When I started mIRC, my antivirus prog announced that aliases.ini contained the virus (worm) "IRC.Generic", and deleted it. I wonder how a virus, or even a worm, for an .ini file would work? I had no time to see the contents 'cause InnoculateIT (the av prog) deleted the file right away. Before all this, I formatted my C drive, but before that, I copied my important files to another drive (everything in one folder), including installed programs. I copied them back after reinstalling win, and mIRC seemed to work fine without reinstalling.

INI files do things when a program is started (INI = Initialization) or when the computer is booted. The info in an ini file will adjust settings / defaults which control various features of the PC or for a particular program. An INI virus could adjust settings for program (particlarly on-line related programs) which make it less secure (e.g. give others remote access to your machine when online, etc.) Go to any of the virus sites like Mcafee / Nortons / etc. and look in their virus info sections. They probably have a paragraph or 2 on your particular virus.

I agree with you A.H. I don't see an 'alias.ini' file containing a virus. I suspect it was a false indication.

I'd go run an online virus scan & see what it comes up with Good luck Panda Online Virus Scan http://www.pandasoftware.com/