# Help, I think I have a trojan or something **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861 "2003-08-18T01:12:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![swami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@swami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swami)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861/1 "2003-08-18T01:12:40Z")
Well ever so often I turn on my computer I get a Microsoft alert message that says (I forgot the exact words so this is not a quote): “[header]Damn… [body]You should report me, if you don’t know me yet!” I had no idea what this was when I first saw it. I waited a couple of weeks to see if it goes away. It didn’t. Then, I noticed some of my MP3 files were being changed into unreadalbe programs one-by-one. The former mp3’s now bring up the same message when I click them (the first message in this OP). I have been trying everything to stop this thing by blindly deleting suspisous programs on my computer, but I have no enough knowledge about viruses or trojans to fix it. Today, the message changed into this: [header]Hello… [body]I think there is something wrong, don’t you think so? [yes] [no]" When I click “no”, the message goes away, but when I click “yes” it says: “[header]Yeah… [body]You are far more clever than I thought.” Whatever, this is it has to do something with Kazaa, as only shared Kazaa files are being effected. I want to get this thing off my computer and fry the scum cracker who did this. Please, help dopers! I need you! ---
**Author:** ![Meros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Meros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meros)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861/2 "2003-08-18T01:49:54Z")
What version of windows are you running? If it’s 2000/XP e-mail me a copy of the logs from your event viewer (in your admin tools folder) and I’ll dig around and see if I can help. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861/3 "2003-08-18T02:14:24Z")
You did not mention if you have anti-virus software installed or not. If not, put some on. Then download [Ad-aware](http://www.lavasoft.de/) , unplug your PC from the internet and scan. Finally, install and configure [Zonealarm](http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp) , which is a freeware software firewall. You can also try out [www.grc.com](http://www.grc.com) . They have a nifty free port scanner under “Shields-Up” that you can use to see how open your PC is on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![swami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@swami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swami)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861/4 "2003-08-18T02:25:17Z")
I have windows XP running and NO anti-virus software installed, however every once-and-awhile I use a free online virus scan from “trend micro”. I know, I should get a real Anti-virus program, maybe this event will force me to do just that. ---
**Author:** ![anewthought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@anewthought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anewthought)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-think-i-have-a-trojan-or-something/195861/5 "2003-08-18T03:54:03Z")
You have already been owned. You can’t ‘fix’ this, as every single .exe file on your system now mostly likely contains hidden code to launch a trojan that gives hackers access to your machine. My suggestion to you is to completely format all of your hard drives, wipe all of the files, and re-install from scratch. Then invest in some PC security books so this doesn’t happen to you again.