can't guarantee that. Beware! The registry is highly sensitive! Don't play with it, because that could ruin your computer!

If you are searching the Internet for anti-spy-ware/virus programs, you should be wary. Some of them call themselves the anti of what they really are. Anything that says immediately that your computer has many problems (100s to 1000s) should not be trusted. Don't be scared into buying it, because that's exactly what the makers want; and if you're like me, you would agree that anyone who has to lie to scare you into buying from them doesn't deserve your money.

Is Your Anti-Virus Software Working Properly?

With the Internet growing vast each day, you can’t compromise on your PC security. The risk of receiving infection has increased while you surf and download free stuff like music files, movies, and videos from the Web. Such matter is virus infected and multiplies itself once it gets into your system. Slow speed, redirecting of your startup homepage, frequent pop ups, shortcuts on your desktop, annoying advertisements and formation of unknown toolbars are some of the common symptoms that mark the entry of virus. Many people have an antivirus applications installed but they do not configure them correctly. Just installing the application does not mean that the application is working properly to stop the threat or infection. You must update your antivirus software regularly. Below is a tips to check either your antivirus software are working or not.


- Open your Notepad

- Copy the code exactly in the notepad : X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

- Now Save it with the name fakevirus.exe in any of your folder/drives.

- If this file got deleted immediately, then it means that your antivirus is working properly and updated !!

- If this doesn't happens and you see the saved file in that folder do right click the file and select scan with your installed antivirus and if the scan shows the file then it means your antivirus is working properly but not updated with a new version, as best antivirus softwares detect any virus (at the same second when you save the same in your system)without your effort of going to specified folder and scanning the folder.

- If it doesn't shows any kind of threats then you need to change your antivirus software immediately with some good one with the new version.

There's always a lot of discussion as to which is the best free antivirus software product. But one product name always seems to be talked in these debates - AVG Antivirus.Considering this is free software, it offers an excellent level of protection. For several years, many computer users have said that this is the best free antivirus software.

Window$ XP HIDDEN APPS:

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (ie charmap). 

Window$ XP HIDDEN APPS: 
====================

 Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters) 

2) Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe 

3) Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of window$ clipboard) 

4) Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool) 

5) DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards) 

6) Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters) 

7) IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package) 

Micro$oft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented). 

9) window$ Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic). 

10) ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases) 

11) Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files). 

12) System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only ) 

13) Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy window$ 3.x desktop shell). 

14) Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant). 

15) Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the window$ Registry). 

16) Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network). 

17) File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe 

18) Volume Control = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area). 

19) System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ). 

20) Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications). 

21) Micro$oft Telnet Client = telnet.exe 

22) Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented). 

23) window$ for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available). 

24) System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs) 
25) gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions..!