Skip to main content

Questions tagged [virus]

A software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer.

5 votes
2 answers
609 views

How can I make totally sure that I don't have a keylogger/trojan/something uploading my personal files to the web?

I got this Antivirus Soft installed. It was awfully annoying and my antiviruses (yes, I have more than one) just didn't do anything. So, now I am afraid they might be compromised or something. I am ...
AZ.'s user avatar
  • 373
5 votes
9 answers
4k views

Virus hides files, shrinks total capacity

A virus infected my hard drive. The drive's capacity is 1 TB and has different type of files on it, 400 GB+ in total. Suddenly all the files disappear, and I tried to show hidden files, but ...
Kelvin Barsana's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

How does Windows Defender know that an antivirus has been installed?

My computer got infected by a virus (one that Windows Defender did not detect) last week. I ran a Norton Bootable Rescue CD I had made and that cleared out the virus for good. However, when I went to ...
Don't Root here plz...'s user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
12k views

Does NirSoft utilities have a virus?

I downloaded NirSoft utilities from a trustworthy link on HowToGeek and both Avast and Windows Defender claim they contain a virus, however I'm unsure if it is a false positive. Does anyone have any ...
user215779's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

PageRage found mysteriously on my system [closed]

It has been ages since the last time I got a virus, maybe 10 years. I'm a sensitive user and I know what a "double click" actually means. Some minutes ago I've seen my Google searches, on both Chrome ...
gd1's user avatar
  • 545
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

All folders in all drives are set to read only on Windows XP and can't be changed

I am using windows XP and all of my folders on all drives are now read only. When I remove the read only check, it gets set back to read only. Why? I cannot write any file from my flex application. ...
Muhammad Irfan's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
12k views

Manipulating firmware of USB flash drives

As far as you may know, about four month ago, a new malware-like program found that was infected USB device's firmwares. (Take a look here) I want to know, how it is possible to read and modify ...
Ebrahim Ghasemi's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
6k views

Which File Did Microsoft Safety Scanner Fix?

Microsoft Safety Scanner says it partially fixed a file. How do I find out which file it fixed?
Nelson's user avatar
  • 51
5 votes
3 answers
4k views

Can opening an email (in Gmail) plant a virus on my computer?

Gmail recommends sending the full message header of a spam email to the Federal Trade Commission at [email protected]. Source However, in order to get the "full header" you need to open the email Source ...
Woops4000's user avatar
  • 101
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

periodic error dialog (default Email app related) on Windows 10, appears to be CortanaMapiHelper, should I be concerned?

I'm running Windows 10 64-bit. Periodically (maybe daily?), I get the below dialog appearing on my machine. I normally just click OK and move on. This time, I ran Process Explorer, then used the "...
Nerdtron's user avatar
  • 211
5 votes
1 answer
27k views

"Trojan:Script/Cloxer.A!cl", any info on this virus? what does this virus do? [duplicate]

Windows Defender identified and removed a threat on my Win10Pro PC called "Trojan:Script/Cloxer.A!cl". But there is no information on the web on this trojan, searching for this yields little/nothing. ...
John's user avatar
  • 73
4 votes
7 answers
2k views

What are the top reasons Macs are much less likely to get viruses/worms/trojans?

I ask in seriousness. Please do not post answers like, "because Windows sucks!" Why do Macs pretty much never get viruses/worms/trojans, in comparison to Windows? Is one reason the rwx permission ...
Chad Johnson's user avatar
4 votes
9 answers
15k views

Does reformatting the drive really removes spywares and viruses

I've recently read that the data that you deleted in windows using shift+del doesn't actually get deleted it is just made to be overwritable by other data that will soon be stored in your hard drive. ...
Wern Ancheta's user avatar
  • 6,552
4 votes
4 answers
2k views

Why did my friends get spams from my email?

