Virus Alarm

Carefree Frank · 7 Mar 2005, 06:22 PM

Hi guys, hope you are all fit and well. Just a little query here that I hope one of you can help me with. I run an anti-spyward scan every morning at 10-00am, with the notion that I am doing something to help with the security of my computer. Trouble is, that by 10-10am I always seem to get a virus threat warning pop up in the middle of this process. How come? Surely this shouldnt happen? Its occurs no matter where I am, whether I just have my sceensaver infront of me, or whether I`ll be on a secure site. Any ideas as to why this is occurring, and how can I prevent it?

Adrian Bell · 8 Mar 2005, 03:55 AM

Do you have anti-virus software installed? Does the virus message appear while the anti-spyware is running or after it has finished? Which anti-spyware are you using?
One of these: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/software.html
or one of these: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/rogues.html?

Carefree Frank · 8 Mar 2005, 08:59 AM

The alarm comes up during my Microsoft scan, usually about half way through it. I have Spybot and Adaware SE running, I would have thought I had sufficient protection, but maybe not?

Adrian Bell · 9 Mar 2005, 03:00 AM

Microsoft scan? Do you mean with this? Maybe you have some anti-virus software running which thinks that your anti-spyware scan is a virus? As well as Adaware & Spybot, I would recommend SpywareBlaster, it stops a lot of spyware from running or being installed in the first place by changing entries in the registry (it doesn't have to be running all the time). Bear in mind that anti-spyware software won't usually detect a virus, you need anti-virus software for that.

On saying all of this, I don't have any anti-virus software myself and have never had a virus. I update the SpywareBlaster protection now and again and I only rarely scan with Spybot & Adaware and never find anything intrusive. However I have known people who are infested with the stuff, I don't know what they do different to me.

xbot · 9 Mar 2005, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Adrian Bell
On saying all of this, I don't have any anti-virus software myself and have never had a virus. I update the SpywareBlaster protection now and again and I only rarely scan with Spybot & Adaware and never find anything intrusive. However I have known people who are infested with the stuff, I don't know what they do different to me.

I have antivirus software, because I mess around a lot o nthe internet--a site with information on the cold war could install the Klez. I used to have 50+ viruses, but that was when I was ingorant of computers.

I remember awhile ago (2003?), spybot detected MSN.COM installing spyware

. Apparently they installed Cydor when you visited the site. They stopped this practice, but it still bugs me

Adrian Bell · 9 Mar 2005, 06:39 AM

Maybe I've just been lucky. A friend of mine got a virus the first day he connected his computer to the internet. The one that shuts the PC down as soon as you connect (I can't remember the name). He bought his new from a shop and it didn't come with the XP firewall turned on. Im a bit suspicious that shop bought PCs have vulnerability built into them. For instance his Hewlet Packard PC has a thing running where HP can send messages to his PC. I know nothing about this sort of thing but I'm suspicious. I built mine myself and at 800Mhz it is twice as fast as his 2Gb, I dont know why, his must have all sorts of useless junk running that doesn't need to, I suppose.

xbot · 9 Mar 2005, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Adrian Bell
Maybe I've just been lucky. A friend of mine got a virus the first day he connected his computer to the internet. The one that shuts the PC down as soon as you connect (I can't remember the name). He bought his new from a shop and it didn't come with the XP firewall turned on. Im a bit suspicious that shop bought PCs have vulnerability built into them. For instance his Hewlet Packard PC has a thing running where HP can send messages to his PC. I know nothing about this sort of thing but I'm suspicious. I built mine myself and at 800Mhz it is twice as fast as his 2Gb, I dont know why, his must have all sorts of useless junk running that doesn't need to, I suppose.

It's really not his fault.

HP installs a LOT of junk on their computers, regardless of whether you paid $500 or $1000. This includes spyware, useless programs, messaging programs (so they can notify you of new offers in most cases), and a hacked IE. We get HPs in all the time, because they are so slow even at 3GHz. We've also found in some cases we were unable to recover, because the partition only recognized a certain XP with a certian configuration. We've actually had so many HPs in, that when these problems occur, we will actually give the user a card that if they encounter serious trouble with their HP PC, they can bring it back over and it will be fixed without cost if the labor is under 4 hours. We did it simply because of the frustration of people blaming us for such problems.

