Guest guest Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Hello all. Its possible that one of us is infected with a computer virus. I can't be sure, but someone's computer is sending email as 'McKeeBrian' and has a virus. Its not my computer, I checked. The only clue I have is that the to field contains the domain. Since you guys are the only ones I know on , I'm hoping its one of you so we can nip this in the bud. For those of you unfamiliar with computer viruses, here's a primer: People from the former soviet republic and eastern block (and other places to some extent) with nothing better to do than create malicious things write code which attempts to travel from computer computer with the express purpose of spreading itself. Like a virus. However its gotten worse lately. Now some viruses and worms as they are sometimes called actually spy on us and attempt to send that information to the code writer's so they can steal our identities. This information is probably sold to various crime organizations, but that's getting more detailed than is necessary. How do you stop viruses? Well its actually pretty easy, thanks to a software company who believes that anti-virus software should be free to individuals, because individuals are the ones who spread most viruses. Visit this web site: http://www.grisoft.com and download the free antivirus software called: AVG. You will have to register, but trust me they won't spam you, give them your email address it will be the best use of your email address for this week. Once downloaded, install it using the license code sent to you in your email. Then update the virus data base and scan your computer. AVG will also work with most email programs and scan your emails for viruses. When it detects them it automatically quarantines them. Another way these viruses spread is through email itself. People send emails that say things like, "ARE YOU A SPAMMER? I FOUND YOU ON THIS LIST!" And the email has an attachment that if you click on it gives you a virus. Never click on attachments unless you are 100% sure you know WHO its from and WHY they sent it. There is one other thing. This practice is actually legal but annoying. There are companies who make money by spying on us. We download and install their software because it is useful to us but it turns out that it installs "spyware" also. This spyware watches where we surf and sends info back to a server who them spams our email account with adds for those kinds of things. Spyware is bad. To find it and remove it download AdAware: http://www.lavasoft.de/ Install the tool, update its database and run it. (update is a blue link in the middle of the window toward the right) If you are running Windows XP and have System Restore enabled (its enabled by default) then you may find that a virus is in the system restore folder and can't be removed. Unfortunately the only way to remove the virus is to turn off system restore and then turn it back on. That will delete the file. It will also remove any system restore information you had. That won't hurt anything unless you happened to install software or hardware that has made your computer unstable. Getting rid of the viruses is worth it though. I suggest you shut off system restore and turn it back on before you install AVG and AdAware. If AVG finds a virus but as soon as it tries to remove it the computer reboots, it means you have a nasty worm that has anti virus counter measures. They can be tricky. The best thing to do in that event: when the computer reboots, just as the windows logo comes up (or just before) press the F8 key. This will bring up the Windows XP boot menu. Choose "SAFE MODE" (not safe mode with networking) and boot the machine. It will take longer to boot and it will come up with bigger text on your screen. That's okay. Once in safe mode run AVG and see how it does with removing the virus. If it can't, email me, I'm sure we can figure it out together. Goddess bless, Brian --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.752 / Virus Database: 503 - Release 9/3/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 4, 2004 Report Share Posted September 4, 2004 Brian, If you recall, a while ago I reported someone using my address to send viruses (Steve told me he got a bunch). It's possible someone is just mining this site for addresses. In any case, good primer on computer housekeeping. I wouold add one thing. AVG antivirus doesn't support the Thunderbird email client. However Avast! does. http://www.avast.com/ Chris , Brian McKee <brian@s...> wrote: > Hello all. > > Its possible that one of us is infected with a computer virus. I can't be > sure, but someone's computer is sending email as 'McKeeBrian@s...' > and has a virus. Its not my computer, I checked. > > The only clue I have is that the to field contains the domain. > > Since you guys are the only ones I know on , I'm hoping its one > of you so we can nip this in the bud. > > For those of you unfamiliar with computer viruses, here's a primer: > > People from the former soviet republic and eastern block (and other places > to some extent) with nothing better to do than create malicious things > write code which attempts to travel from computer computer with the express > purpose of spreading itself. Like a virus. > > However its gotten worse lately. Now some viruses and worms as they are > sometimes called actually spy on us and attempt to send that information to > the code writer's so they can steal our identities. This information is > probably sold to various crime organizations, but that's getting more > detailed than is necessary. > > How do you stop viruses? > > Well its actually pretty easy, thanks to a software company who believes > that anti-virus software should be free to individuals, because individuals > are the ones who spread most viruses. > > Visit this web site: http://www.grisoft.com and download the free antivirus > software called: AVG. > > You will have to register, but trust me they won't spam you, give them your > email address it will be the best use of your email address for this week. > > Once downloaded, install it using the license code sent to you in your > email. Then update the virus data base and scan your computer. > > AVG will also work with most email programs and scan your emails for > viruses. When it detects them it automatically quarantines them. > > Another way these viruses spread is through email itself. People send > emails that say things like, "ARE YOU A SPAMMER? I FOUND YOU ON THIS LIST!" > > And the email has an attachment that if you click on it gives you a virus. > > Never click on attachments unless you are 100% sure you know WHO its from > and WHY they sent it. > > There is one other thing. This practice is actually legal but annoying. > There are companies who make money by spying on us. We download and install > their software because it is useful to us but it turns out that it installs > "spyware" also. This spyware watches where we surf and sends info back to a > server who them spams our email account with adds for those kinds of things. > > Spyware is bad. To find it and remove it download AdAware: > > http://www.lavasoft.de/ > > Install the tool, update its database and run it. (update is a blue link in > the middle of the window toward the right) > > If you are running Windows XP and have System Restore enabled (its enabled > by default) then you may find that a virus is in the system restore folder > and can't be removed. > > Unfortunately the only way to remove the virus is to turn off system > restore and then turn it back on. That will delete the file. It will also > remove any system restore information you had. That won't hurt anything > unless you happened to install software or hardware that has made your > computer unstable. Getting rid of the viruses is worth it though. I suggest > you shut off system restore and turn it back on before you install AVG and > AdAware. > > If AVG finds a virus but as soon as it tries to remove it the computer > reboots, it means you have a nasty worm that has anti virus counter > measures. They can be tricky. > > The best thing to do in that event: when the computer reboots, just as the > windows logo comes up (or just before) press the F8 key. This will bring up > the Windows XP boot menu. Choose "SAFE MODE" (not safe mode with > networking) and boot the machine. > > It will take longer to boot and it will come up with bigger text on your > screen. That's okay. > > Once in safe mode run AVG and see how it does with removing the virus. > > If it can't, email me, I'm sure we can figure it out together. > > Goddess bless, > > Brian > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.752 / Virus Database: 503 - Release 9/3/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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