Recently I got an email with subject like "Delivery Status Notification (Failure)". It had been initially sent to my friend's old email account. The content inside that failed email was obviously one ...
puri's user avatar
  • 1,341
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can a Guest Windows XP account infect the overall system with Virus

I have installed Windows XP SP3 with all default options and created a guest account without any password. I was wondering if this is enough to prevent any user from corrupting the main Windows ...
Shamim Hafiz - MSFT's user avatar
4 votes
7 answers
6k views

How to clean a computer with multiple accounts infected with spyware, viruses? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What to do if my computer is infected by a virus or a malware? What's the best way to clean a computer with multiple accounts infected with spyware, viruses and malware? ...
user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

WINE and Windows viruses

Might be a silly question, but I was wondering... WINE has permission to edit certain (profile) folders and provides Windows based software to run under Linux. Could it also provide Windows viruses an ...
Pylsa's user avatar
  • 31.1k
4 votes
3 answers
53k views

bcdedit /deletevalue safeboot error

I cannot boot into my Windows version due to a virus, I was able to boot into another partitioned copy of Windows and access msconfig, which I then selected the virus ridden partitioned and checked "...
jerrythebum's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
2k views

How do I check if a program can potentially be a virus?

I am running Windows XP in a VM. I want to download a few applications and install the one by one and check if they potentially can be a virus. I assume virus would need to add something to the ...
user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Rootkit-like program with numbers:numbers.exe

There is a rogue program on a computer that seems to launch as an alternative data stream. It shows up in Task Manager as number: number.exe, and can't be killed. I can delete the main file, but the ...
Canadian Luke's user avatar
4 votes
6 answers
2k views

Non-resident anti-virus software?

Since 6 or 8 years ago I have stopped using antivirus on my main computers. Whenever I download a suspicious file, I would upload it to VirusTotal or use other online scanners to check whether the ...
netvope's user avatar
  • 5,345
4 votes
2 answers
8k views

Can I delete a blank file left on my desktop by a virus removal?

My computer was infected with a virus. I scanned it with AVG and cleared it. It left me with a blank file that I cannot delete. When I right click on it, the only options I'm given are OpenHomePage, ...
KMC's user avatar
  • 2,019
4 votes
3 answers
7k views

Can I get infected from a .torrent file?

Is it possible to get a virus from a .torrent file? I mean, I know .exe and other executable files can have viruses or can be malicious, but can the same be done using a .torrent file? Maybe writing ...
paranoia's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
4k views

Is it possible to get a virus/malware infection from opening a 7-zip (.7z) file?

Title says it all. In particular, is there any step in the 7-zip decompression process that could allow code execution?
user1258361's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
495 views

How can I find out if a link is "Clean" or "Dirty"?

Today I received a link in an email. Is there any way to be sure it will not lead to a virus before I open it? I googled it and came up with no hits. EDIT: I have sent a message to the sender ...
Xavierjazz's user avatar
  • 8,198
4 votes
2 answers
164 views

Why do I get a My Disney window when installing VMware Workstation?

I'm assuming this is a virus, though my virus checker can't find it. I downloaded the latest VMware Workstation 7 installer. I'm running Windows 7 64bit. I go to install it, and the installer window ...
Marc Esher's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
297 views

Can my Linux-mint become vulnerable after updating?

According to Linux Mint's blog post: The website of linux-mint is hacked and some ISOs are replaced with backdoored operating system. I am installing my operating system from a few weeks ago. ...
GAD3R's user avatar
  • 3,800
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is a virus forwarding me to this website called "home.clear.com"?

Whenever I try to access a website, I am forwarded to http://home.clear.com. In Firefox, a warning will come up that says: home.clear.com uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is ...
Jed's user avatar
  • 41
4 votes
1 answer
4k views

Difference Between Microsoft's Safety Scanner and Software Removal Tool

What's the difference between the MSS and MSRT?
kenneth's user avatar
  • 41
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

Can't log into Windows XP

Immediately after choosing an account, and starting to log in, it shows the logging out message and goes back to the account selection display. This even happened in safe mode with the administrator'...
lamcro's user avatar
  • 812
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Can malware infect a router and spread to other devices connected to it?

Suppose my computer gets malware. I can deal with it by reinstalling the OS with an installation usb from a different pc but is it possible for the malware to infect the wifi router and then spread to ...
user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
19k views

Do computer viruses affect all user accounts on a computer?

Do computer viruses affect all user accounts on a computer? IF a virus affects a local user will that effect administrator account and vise-versa?
user229642's user avatar
4 votes
6 answers
98 views

"start" action on right-click

I was hit with a virus the other day. It was one of the viruses that pretend to be anti-virus software and keep hitting you with fake warning messages. I ran spybot and malware bytes, and the ...
random_guy's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Can an infected Android or iOS phone infect a PC running Windows?

