Virus warning

[audioguru]

Each time I log on here and on two other electronic chat sites I get a virus warning. I can log onto many other sites without getting the warning.
I also got the warning when I opened "Post New Thread".

 

[Pommie]

And which protection program detected this? I suspect the virus is generating the warnings.

Mike.

 

[ericgibbs]

And which protection program detected this? I suspect the virus is generating the warnings.

Mike.

hi,
I would agree with that, I would suggest you dont use the 'click here'

 

[DirtyLude]

It doesn't like the Java code that does the ads. The detection is a little strict.

 

[audioguru]

Two other guys at another website get the same warning and they use different anti-virus softwares.

 

[audioguru]

Many people on different sites think the false-positive on the "virus" was caused by Google-ads.
A few minutes ago my anti-virus software updated itself and now the warnings are gone.

 

[Sceadwian]

Personally, I've had more problems with than solutions from anti-virus software.

 

[Hero999]

I agree.

I think anti-virus is a scam backed up by softare companies to make money. As long as you're careful, it's very unlikely you'll get a virus. All anti-virus software does is slow my computer down by robbing half the memory and increasing file read times because it scans every file loaded.

What's the point of scanning every single file?

The only places you're going to get a virus from are the Internet, email and removable storage (USB sticks, CDs, floppies etc.) so scanning evey file accessed on the hard drive is a waste of time.

Then there's the fact that only executable files can harbour viruses. Modern OSes have date execution prevention and all the recent Office versions have VBS disabled by default which pretty much eliminates the risk from non-executable files.

The filewall plus a decent browser is normally good enough to prevent any nasty scripts from installing crap without your consent.

Then if you use Windows as a restricted user most of the time, most malware won't install, even if you try to install it.

I think that user error is the greatest factor in getting a virus. The last time my computer was infected was when I stupidly downloaded a Windows theme that came bundled with a trojan.

The chances are !000s of computers need to become infected before your AV software is able to detect the virus.

I use Clamwin AV which doesn't run in the background to scan any files I'm 99% sure about - I don't install anything I'm <100% sure of.

 

[Sceadwian]

I don't think it's a scam at all. I think it's well intentioned.. that's the sad party =O, and in a lot of cases it helps prevent stupid user syndrome from reaching critical mass. The resource intensiveness of it I agree with 100%.

The filewall plus a decent browser is normally good enough to prevent any nasty scripts from installing crap without your consent.

I would like to add that the firewall, the browser and the operating system itself need to be kept up to date on all patches.

 

[QuietMan]

I use the router as the firewall, and Avast for the computer. Historically my biggest headache was a horny teenager, so I taught him how to clean out his computer (forced him actually). His browsing habits improved when he had to do the work to fix his messes, and a couple of reinstalls of his OS (kissing his games goodbye). It is pretty much a thing of the past, but I use google (and other search engines) carefully, some of the damnest sites have been corrupted. Periodically I do scans using spyware scanners (several of them) as well as Avast.

A good site for this kind of problem is MajorGeeks.com, they have a forum devoted strictly to helping people clean out their machines, and a good software suite to do it too, some of which is custom. They are good enough that some infected computers won't let you go there willingly, which is a form of praise.

 

[Sceadwian]

The thing is QuietMan, is if your machine is set up properly and you have good browsing habbits, even if you're going to some sketchy sites it's nearly impossible to get anything.
I don't generally use spyware scanners, although I do periodically run through the process list of my machine. I think it's important for a user to know every process running on their machine and there are websites out there that will tell you if a process is part of an operating system or other software you might have installed on the machine.

 

[TGC357]

. . . there are websites out there that will tell you if a process is part of an operating system or other software you might have installed on the machine.

I'd appreciate a link or links to those that you've found to be helpful.

Thank you!

 

[Sceadwian]

Google =)

Simply pop the executable file name into a Google search. There are several dozen websites that catalog all the various process that windows and many other commonly used software packages tend to run Google caches them all.