Trojan Horse Question

[Framar]

Well, Happy New Year to me, my first computer virus, a Trojan Horse. I was alerted by Norton as I was signing off several hours ago, and they said a Trojan Horse was found and they couldn't repair it. It was suggested to go to their website for a free virus detection service.

One hour later, I had 43869 files scanned and 12 files were infected. 11 of the files were all grouped together under System Volume Information, and the twelfth was Documents and Setting,Start,Menu, etc.

No further solutions or explanations were offered, and I did not know how to transfer this list into my Quarantine file, so I printed a copy (please don't laugh) and then I went to Live Update. They sent me some new updates (I ALWAYS immediately install EVERYTHING that they send me) and told me to reboot.

Once rebooted, I looked in the Quarantine File again, expecting to see 12 captives. But no, nothing. So I ran a second scan for viruses, this one took 26 minutes (and ONE second!), scanned 67001 files (!) and found One (1) file that contained this Trojan Horse, said it was unable to repair it, and would Madam like to Quarantine the Offender?

So, my question, I guess is this: Where did those other infected files go? Are they still infected? Or did the Update clean them up? And what do I do with the Thing in Quarantine? Do I delete it? What if it is my start button?

Why do I say "EEEEK!" so much?

Plus, here's another question, where did the TH come from? I have never gotten any spam and I only open attachments from my regular correspondants, plus most attachments are photos and you don't even have to open the attachment because they are in the main box of the email.

I am very confused.

I'll stop babbling now. It will all be better in the Morning.....

 

[Mike Labbe]

Good morning

Which one was it? They can come through emails, pop up ads, or be distributed with other programs. (For example: Kazaa, the popular file trading program comes bundled with several)

If you ran a special cleaning program from their web page, it probably just erased the lil critters. This is why they don't appear in your main quarantine list. The ones in the quarantine list were put there by the main program.

Glad to hear that you're all set. It sounds like you completely cleaned your computer.

Happy new year!

Mike

 

[Framar]

Mike, thanks for setting my mind at ease that my computer is clean! Well, except for email, pop-ups and KaZaA. It comes bundled with Trojan Horses? How Nice!

BTW, at no time during my crisis this AM was any name applied to my virus beyond TH. I guess it was a UTH.

Ok, I just thought of another question. When I go to open an attachment from a trusted friend, my computer gives me two choices, open it or save it to disc. I have always presumed the computer means HARD disc, am I right, as opposed to ,say, floppy disc? If it thinks there might be a virus, what good does saving something to a hard disc do, isn't that not only opening your door but asking the virus to stay awhile?

*sigh*

 

[Mike Labbe]

Saving a file is pretty much harmless. Opening or running the file is where the problem can happen. It's safer to save. In most cases, the virus scanner should do its thing.

Whether you save it to Afloppy) or Chard drive), it will still be just as destructive. A: holds very little. In fact, most companies stopped shipping floppy drives with computers about a year ago because they are so small.

Unless you are expecting a specific file from a friend, be cautious. The way most of the new critters work is to email/infect everyone in the "contact list". (ie: your friends) The goal is that people will open up the attachment, trusting the (infected) person who sent it. Then they become infected, and their computer does the same thing by emailing it to everyone in the contact list. The infections often use clever subjects and text such as "check this out", "I thought youd want to see this", "funny joke", "windows security patch", etc.

The Kazaa installer comes bundled with several "gifts", although the "Kazaa Lite" version has them removed.

Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Mike

 

[Framar]

Well, that's it! No more attachments for me! After all I have been able to live for more than half a century (permit one small "eek" here ) with never seeing a morphed photo of Michael Jackson and Saddam Hussein, or singing horses and dancing reindeers. I will miss all the cute cat and dog stuff, but most of it finds its way to the G eventually.

Thanks again for the support and Happy New Year!