I would like to ask a question, I'm not a computer whiz at all, by any means, and I haven't gotten real answers out of anyone I know, so, is there any real virus protection out there? I mean, obviously, scanning your computer with an AV program will find them, but it doesn't prevent you from getting them, and sometimes it won't even remove them, as I have just found out. I've had this virus on my PC for months and am at my wits end trying to locate it and remove it, I finally am just going to wipe and reload. In the past I downloaded ZoneAlarm, and always ran my AV and Spyware programs daily, but it did not prevent me from receiving an unremoveable virus. (Well, it was a Trojan-and I'm told it's not exactly a virus, but hey, either way, I could never locate or remove the dang thing!) Is there anything more that I can do in the future to have more protection against viruses? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

~Jaime

It would be a good idea to actually name the trojan or virus on your system, as different viruses behave differently and some are more harmful than others.

It's also a good idea to run AV and anti-spyware programs all the time when you're accessing the internet. This will do the obvious which will block known viruses etc.

OK sometimes Norton or McAfee AV needs rebooting in safe mode to delete a virus because it can't do so when the file is in use, have you tried scanning in safe mode yet, also check quarantine section is safe mode sometimes mysteriously turns up there.

HTH

Sgt Badger.

Jaime, I don't know what virus you are talking about, but there is no such thing as a virus, even a trojan, that can't be removed.

First, go here and run TRend Micro's online scan-click "scan now" and follow the directions; hopefully it will find your phantom virus and quarantine it.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Next, purchase PC-Cillin (Trend Micro) and install it. Update the indexes weekly.

Next, purchase a router and install it between your internet access (cable or phone line) and your computer. Even if you don't want to network with other units in your home, a router provides a mechanical firewall that is extremely difficult to get past. That will take care of 99.99% of your hacker attempts (call it 100%, ok?) Even the MSBLAST virus hack can't get past a router.

Next, go download mailwasher and install it. It's free. Have it running in your system tray to intercept all e-mail, and you delete spam/garbage off your server before your email program imports it into your machine. Most viruses are transmitted through emails from unknown sources.
http://www.mailwasher.net

Download and install:
Ad Aware, Spybot and Spyware Blaster; update the indexes every week like religion, and run the scans 2Xweek. They are free and will kill spyware, scumware and tracking cookies on your computer.

Keep Zone Alarm, and upgrade regularly. IF any trojans make it past all this onto your drive, it will alert you when any trojan attmepts to dial out from your computer.

That will take care of your problems.

ok, the virus on my computer comes up as Trojan horse downloader.Dyfica.G. Funny thing is everywhere I go trying to find the right tools or fix for this virus, there is nothing on it. This particular Trojan name doesn't seem to exist. Strange, eh? Anyhoot, last night I tried turning off system restore and then running all my tools again, and now my outlook won't open. Just going to try wiping. I have a question for you in regards to your response though, sgt badger. You say running your AV and whatever else everytime you connect to the internet offers you the protection. Well, my point on that is, if you run your AV anytime you are on line, it just scans to see if any viruses have gotten in, correct? That's not really protection. I mean, AVG caught this virus (seemingly) right away, yet months later I still am unable to remove the dang thing.
~Jaime

wow ranchhand. Thank you for all this advice. Unfortunately, like I said, my comuter is very messed up now, and I have to wipe it. I will, however, be copying all the information that you gave me here and definately using it ALL after I get done starting over. I want to take every step I can to ensure this won't happen again. By the way, I already tried 3 different online scans to find this trojan, and the file that my AV says it is in (which I cannot find at all, doesn't seem to actually exist) always comes up on every scan as 'Access Denied' or 'Unable to scan File'

Dyfica.G is associated with the 'malware' 'Internet Optimizer'.
Download 'Hijack This!'. Unzip, doubleclick HijackThis.exe, and hit "Scan".
When the scan is finished, click "Save Log", and copy and paste it in a reply.
HijackThis!

TBH jaime, AVG is good at catching viruses, but completely lost when removing or quarantining them. Have you tried Norton or McAfee, these two catch viruses then lets you quarantine and delete them safely.

As for the virus "downloader.Dyfica.G", it looks like a NEW virus that nobody has reported yet, best bet is to have AVG locate it then browse to the folder and delete it manually.

