cant get rid of this virus!!!

zylum · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:04 pm

just this afternoon my computer crashed and i was unable to turn it back on after many attempts (sometimes it would turn on but then crash while booting up)... a few minutes ago i finally got it to turn on and scanned for viruses using AVG and found 4 viruses 3 of which were healed... the last one was recommended to be sent to the vault so i agreed but then it said it was unable to send it there... i found the virus (some trojan horse) and tried to manually delete it but it said it was being used by windows... the filename was _update.dat.... what do i do? i fear that this virus might be the reason for my computer crashes....

-zylum

Paul · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:05 pm

check if u have it in ur task manager, end task it, then try to delete it.

zylum · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:09 pm

theres something called autoupdate but im not sure its the same as _update.dat...

zylum · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:09 pm

theres something called autoupdate but im not sure its the same as _update.dat...

Dan · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:09 pm

try booting to safe mode then removing it with AVG or maualy.

also try ruing msconfig and stoping it form stating in the start up tab.

Amailer · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 7:13 pm

what i do is ctrl+alt+del and close all the apps that i can, and then del it... and it works.. *+ if you run spybot search * destory, it allows you to run it before any app starts... err w/e*

zylum · **Posted:** Mon May 03, 2004 8:05 pm

i tried all the suggestions except for booting in safe mode but still no luck Sad

Cervantes · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 1:15 pm

i think booting it in safe mode is ALMOST like amailers suggestion, ctrlaltdel everything and then manually delete it. however, if the file still won't delete, you've got a bit of a problem. You need to go into DOS and delete it from there. Windows 98, its easy, shut down -> restart in MS-DOS mode. however, with anything newer, its difficult. I know with ME you have to make a boot disk (go to start -> settings -> control panel -> add/remove programs then the Startup Disk tab) and pop the boot disk in when you restart. Once in DOS, your on your own and need some experience Confused

I don't really know the dos commands, i always let my brother do it Confused

but to change folders, the command is

code:

cd C:/Progra~1/bla bla bla

cd stands for change directory
the ~1 is cuz in dos it only goes up to six characters, i think. try doing /Program Files, it may or may not work. anywho, once your in the correct directory, delete the file. this is the embarassing part, i don't know how to delete a file. im guessing del, but someone else can help you out there Confused

so that should do it. keep in mind though that the files / folders may be hidden and hence you won't see them when you do a dir. I think to change that in DOS you use the assert command, its something like that, i only vaguely remember my brother hacking away at the viruses Confused

or you could probably just change the file in windows to make it not-hidden.

hope that helps

now for my question: for anyone who uses AVG, have you ever tried to update and it says something along the lines of "the update file is corrupt, download cancled"? That bugs/scares me. Sad

zylum · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 1:37 pm

Cervantes wrote:

now for my question: for anyone who uses AVG, have you ever tried to update and it says something along the lines of "the update file is corrupt, download cancled"? That bugs/scares me. Sad

i got that once and i just tried it againg and it worked fine Wink

back on topic now, i tried to run in safe mode and i "successfuly" removed the file... i ran AVG in safemode and there were no viruses... then i restarted my computer and ran AVG and there it was again. WTF?!?!? now whats the problem???

-zylum

oh and my computer keeps crashing too

zylum · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 1:58 pm

AHHH!!! WTF IT CRASHED AGAIN!!!! im going to go nuts if i dont fix this Crying or Very sad

Paul · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 2:00 pm

heres what I always do when I can find no apparent reason for windows crashing, I either reinstall windows or I thoroughly format the hard drive then install windows.

Amailer · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 2:33 pm

Where is the file again?

Cervantes · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 2:35 pm

okay this is definately a nasty virus.
gunna need some professional help, or some formatage of the hard drive.
to format, go into dos mode and type "format c:"
then to reinstall windows, pop the cd in the drive, type D: to get to the D drive (assuming cd drive is the D drive) and type "setup"

recneps · **Posted:** Tue May 04, 2004 2:48 pm

Make sure your cd driver is insalled first! Or i believe all windows cd's can be booted, so change cmos to boot order cdrom,a,c or whatever. If you have access to windows. MAKE BACKUPS AND FORMAT
Its the only 100% sure way to get rid of it.
(and dont forget to scan backups before puittin em back on Wink

)

Martin · **Posted:** Thu May 06, 2004 11:36 am

Honestly, AVG is junk.

It'll find tons of viruses, but there will always be some that it can't get rid of.

get trend micro's PC-Cillin (or however you spell it). Much better and much quieter than AVG or Norton. The other nice thing is that they update their virus definitions every day, wheras AVG and norton do so only weekly/monthly.

Or you could do what I did, and install Linux. Then you don't need to worry about viruses.

By the way, to boot in safe mode, restart your computer and press F8 repeatedly until you get to the OS choice menu, then go to safe mode, or safe mode with networking. This starts up windows with a minimal amount of tasks running. Chances are you'll be able to fix the problem from here.

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