OK what is messing with me startup?

[Flyeboy]

i'm back... no between ad-aware, nod32, spybot, tuneup utilities and windows defender they all picked up NOTHING and my startup still stuffed. Sigh.. frustrating as hell ya but thanks for the link. I will read up on that and pray something works.

 

[bwana]

If your system is compromised then backing up your files and doing a fresh installation has surely got to be the best (only) option available?

 

[-toady-]

If your system is compromised then backing up your files and doing a fresh installation has surely got to be the best (only) option available?

something that I have often wondered.... what happens if, when backing up your files, you take the virus or Trojan or bug with you? erm, badly phrased I know.... but? How do you possibly avoid that...?

 

[mercurial]

you can't and that's the risk that some might have to take. what you could try is to perform a repair installation of XP.

 

[bwana]

something that I have often wondered.... what happens if, when backing up your files, you take the virus or Trojan or bug with you? erm, badly phrased I know.... but? How do you possibly avoid that...?

you can't and that's the risk that some might have to take. what you could try is to perform a repair installation of XP.

Not being a target for virus has meant not having to keep up to speed on these matters so perhaps my reasoning is rather dated but my understanding is that viruses/trojans/etc are usually benign until they have been activated.

Surely then, if you take the usual precautions - all the patches, up to date virus definitions, etc - detection and removal of these little nasties on the external media should be relatively straight forward?

 

[mercurial]

Not being a target for virus has meant not having to keep up to speed on these matters so perhaps my reasoning is rather dated but my understanding is that viruses/trojans/etc are usually benign until they have been activated.

Surely then, if you take the usual precautions - all the patches, up to date virus definitions, etc - detection and removal of these little nasties on the external media should be relatively straight forward?

the problem is if your antivirus cannot detect the viruses... then if you backup that data, you're effectively still keeping the viruses.

 

[bwana]

the problem is if your antivirus cannot detect the viruses... then if you backup that data, you're effectively still keeping the viruses.

Surely your updated anti-virus definitions should be able to cope with any old infections - after all once the data is on the external it wont be subjected to any new threats only the pre-existing ones, right?

My understanding is that the antivirus makers are constantly pushing out new definitions as threats become known. Its also my understanding that the detection and removal of nasties that havent yet got their hooks into the system is a much simpler matter than trying to remove them from an infected system.

 

[mercurial]

Surely your updated anti-virus definitions should be able to cope with any old infections - after all once the data is on the external it wont be subjected to any new threats only the pre-existing ones, right?

My understanding is that the antivirus makers are constantly pushing out new definitions as threats become known. Its also my understanding that the detection and removal of nasties that havent yet got their hooks into the system is a much simpler matter than trying to remove them from an infected system.

yes, theoretically if your system is updated then it should be detected, but we must remember that every antivirus app will detect and not detect different things as being viruses or not. AVG is a classic case of false positives. it might also mean that it doesn't pick up other viruses that other antivirus apps might pick up. if i can refer to the bolded part - it is simpler to remove if it hasn't been "hooked" into your system, but if your antivirus doesn't pick it up then it really doesn't matter.

 

[-toady-]

yes, theoretically if your system is updated then it should be detected, but we must remember that every antivirus app will detect and not detect different things as being viruses or not. AVG is a classic case of false positives. it might also mean that it doesn't pick up other viruses that other antivirus apps might pick up. if i can refer to the bolded part - it is simpler to remove if it hasn't been "hooked" into your system, but if your antivirus doesn't pick it up then it really doesn't matter.

My query may become clearer when I say that we use Norton I have no say in the matter.
He updates it regularly and runs scans regularly....
I ran a full-scan yesterday morning which took less time than usual for starters....*alarm bells..
It said No Worries Mate at the end....
So I trundled over to the dodgy Norton System Works and did the 1 button check just to be sure...
It found 15 problems..... thirteen missing files, 1 Temp File and a Cookie... All the repair would do was take out the cookie... the temp. file it wouldnt touch and heaven knows what the missing 13 are...*sigh...

So there you have it.... in spite of doing everything by the Tards book so to speak, we clearly still have a problem... google has started suggesting now that we have malware or a virus heheh...
Anyways.... thanks for the replies....but you see my point about thinking a reformat would be pretty useless under these circs....

 

[Flyeboy]

what -toady- just said.. sjoe. why full format just to get a tiny bug out. but also tru all my anti-virus, spybots etc are super updated and they find nothin.