Back to your question:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"You say running your AV and whatever else everytime you connect to the internet offers you the protection. Well, my point on that is, if you run your AV anytime you are on line, it just scans to see if any viruses have gotten in, correct? That's not really protection."
------------
Actually Virus Scanners like McAfee catch viruses as soon as they enter your system, it even prevents suspicious scripts from loading in the background before it even executes on your machine to wreak havoc. Now that is what I call PROTECTION. :D

There are lots of other features in McAfee which work wonders when they're kept up-to-date.

I Stubbornly once ignored McAfee once and let a script run (thought it was legitimate). After a system scan another day, it turned out to be a virus after all. :S

I suggest you try a different Virus Scanner, there are so many out there.

Recommend: NAV or McAfee.

Yup I'm sure Tom41 will nail that virus, since he is the all-time virus hunter on this forum. :D

Was hoping you'd show up Tom. :D

I already went in and found the Internet Optimizer thing Tom was talking about up there, and I deleted it, still no change. I will try running the hijackthis.exe and let you guys know. Thank you both. By the way, I have NAV2003, and though AVG found the virus and didn't know what to do with it, NAV2003 didn't even find it, lol. I think I'm beginning to be skeptical on ALL AV. McAfree..haven't tried that. Is that a free one?

Ha ha ha, ok, I will run that when I get home on my lunch break and let you guys know. ~THANKS!!!~

~Jaime

Hey no problem and you're welcome Jaime.

HTH

Sgt Badger.

PS: LMAO @ McaFREE.

Looks as though I'm somewhat dislexic today, doesn't it? LMAO@MYSELF (for the FREE bit) hee hee hee sorry. :)

You do not need to wait to find a virus by running a full scan.

Be sure the "active scan" (or Vshield or whatever your AV calls its feature) is enabled on your virus scanner. It will scan all files from the internet, cd's, floppy's, etc. If a virus is detected, it will prevent it from being installed on your system.

I also recommend PC-Cillin, But I would do a daily update, not weekly (or at least make it the first thing you do every time you connect).

Yeah, Jamie, all the advice here is good. I will just repeat what I said about a router. In fact, if you don't like cables and are willing to spend a little (and I mean little) more, get wireless. I went wireless in my house and from the basement to the third floor bedroom its pure heaven. A router costs about the same as Norton Personal Firewall, and is far more effective.
Good hunting!!

Does anybody here think NAV2003 is any good?

NAV works okay in testing, but I personally do not like it. I used it a couple years ago and had problems. Others on this forum have posted similar problems recently. There are still other people here who swear by it.

Since it did not work for you, why don't you get the removal tool from Symantec and get rid of it completely. Then download the 30 day free trial version of PC-Cillin from Trend Micro. If you like it, you can buy it. If not, go back to Norton with a clean install.

Ok, I tried to run the HijackThis, and guess what, my computer is so messed up right now that it wouldn't connect to any website at all. Outlook is down, IE is down, I gave up and have started the wipe and reload process on my computer. In the future I will be sure to take any and every precaution my computer allows me to take against further attacks. I've lost a lot of information on my computer and I pray I don't ever have to do this again. Thank you all who took the time to try to help me out here. Your efforts are much appreciated. :) I suppose had I tried to get help months ago instead of going through all I've been through here, I could have saved myself the time, but I guess I just assumed the virus was never a big deal. BIG MISTAKE on my part. I will be taking this a lot more seriously from now on~ Jaime

What caused this? Did you fix any of the entries listed in the Hijack Scan?
Most of what HijackThis lists will be legitimate programs, care must be taken when 'fixing' things..
If so, run Hijack again and restore them.
Open Hijack and click 'Config' and 'Backups'.

I used NAV from 2002 until 2003 when I decided to have a run at Linux. I came running back to Windows after a test phase and by that time, NAV 2003 was getting ready to be replaced by 2004.

About the time I decided I'd buy it, out came the stories about Nortons new anti-piracy thing and the trouble it was causing, so since I couldn't just not have an AV, I went to AVG and love it. Norton did it's job well, but it hogged my resources a lot.

I still believe in the policy "you get what you pay for", even though I have many great free programs such as AVG, Spybot, and such. So I probably will go back to Norton at some point, but not until they get theirselves straightened out a bit with the problems.