I realize that any .apk may not run on Windows via anything other than an emulator, but my instructor insists that it can. Here are my objections: Can I infect the computers at school with my Android ...
Hellreaver's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
1k views

How can a flash drive spread a virus?

How can a virus be spread from a USB flash drive besides the autorun.inf? Can boot sector viruses infect thumb drives?
user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
4k views

How do I properly check if a program is a virus/trojan in VMware?

How I should check if a program is a virus in VMware? Some programs I do need admin ability to install and it makes sense. But how do I know if it's doing more than I want? Some thoughts are: How ...
user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
14k views

Suspicious Executable - Samsung Magician

I'm hoping someone may be able to give me some input on an executable I found running every time I boot up my PC. I use the Samsung Magician software which runs on startup, but it wasn't until today I ...
user1736545's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
56 views

Accessing rights of worms,viruses,etc

If I create a folder named nul (or con, prn,etc) which are DOS reserved names, I will not be able to edit (or modify or delete) files inside it directly. So my doubt is that, if the PC is infected ...
Jack's user avatar
  • 41
4 votes
2 answers
636 views

How did what appears to be a virus get on my computer? (explanation of situation enclosed)

My system is Windows XP SP3, updated with the latest patches. The PC is connected to a Cisco 877 ADSL router, which does NAT from the internal network to its single static public IP address. There ...
Massimo's user avatar
  • 2,639
4 votes
4 answers
8k views

how to extract a virus from a Thunderbird inbox file?

I have a virus scan running and it's found a virus in my Thunderbird inbox file. Of course, I don't want to delete the inbox file, and the anti-virus (AVG) can't seem to pull it out. There are lots of ...
user13743's user avatar
  • 1,721
4 votes
1 answer
230 views

How to remove cryptowall encryption

Please help me urgently, Because My all files are encrypted by unknown virus named, 'CryptoWall encryption'. I attached one screenshot, which is provided by this virus.
Shurvir Mori's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
198 views

Files were encrypted by virus, and old (win 7) OS is gone - What Do? [duplicate]

So for the past few weeks I have been planning on switching from windows 7 to Ubuntu (14.04) with windows running in a VM for whenever I need it. 2 days ago my antivirus complained to me that I had a ...
Nicholas Summers's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
13k views

Can you get a virus from downloading a .avi file? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Can avi files contain a virus? Can you get a virus from downloading a .avi file? (say from torrent)
user3183's user avatar
  • 3,327
3 votes
8 answers
385 views

Should I pitch Ubuntu to virus victims?

I've noticed that on a regular basis I see facebook statuses complaining about viruses (e.g. "sorry I haven't been on in a few days... my comp got socked by a virus and I had to reinstall everything") ...
3 votes
7 answers
5k views

What to do about counterfeit Windows warning

I have a Dell computer that has just started waring me that Windows XP may be counterfeit, the operating system was pre-installed on the PC by Dell. Can I just ignore/disable the warning, or should I ...
Tester101's user avatar
  • 668
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Can virus infect the original Windows Install DVD?

If my original Windows 7 install DVD (not a copy of the original DVD) is left inside the DVD player on an infected machine, is it safe to use the DVD again? I am worried that the DVD has been infected ...
Display Name's user avatar
  • 2,239
3 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is this a virus? Not sure how to read the source code. This is a txt file

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <link ...
Imajica666's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is this a Trojan? Random Windows 10 Microsoft Defender Antivirus sample submission message. What is this?

I have received a weird message from Windows (see picture). I would like to know what this exactly means. I have only used the Edge browser (if it even has to do with it) maybe twice. Also sometimes ...
Exotic_Morning_656's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
8k views

Virus - Hearing "Congratulations, you won!"

I'm having a virus currently with my computer that needs fixing. I'm hearing a voice saying "Congratulations, you won!" at seemingly random intervals from my computer. I'm saying at random because ...
Fredy31's user avatar
  • 1,135
3 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is it possible to check Mac files for virus in a PC?

I have been on PC for almost 15 years :D and never touched a Mac (uncle bill will be angry on me!). A friend of mine asked me to get her something from torrents (somewhere you can find plenty of ...
Dumbo's user avatar
  • 594

15 30 50 per page
1 2
3
4 5
26