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Welcome to Getvirushelp.com. This web
site was created to help people understand today's computer viruses
and assist them in cleaning their own systems. Questions are answered
using a Q & A format with straightforward terminology. Some
general information is listed below dealing with common questions
being asked today. Unfortunately, I am unable to keep this site up-to-date.
However, I will still respond to your email questions, see a link
below.
Frequently
Asked Questions
I received an email that said I have a
virus, what do I do?
There are a few viruses that forge the
from field when emailing themselves to others. Therefore, it may
seem to others that the virus came from you when in fact it was
sent by someone else's infected system. If you receive notification
that you have sent a virus to someone, ensure that you have an
up-to-date virus scanner on your computer and run a full system
scan. If nothing is detected, then it is likely the virus did
not originate from your system.
I have a virus, what do I do?
Should you receive a detection with
an anti-virus scanner, you should choose to have the scanner clean/repair
the infected file. If repair fails, you should choose to delete
the infected file. Often, scanners are configured to take this
action automatically. If you are concerned that the virus was
not removed, simply run a full system scan to ensure that the
virus is no longer present.
There is a distinction between having
an infected file on your computer and being infected by that file.
It is commonplace to receive viruses in email messages now-a-days.
If those viruses are not run, then your system is not affected
by the virus and it did not propagate on your system. To remove
the virus, simply delete the file and you're done. Now, if the
virus was run on your system then significant changes may have
been made. To be on the safe side, you can read
a description of your virus to learn about the changes that
occur when the virus has run.
How can I protect myself from viruses?
It is essential to have an anti-virus
scanner loaded and running on your system at all times. It is
also necessary to update you virus definition files once a week.
McAfee VirusScan has recently received several outstanding reviews.
I recommend this product to anyone who does not have a scanner
or whose scanner is now a few years old. If you are installing
a virus scanner because you do not have one and you got infected,
it can be necessary to remove that virus prior to installation.
If this is the case, use a stand-alone virus remover before installing
an anti-virus product. Stinger
is a great stand-alone removal tool.
Alerts
See http://vil.nai.com/vil/default.asp
for the most recent virus information.
Keep your anti-virus software up to date to avoid infection
of these common threats.
McAfee VirusScan users can download the latest engine and DATS
here:
http://www.mcafeesecurity.com/us/downloads/updates/default.asp
Definitions
A Trojan horse (a.k.a Trojan) is a program that appears to do something
amusing or useful and actually does something else. It may destroy
data or compromise your systems security. However, a Trojan horse
does not replicate itself or transmit itself to other computers.
A virus is a program that carries out a specific function and infects
other programs in the process. In many cases the whole function
of the virus is to replicate itself, nothing more. Other viruses
rewrite data files making them useless.
A worm is a virus that does not infect other
programs. It still replicates itself to other computers, but will
always arrive in the same program.
Hoaxes
There are many messages floating around telling you that if you
receive an e-mail message with the subject _____ delete it right
away, and do not open it as doing so will wipe out your hard drive.
These messages might claim to have been verified by IBM, Microsoft,
CBS News, or whomever. These messages always encourage you to pass
along the warning as well. Please delete such messages and refrain
from spreading these hoaxes. Below is a list of the common hoaxes
being passed around today. You can recognize a hoax if the message
makes reference to one of these names:
- Budwiser Screen Saver
- JDBGMGR.EXE
- Frog Blender
- SULFNBK.EXE
- Good Times
- It Takes Guts to Say Jesus
- Lump of Coal
- Elf bowling, Frogapult, Y2KGame
- Wobbler/California
Questions, or Comments? Send mail to: craig@getvirushelp.com
© 2000 Craig Schmugar. All Rights Reserved.
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