Well, eek, that's the problem, I'm in the process of
updating the system and there is no virus protection on
here at the moment (I know, I know, that's not how I
normally live)...
Then of course there is a good chance that your computer is infected,
probably with one of the viruses that immediately break antivirus
software. This could happen if you had an older antivirus version,
weren't updating its definitions or didn't renew your subscription. The
usual way to deal with this is to:
1) Take the infected machine off the Internet and any lan immediately.
2) From a different, clean machine download Stinger
(
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/) and run it in Safe Mode. Stinger is a
limited virus checker, but its advantage is that it is standalone and
doesn't need to be installed.
3) Hope that Stinger cleans up the machine enough to be able to
reinstall your av or install a new, current one. Update its definitions
and do a full scan.
4) Continue the cleaning process by removing any spyware with Spybot
Search & Destroy (
http://www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware
(
http://www.lavasoftusa.com). Be sure to update these programs before
running them. These programs are free, so run them both since they
complement each other. You may also want to run the latest CWShredder
from
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html. Always read the
instructions before running a spyware removal tool. It is best to run
antivirus and spyware removal tools in Safe Mode.
5) After you've installed your full-featured av, updated its
definitions and run a full system scan.
6) Make sure you are running a firewall.
7) Go to Windows Update and apply all security patches. Do not install
drivers from Windows Update.
Malke