Thanks for your 2cents there dw, I have to agree, AVG always found the viruses and such, but it didn't know what to do with them after it found them...but NAV didn't even find the virus that was on my computer. I too believe you get what you pay for but with all this AV stuff and Firewalls and such, it's all hit or miss no matter how you look at it. Tom, prior to running the hijackthis, I was told by someone else to turn off my system restore, then reboot, then try all the fixes. I did just that, and all of a sudden boom..no desktop icons, outlook will not open, and IE will not connect to any websites, so I am unable to even get tot he site to try hijackthis on my computer. What caused this? I have no clue. Well, maybe I have an idea..do the words 'home-user' make anybody here cringe?? Ha, ha, ha. I admit that I am what most major computer companies dread..a home-user..who knows very very little about what she is doing. Thanks again for all the time and effort you all have put into trying to help me.

~Jaime

If you are booting in safe mode, not all the desktop icons will display Jaime, don't worry about that.

If you are unable to see ANY desktop icons while booting normally, I suggest you attempt a system repair.

1st start>run> type in sfc /scannow (notice the space between sfc and /, you will need to have the xp cd in the drive)>ok

If that doesn`t work, go into the bios force the computer to boot fron cd (with the xp cd in the drive) do an install you will be asked if you want to install or repair, hit install, at the second install or repair prompt hit repair, both ways sfc or repair from cd will repair your file system without losing data. (You DO have the XP cd right? :D)

Sgt Badger
(will be promoted to Lieutenant) :P.

Hi Jaime.

Regarding antivirus programs....
Most a/v programs have a scanner and a monitor.
The monitor should alert you to suspicious activity such as a virus or sometimes a trojan.

As far as the best a/v program available.
I have tried more than a few myself and I came to the conclusion that none of the programs were perfect.

I have learned some lessons the hard way.
*One very important task that you should do often is update whatever a/v program you decide to use.Some a/v's update daily.I would check daily.

There are so many a/v programs available and so many choices that are good.
If you want some information that I use when I check out an a/v program, go to CheckMark labs and see who has level 1 certification for detection and also Level 2 Certification for cleaning viruses.
CheckMark tests and certifies a/v programs.
It's a place to start anyway.

The address is http://www.check-mark.com or do a Google search for CheckMark labs.

Hope this helps ya.
JB.

Hello Jaime,
As the 22th poster here I think you got a scoop of answer to your question, so I don't feel maybe necessary to add one more lmao...
AV Norton 2003 is an excellent product known all over the world as a well made product with a staff of professional technicians runing 24h/24h to find, analyse and answer as soon as possible to the world betrayal fight against viruses spreads.
Of course no product in the world is 100% perfect, we are not in paradise....
Any users find the correct product for the correct use, and as long as you are satisfied, I would say "mission is a accomplished"
Since I use Norton 2003, I was before with Panda, I got only two virus files in 5 years automatically detected and erased....
I like Norton because of the fact this product has the most recent detection for virus which become more and more performant, as for exemple polymorphe's ones, virus which change their signatures and files contents from a computer to another one to be undetectable..not easy to hunt this particular ones ...
In another way, I use as well this excellent product nobody mentioned here specialised against trojans, another betrayal very destroying: Trojan Remover
This program is the only one in the world to perform two scan together, one after the other one, first to detect in memory if a trojan exists, then to scan all partition of a hard drive to detect where are hidden worms related into memory. Only program which don't destroy the worm but neutralize it by changing name and links in order to keep your computer still alive after attacks (some trojans destroy very important files as Win.ini if detected in order to kill your computer completly). And all of that automatically without any particular knowledge where you will be invited manually to wipe files.
Trojan Remover is something....It has to be said !!!

Hi , guys i came across this website looking for a solution for a virus problem , and you wont believe it but i have that very same virus.

Trojan horse Downloader.Dyfica.G and my computer used to always not let me on some sites the windows of the website would go blue as soon as clicked on and then the computer would have crashed i ran avg and i thought it solved it coz it got rid of 5 trojans and another virus but the thing is the lue thing doesnt happen too much now but it does sometimes also i cant go on to my website to change things on it anymore coz it wont let me on. I use AOL and Easydesigner to work my website. Even when on MSN i cant change anything on my website but i do get a step further , as in i get onto my webpage but when i try to type it wont let me. I dont have a clue what to do now please help.