# Help!! Strange email virus on my wife's desktop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163 "2005-11-29T03:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/1 "2005-11-29T03:19:45Z")
We’ve got a strange virus on my wife’s desktop. Something is simulating outgoing emails being rejected by the email server. The addresses of these emails are nothing we recognize, and it’s tying up the system by propagating hundreds of these dialog boxes. What is this? Is there a fix for it? ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/2 "2005-11-29T03:21:49Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > We’ve got a strange virus on my wife’s desktop. Something is simulating outgoing emails being rejected by the email server. The addresses of these emails are nothing we recognize, and it’s tying up the system by propagating hundreds of these dialog boxes. > > What is this? Is there a fix for it? Before anything else, disconnect from the internet. Close all the dialogue boxes and restart the computer. I’ll check a few things and get back to you ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/3 "2005-11-29T03:27:01Z")
Thanks **Rico** , I’ve done that. Meanwhile _this_ computer is still OK, so if there are any downloadable solutions I can burn it onto a disc and load it on the other computer before I reconnect. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/4 "2005-11-29T03:32:08Z")
First we have to determine what virus is causing this. My suggestion would be to burn AVG Anti-Virus ( [www.grisoft.com](http://www.grisoft.com) ) plus any updates to CD, and try to install that on your wife’s machine - make sure you only d/l the free version. Then run it and see if it solves your problem. If not, tell me what virus, if any, it reports and we’ll get rid of it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/5 "2005-11-29T05:58:33Z")
I downloaded the application onto a disc, but when I went to my wife’s computer, it couldn’t read the disc. I’ll have to see if I can surf long enough on her computer to download the software there. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/6 "2005-11-29T06:43:46Z")
OK, **SOP**. I’m heading off to bed, but if you drop me an e-mail maybe I can help you more that way. Good luck and I’ll look tomorrow for your post saying you fixed it (cross fingers). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/7 "2005-11-29T06:53:21Z")
Where are these dialogue boxes coming from? Outlook? Can you go into taskmanager and kill outlook while you’re browsing for the virus scanner? Do you have a firewall on there, or Windows firewall? turn that on while browsing too. If the messages are being generated by the system SMTP server (and not Outlook), go to Start - Run - Settings - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Internet Information Services and right-click on the SMTP server and choose “Stop” to stop using your machine as an SMTP server. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/8 "2005-11-29T12:00:25Z")
Are you sure that they aren’t _real_ emails being rejected by more than one email server? This is what happens when some scum-sucking (insert your favourite word for the lowest form of life) spammer decides to use your email address as the reply header on their spam run. All the bad addresses get bounced back to you, even though you didn’t send them. But worse than that are the email servers with spam filters that detect the email as spam, so bounce it. As if it’s _ever_ going to bounce back to the original spammer. :smack: I’m averaging about 5 a day of these just now, but they can come in batches of 20 at a time some days. If this is the case then there’s nothing you can do about it. Welcome to the world of 21st century email. The only option you have is to switch off your auto notification so that they don’t hassle you while they pile up waiting for deletion. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-strange-email-virus-on-my-wifes-desktop/333163/9 "2005-11-29T13:34:17Z")
The dialog boxes are a clue: that’s more likely a symptom of spyware (which AVG is not designed to catch), not a virus. A virus might cause bounce messages in your e-mail inbox (though mostly the messages are a sign that someone else is infected, not you), but it is unlikely to pop up extra windows. I’d suggest downloading [Hijackthis](http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html) and running a scan, then posting the results at [http://forums.spywareinfo.com/](http://forums.spywareinfo.com/) The file will fit onto a floppy, and, if necessary, you can connect to the Internet long enough to download it. Even if it’s a virus issue, hijackthis will pinpoint it.