Adrian Bell · 9 Mar 2005, 07:08 AM

Thanks for the info xbot. I bet he wishes he had known that before he bought it, if I'd known I would have advised him against buying it. If it was mine I'd be tempted to re-format it and install a fresh copy of XP. I've suggested this to him but he's not keen.

xbot · 9 Mar 2005, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Adrian Bell
Thanks for the info xbot. I bet he wishes he had known that before he bought it, if I'd known I would have advised him against buying it. If it was mine I'd be tempted to re-format it and install a fresh copy of XP. I've suggested this to him but he's not keen.

That's what I've always done. HP tends to have a LOT of problems--they outsource 99%, so support may take hours just to confirm that it needs to be sent in (what is it that drives Indian support reps to claim a CPU with burn marks isn't fried?). I've always suggested Dell. They install some junk, but not nearly as much as HP. If your friend has the money, tell him to go with an Alienware, regardless of whether he's a gamer or not--they don't install crap, they have an excellant warranty, they have top quality computers, they install software that you request (and add it to your bill), and they don't outsource as far as I've heard. But I advise against doing ANYTHING with HP---they simply make crappy computers and have crappy support.

7 Mar 2005, 06:22 PM	#1
Carefree Frank Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Borehamwood, Herts Posts: 142	Virus Alarm Hi guys, hope you are all fit and well. Just a little query here that I hope one of you can help me with. I run an anti-spyward scan every morning at 10-00am, with the notion that I am doing something to help with the security of my computer. Trouble is, that by 10-10am I always seem to get a virus threat warning pop up in the middle of this process. How come? Surely this shouldnt happen? Its occurs no matter where I am, whether I just have my sceensaver infront of me, or whether I`ll be on a secure site. Any ideas as to why this is occurring, and how can I prevent it?

8 Mar 2005, 03:55 AM	#2
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	Do you have anti-virus software installed? Does the virus message appear while the anti-spyware is running or after it has finished? Which anti-spyware are you using? One of these: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/software.html or one of these: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/rogues.html?

8 Mar 2005, 08:59 AM	#3
Carefree Frank Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Borehamwood, Herts Posts: 142	The alarm comes up during my Microsoft scan, usually about half way through it. I have Spybot and Adaware SE running, I would have thought I had sufficient protection, but maybe not?

9 Mar 2005, 03:00 AM	#4
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	Microsoft scan? Do you mean with this? Maybe you have some anti-virus software running which thinks that your anti-spyware scan is a virus? As well as Adaware & Spybot, I would recommend SpywareBlaster, it stops a lot of spyware from running or being installed in the first place by changing entries in the registry (it doesn't have to be running all the time). Bear in mind that anti-spyware software won't usually detect a virus, you need anti-virus software for that. On saying all of this, I don't have any anti-virus software myself and have never had a virus. I update the SpywareBlaster protection now and again and I only rarely scan with Spybot & Adaware and never find anything intrusive. However I have known people who are infested with the stuff, I don't know what they do different to me.

9 Mar 2005, 06:39 AM	#6
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	Maybe I've just been lucky. A friend of mine got a virus the first day he connected his computer to the internet. The one that shuts the PC down as soon as you connect (I can't remember the name). He bought his new from a shop and it didn't come with the XP firewall turned on. Im a bit suspicious that shop bought PCs have vulnerability built into them. For instance his Hewlet Packard PC has a thing running where HP can send messages to his PC. I know nothing about this sort of thing but I'm suspicious. I built mine myself and at 800Mhz it is twice as fast as his 2Gb, I dont know why, his must have all sorts of useless junk running that doesn't need to, I suppose.

9 Mar 2005, 07:08 AM	#8
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	Thanks for the info xbot. I bet he wishes he had known that before he bought it, if I'd known I would have advised him against buying it. If it was mine I'd be tempted to re-format it and install a fresh copy of XP. I've suggested this to him but he's not keen.