How To Get Rid Of A Potential Computer Virus ?

Recently I have heard weird sounds coming from my computer (for example, the sound of opening and closing of doors and chants of "USA, USA") -- and my computer seems to be running very slowly (I had a notice that my Windows Virtual Memory was low).

Does anyone have any idea of I can check to see if a virus is causing these problems, and if so, I do I get rid of the virus?

Thanks.

Have you run a virus scan?

Brightnorm

I new to the world of computers -- how do I run a virus scan?

chants of "USA USA"???? HMMMMMMMM Opening and closing doors??? Maybe your house is haunted... just in case it's not haunted... maybe you should go to http://www.avast.com/ and get yourself a free antivirus scanner. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You can also go to: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp and run their FREE anti-virus tool if you don't have something like Norton Antivirus or McAffee.

goto www.download.com

and searc for "avg"

It will find a FREE AVG Anti Virus scanner you can install and use.

I use it, it has been great for me so far.

P.S. what ever you do, DO NOT use McAffee.

AVG is the best. Period. Give it a try...it's free. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Okay, I'll bite. What the heck is wrong with McAfee?

It seems we can not only have OS wars, we can have anti-virus wars as well.

well, where do you want me to begin?

It has FORCED me to completely format 3 computers now.

Once, it saw ITSELF as a virus.

It never catches everything.

Wouldnt run on another computer at all one time.

Its faster than Norton,,,, thats it,,,

Okay. It sounds like you have more than enough reasons to avoid McAfee.

Just to balance the equation a bit, I've been using it for 5 years without problems. Maybe I've been running between the raindrops.

Read this about norton if you are even thinking of using a norton product.

My advice : first run housecall to scan your system, then install AVG Antivirus

Thanks for the info -- I will try some of the suggestions!

AVG Free Edition

AntiVir Free Edition

These two are well regarded and free. In some cases, a virus or worm can create a situation where you get so many errors that you cannot install and/or run anti-virus software, in some cases you may not even be able to boot into your operating system. In these cases, you need to be able to scan for and delete viruses in DOS (if possible). For that I have used F-Prot Free Dos Edition. Be advised that F-Prot is for the more advanced user, but works very well.

In extreme cases, it's easier to format the hard drive and do a clean operating system installation.

Mike

actually NO av prog catches EVERYTHING. Lighten up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Avast and AVG seems to be the best freeware antiviral progs out there right now. AntiVir caused me to reformat my system once. It destroyed some key systems files. Any av prog has potential to cause problems depending on your systems config. Actually alot of programs/applications in general have potential to cause system trouble.

eTrust EZ Antivirus by Computer Associates!

eTrust messed my system up once too. Good prog though.

AVG is from www.grisoft.com

Hmmmmmm...I've used eTrust for several years, had no problems at all. Norton & McAfee messed me up. I went with Computer Associates eTrust because my company used it on their network - it used to be free to us, I'm not sure if they have a trial version now or not. I pay a yearly fee and get regular updates.

I've been using McAfee for 5 years with no problems.

Like I said... EVERY av prog has potential to cause problems...depending on system configuration ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif