# I have a virus.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402 "2003-02-16T06:33:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MachineHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@MachineHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachineHead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/1 "2003-02-16T06:33:18Z")
A screen popped up telling me they’re was a virus in one of my files… I tried to repair it but it said that windows could not repair it, So I qurantied it… Should I do any thing else? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/2 "2003-02-16T06:39:05Z")
Hie yourself to the nearest Norton or other anti-virus software vendor. Repeat after me: Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. ---
**Author:** ![Marduk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Marduk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marduk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/3 "2003-02-16T06:40:47Z")
Well if the infected file was part of a program that you use a lot you might want to consider reinstalling said program. Oh and might want to update your virus definitions and scan your computer to make sure it didn’t spawn anything else while it was there. ---
**Author:** ![MachineHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@MachineHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachineHead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/4 "2003-02-16T06:50:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NinetyWt \* > \*\*Hie yourself to the nearest Norton or other anti-virus software vendor. Repeat after me: Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. \*\* I have norton anti virus. It had been running(I did not ask it to start up) and had already finished before I downloaded the program that created the virus. Do you know why it wouldn’t activate when the virus was detected? ---
**Author:** ![Marduk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Marduk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marduk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/5 "2003-02-16T07:02:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MachineHead \* > \*\*I have norton anti virus. It had been running(I did not ask it to start up) and had already finished before I downloaded the program that created the virus. Do you know why it wouldn’t activate when the virus was detected? \*\* What wouldn’t activate? The virus or Nortan? ---
**Author:** ![MachineHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@MachineHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachineHead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/6 "2003-02-16T07:47:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marduk \* > \*\*What wouldn’t activate? The virus or Nortan? \*\* Norton. ---
**Author:** ![Marduk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Marduk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marduk)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/7 "2003-02-16T07:50:27Z")
Sorry. No clue. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/8 "2003-02-16T12:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NinetyWt \* > Repeat after me: Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Virus Protection Software is My Friend. Maybe it is _your_ friend but it is certainly not _my_ friend. Ina quite a few years of computer use antivirus software has given me more trouble than it has resolved and I have done without it for most of the time. And yet I have _never_ been infected by a virus. The best virus prevention software is between your ears. If you are careful in what you do you should not get a virus infection. If you still want reassurance you can go to Panda [http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/](http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/) and run their test. It is free, always up to date, and does not interfere with the normal running of your computer like resident programs do. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/9 "2003-02-16T12:45:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MachineHead \* > **A screen popped up telling me they’re was a virus in one of my files** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MachineHead \* > \*\*I have norton anti virus. It had been running(I did not ask it to start up) and had already finished before I downloaded the program that created the virus. Do you know why it wouldn’t activate when the virus was detected? \*\* You had a pop-up warning of the virus - where did this msg come from? Was it Norton? I use McAfee and Ad-Aware, and the McAfee software has a number of user-defined options, including the option to scan program files both on download and before executing them. Does your Norton have similar options, and how are they set at present? …and, of course, it could have been a virus that your version of Norton did not recognise (remember, as **NinetyWt** almost said, _ **up-to-date** _ Virus Protection Software is My Friend) **Sailor** , thanks for the link. However, I support a number of not-for-profit sites on a voluntary basis. I receive email and files from the owners of the sites, and have been hit several times by virus/trojan infection attempts - all (I hope) successfully intercepted and cleaned by my anti-virus software. These are expected files and messages which I cannot filter. Being careful is very good advice, but I can only be careful in what I do, I cannot be careful for them. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/10 "2003-02-16T15:39:14Z")
Maybe I’m missing something here, but it sounds like **MachineHead’s** Norton AV program simply did exactly what it’s supposed to do. It detected a virus-infected file. It couldn’t clean the file, so it quarantined it. It’s not clear from the OP precisely when this occurred (was he reading an email or downloading something when the warning popped up?); the information provided is contradictory ( **MachineHead** says that Norton had finished running, presumably a “task-scheduled” hard-drive sweep, and that it then detected the virus when he was downloading something, but then he says that he doesn’t understand why Norton didn’t activate when the virus was detected; this sequence of statements makes no sense - Norton _did_ activate when it detected the virus, didn’t it?). It’s certainly possible to screw up the Norton AV settings so that it doesn’t automatically check things. **MachineHead** , if you see a little icon in the system tray, down by the clock, that, when you move the mouse over it, says that it’s Norton, double-click on the sucker and, when it comes up, make sure that all the options are “green:” auto-protect on, incoming email on, script-blocking on, etc. If any of them is _not_ green, click on the “Options” icon on the tool bar, then click “Default All.” Now, while you’re there, click on “Reports.” Next to the line for Quarantined Items, click “View Report.” Select the quarantined file, and click on the “Delete” icon on the tool bar. There’s no sense hanging on to a file that is infected, and that can’t be disinfected. It’s just a source of future trouble. If it’s a file that some program needs to operate correctly, you’re going to have to reinstall that program in any event, so deleting the file certainly can’t make things any worse. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/11 "2003-02-16T15:53:17Z")
I caught the badtrans.b virus a year or so ago. Norton couldn’t do anything with it. I had to manually delete the files, and then edit the register to prevent it from coming back on re-boot. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/12 "2003-02-16T16:14:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by johncole \* > **Sailor** , thanks for the link. However, I support a number of not-for-profit sites on a voluntary basis. I receive email and files from the owners of the sites, and have been hit several times by virus/trojan infection attempts - all (I hope) successfully intercepted and cleaned by my anti-virus software. These are expected files and messages which I cannot filter. Being careful is very good advice, but I can only be careful in what I do, I cannot be careful for them. I also receive files and programs. Hotmail checks every attached file for viruses using McAfee. Again, it is free and always up to date on signatures and does not interfere with your computer. If you use another email service you can always forward the attachments to hotmail although I understand this might not be practical for huge numbers of files but, for me, it is simple and better than having any antivirus running on my computer. Another instance where I would see running antivirus software on a computer is in a setting where several people have access and use of the computer and there is no accountability. But I am the _only_ one who uses my computer. I would rather let someone use my wife than my computer. maybe I am exagerating just a bit but you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/13 "2003-02-16T17:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*Hotmail checks every attached file for viruses using McAfee. \*\* Ahh, I see. I use a BTinternet account (among others) and they have only just introduced spam/virus filters. Some stuff still creeps thru the cracks. Also, I occasionally get disks via snail-mail. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*I would rather let someone use my wife than my computer. maybe I am exagerating just a bit but you get the idea. \*\* Yes, I get the drift - good policy. (However I don’t think I will try to stop my wife using the computer, I bruise easily.) ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/14 "2003-02-16T19:53:20Z")
Yes, I gave a very dumb answer :smack:. Guess I was way up past my bedtime! 😉 ---
**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:** [February 16, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/15 "2003-02-16T20:20:03Z")
In Norton, you can go into the quarantine area and then manually delete the file to remove it permanently. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-virus/155402/16 "2003-02-17T01:10:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*In Norton, you can go into the quarantine area and then manually delete the file to remove it permanently. \*\* Just like I said, in the last paragraph of my post. Doesn’t anyone read these threads before responding?