I had files in my C:\Windows directory called brazil.pif, wininit.exe and alevir.exe (and some ohther related files), but i followed instructions from the Internet to remove these viruses. But after I had removed wininit.exe, my computer won't start: it doesn't even give the message "Starting Windows 98...", it goes straight away to "you may now shut your computer" (or whatever it says in English). What is this virus? I've never heard of this behavior! What can I do? I'm writing this on a computer that was in LAN with the one that got infected, and this one too has the wininit.exe in C:\windows but I don't know what I should do with it?

OLAVI, I have some very bad news for you. You have one of the worst worm infections that is going around called OPASERV. You can use the search at the top of this page in the security forum for OPASERV. There are several forums on how to resolve this. A forum helper Brad Peterson has worked really hard to give everyone the best way to solve thsi multiphased worm repair. If you need his help, just make a post for assistance from him. All the major antivirus companies Trend Micro, Symantec, Macafee, Panda all have detailed removal instructions at their websites. You will see that it is very complex and requires some very exact detailed steps to follow. You need to disable and isolate each networked computer and delete the shared printers files, anyway you will be very busy cleaning this out. Make sure you monitor your firewall activity, and use it to deny access for this worm. Take care and all the best!

Wininit IS supposed to be in \Windows. The virus installs itself in \Windows\System. That is the one that is to be removed. Restore the file from your windows CD.