What, if anything, should I do when my computer tells me I...

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Answer by Mikey
Submitted on 9/28/2003
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LM, I don't understand how your question came to be. A computer, by itself, doesn't know what a trojan or a virus is, and therefore can't tell you that it's infected. The only way your "computer could tell you" it had a trojan would be if you had a virus detection program running. The 2 biggest virus detection systems (AKA: "antivirus programs" or simply AV) are McAfee and Norton's. There are many others, but I've NEVER seen an AV program that can tell you that you are infected, but doesn't give you a way of fixing it. So: If your computer has "told you" that you have a trojan, then you must already be running an AV program. Therefore, all you have to do is follow the instructions of your AV program which will tell you exactly "what you should do". OTOH, if you merely SUSPECT that you have a trojan, then you should get an AV program and install it. If you are infected, then the AV will sense it, let you know, and tell you what to do. Monica, basically the same answer as above. Free AV software is available from the 2 big guys mentioned above: McAfee'sFreeScan is available at: http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp Bah! Norton's USED to offer a nice little freeware package. I just checked out their site and all they offer now are "15 day trialware" for their products. All is not lost, though. Trialware should at least let you know if you have any current infections and fix them. Or, you could actually buy it if you have the money... ;-) Anyway, Norton's trialware can be found at: http://nct.digitalriver.com/0001/ One last option: If you already KNOW you have a >specific< virus/trojan, then Norton's does have a whole slew of free removal tools. They can be found at: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html

Answer by Mommy's Little Monster
Submitted on 12/26/2003
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People I have had the nightmare with a trojan. It's been the worst four months of my life---there was no way of fixing or deleting this trojan virus--so I had to do what I dreaded all along---erase my whole computer and reformat the whole dang thing. The trojan was called XMLID.EXPLOIT and was caused from a security memory leak in IE. This dreadful trojan would change from one trojan name to another in a matter of minutes---so your anti-virus software would be fooled. This XMLID.EXPLOIT would hide in my regular programs---and execute EXE. FILES to execute without my knowledge or permission. And my Norton antivirus software NEVER ONCE DETECTED THIS TROJAN VIRUS---NOT ONCE!!! And of course I always download the latest updates to protect myself. What detected my problems was SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY--and it's free!

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Question by LM
Submitted on 8/12/2003
Related FAQ: Computer Virus FAQ for New Users
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What, if anything, should I do when my computer tells me I have the Trojan horse??

Answer by DBSTOCK
Submitted on 10/28/2003
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FURTHER QUESTION: RE:"....help i need except to fix a virus like trojan bootconf...." I have this, but have difficulty following Symantec'sinstructions. I have not called DELL yet. AND..which..of the sets of instructions are best? DON IN OHIO

Answer by jonnyd
Submitted on 11/2/2003
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I also have detected a trojan.backdoor virus which Norton cannot delete. I have a dell notebook but have not contacted them yet. Is there anything I can download to fix it?

Answer by thuang513
Submitted on 11/9/2003
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i have your answer on how to clean trojan.bootconf. I recently had that virus and cleaned it with a program. Trojan.bootconf is actually a spyware and sometimes cannot be detected. The only antiviurs that i was able to find the virus was Norton Antivirus. Another name for this virus is named CoolWebSearch (CWS). To clean this virus you must go to http://www.spychecker.com/program/cwshredder.html and download the cleaner. Also you can always go to the symantec site and look at how to remove it manually.

Answer by Steve Binx
Submitted on 11/25/2003
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Navigate to anyone one of these for free on line up to date virus checks and security checks. Copy and paste into your address bar. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/ http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp?WWW_URL=www.mcafee.com/myapps/mfs/default.asp http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp?j=1&langid=ie&venid=tech24&plfid=22&pkj=IZONESLHFEPGEVVSDUX

Answer by Soulza
Submitted on 12/9/2003
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I used CWshredder and when I scan it with Norton to see if it is still there.. What do u know, still there and cannot be deleted. very frustrating.

Answer by Klaus Kartte
Submitted on 1/18/2004
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My situation is just the same as within the answer by Soulza submitted on 12-09-2003. Who can eliminate my frustration? Please email me: Klaus.Kartte@gmx.de

Answer by thuang513
Submitted on 6/4/2004
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ok, if you cant clean it with the CWShredder, then download a program called ad-aware. this program deletes all the spyware found on your computer. also, if you use a firewall and it detects that a program is making a connection to a bad ip address, find out which file/program it is and delete it.

Answer by Ladrunner
Submitted on 2/8/2006
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The person who posted the second post is talking bollocks. AVG (Anti Virus Grisoft) will detect a Trojan and give you the option to remove it or simply lock it away, So you should all get a life and get out more and then learn how to use computers properly you bunch of idiots

Answer by Good man--just an advice
Submitted on 3/22/2006
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Well I always used Norton anti virus, but u know wat I think is that norton a weak program that can't help u, when u esp edit the control list that it push on u to use, so I had many trojans and norton did nothing to fix them up!!! so I uninstalled norton and got another program that could detect trojans, and I hope that they are fixed by now!!

Answer by John
Submitted on 6/20/2006
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I have McAfee and it told me it found a trojan and cant delete it what do i do?

Answer by myxnamexonly
Submitted on 7/11/2006
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I am 14 years old and I am not sure if my computer has a Trojan horse on it. The Norton Internet Security keeps informing me that Thumbs.exe wants to run. But I don't know what that is. Is it a Trojan? or just a regular program that is supposed to run. And if its regular then why does it keep popping up? I really appreciate you answering my question. Thank you. Is there a problem with my computer? I just bought it 6 months ago. PS: I remember reading on a website that the Thumbs.exe program was a sign that I do infact have a Trojan Horse.

Answer by joe
Submitted on 8/27/2006
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man i dont know what the hell to do im a lil worried that im screwed for thr the rest of my life sombody tell me what to do please=(

Answer by Freddie3874
Submitted on 1/5/2007
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I recently bought a sony vaio laptop it has a trojan virus as well this is why it was being sold! Question is can i just wipe the drivers and reload all the software for this computer or is it just easier too try and get rid of the trojan first before i mess the whole computer up in the longrun??

Answer by Bob
Submitted on 2/23/2007
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Hello i have a problem with trojan virus too... it comes up on AVG and says VIRUS DETECTED blah blah blah Trojan Horse. downloader.agent.IQT or something and the thing just keeps on popping up... i put it into "The Vault" but a new one seems to pop up... then right after that another one (same Trojan horse downloader.agent.IQT) but it has a different address and i can't find them any suggestions?

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Answer by Kay
Submitted on 4/13/2007
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my question, is Im not sure what i ahve wrong. Im am not able to download anything, i cant download any spyware to see if i have a virus, since i cant download anything to run a check to see if i have a virus... what can i do to get help to fix this problem?? my friend says maybe i took something off my computer and thats why its not working right?? is there a away to tell if i took something off my computer i wasnt suppose to?? plz help, going nuts! :) ty to anyone who can help!