This installment: What to do if you have not actively kept your virus definitions up-to-date and you discover a virus when you run finally run a scan (on freshly updated definitions, of course).
Last time we covered
some basics on what to do to get your anti-virus programs up to date and to
schedule scans when the computer will likely be on. (Previous Newsletter).
So now you've updated your virus definitions, run a scan, maybe cornered a virus
or two, and maybe now have the anti-virus software check your email attachments
to see if they are infected. You're out of the woods, right?
Well, yes and no.
If you didn't
update your definitions regularly, or didn't run a virus scan in a long time,
chances are your PC is infected with a virus or two, and even though the virus
scan caught it, there still may be some affected files on your computer. When
you have a virus for a while, it may make changes to other programs, and those
programs may not be cleaned by the virus scan. This explains the situation when
a virus scan runs successfully, but the PC may still be behaving strangely.
Other consequences could be your virus scan program stopping unexpectedly or
the window disappearing from your screen.
Here's what to do:
When you run a virus scan and you see a virus listed, write it down. (If you
saw one a while ago and forgot what it was, open up your anti-virus software
and look through the log file. For Norton, it is in the Reports section and
is called the Activity Log - it will list the viruses caught when you click
on the Virus Alert heading.)
With the name of the virus in hand, go to the website of one of the major antivirus
software companies. In the website, you will find downloadable software called
removal tools. Removal tools will clean out the affected files and will, hopefully,
bring your PC back to its pre-virus health.
Norton Anti-Virus removal tools can be found at
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html
McAfee / Network Associates has some removal tools at
http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/virus_removal/default.asp
If there is no removal tool for the virus, chances are you're okay. You may
want to check back and see if a tool is developed at a later date, however.
When you download the removal tool (it is suggested that you create a folder
on your PC called Downloads so you can place it there and find it easily), you
will also get instructions on how to run the tool. Since you will be starting
up and shutting down your PC, print the instruction page so you will be able
to refer to it while you run the tool.
Sometimes the instructions can be complicated, but you really shouldn't skip
a step. The tools can be very effective and can prevent a full-blown reinstall
of your operating system, which is a very good thing.
Next time, we'll switch topics and focus on business processes.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Graven Consulting at paul@gravenconsulting.com or at (917) 885-3087.
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