Hatrack River Forum: HELP ME!

This is topic HELP ME! in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :

I'm a bit in panic mode. I have a brandy-spankin' new notebook that I want to keep that way. I've only had it a month.

Well, I open up my e-mail today, and I have a few messages from what I think is the University of Wisconsin (wisc.edu, in some of the addresses). I have a friend who just transfered there, but none of the addresses indicated it was from her. Moreover, most of these had attachments, which i deleted.

But this is what really freaks me out. I have a return mail message from AOL (my server is Earthlink), and it says that the e-mail I tried to send to some address I never heard of didn't work at quarter after midnight didn't go through.

Well, as said before, I didn't know the address and I wasn't online at quarter after midnight.

I had my aol account broken into before and I ended up losing the screenname because the hacker used it to access something illegal. I had opened my account at school before and that's how I think it got stolen.

I've never accessed my account anywhere other than this computer.

If someone could tell me what they think is going on I would greatly appreciate it,, cuz I'm computer illiterate.

Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :

My virus protection notified me this morning that there is a new mass mailing worm that is a high risk for users.

It's possible you've been infected with it - do you have an antivirus program running?

Posted by Dr. Seuss (Member # 2487) on :

Most likely you have a virus. A very large amount are spreading via email this morning/last night. I would higly recomend you go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/ and get it cleaned up.

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

Starla didn't read my post yesterday about MYDoom.. [Wink]

Hope everyone is updating virus dat files against this -- it is truly a bear. We've had 150 calls in the first hour of work this morning (that is usually more than we have in an entire day) as I help people get dat files updated, and make sure their systems are clean.

FG

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Most likely you do not have a virus, though updating your definitions and running some scans wouldn't hurt.

Someone who has you in their addressbook has a virus, and your email has gotten used as a return address. This is very common, results in you receiving bounced email messages, and in no way indicates you have a virus.

Posted by Dr. Seuss (Member # 2487) on :

Fugu, you are right about the bounces. But seeing as she has been receiving them, and does not have an antivirus solution in place(which is why she is receiving them) It would be very wise for her to do some checking.

Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :

I have McAfee Firewall, though it's only a 60-day temp. I was looking into Norton AntiVirus, but someone suggested a free one that I can't remember the name of.

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Oh, definitely.

You should also make sure you go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and download all critical updates.

Posted by K.A.M.A. (Member # 6045) on :

Child, you almost gave me a heart attack.

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

It could possibly be a "trojan" virus. (sends e-mails to lots of people from your address)
I had one of those get into my e-mail account, and I had to just make a new one.

[ January 27, 2004, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Eruve Nandiriel ]

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Starla, as has been said earlier, it's highly unlikely that you have a virus. There's a virus going around right now -- which only absolute, total, and completely clueless idiots will catch - that spoofs the sender using names and addresses in the affected person's address book (which is pretty common). This results in people who are not affected receiving automated E-mails telling them they have viruses (which is why most professional e-mail admins now turn these messages off on the server side, because they're now more harmful than helpful), and also receiving E-mails from people they may or may not know which contain the virus.

If you've been really silly and opened an attachment recently, you may be infected. Otherwise, don't sweat it.

Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :

Nope. Deleted everything I didn't know. ESPECIALLY the attachements.

Well, thanks for everyone's help. I had a virus scan and went to microsoft.

My poor friend in Wisconsin may have it...

Eruve---that's also what happened when my e-mail got stolen--the family computer got the trojan virus and really screwed it up big time.

I got blamed for it, even though I don't open attachments and am wary of most e-mails. It was probably my mother, but I get blamed for everything, so what's the difference.

I hafta go to school.

Thanks for helpin' me out, everyone! [Smile]

Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :

For the sense of anti-virus software and firewalls, you can use AVG Anti-Virus which is free (it requires regestration, but that's it), which is quick and up to date, and for a firewall I recommend either using ZoneAlarm or Sygate Personal Firewall (which is what I use, personal preference), yet again, both products are free.
And to repeat what the others have said, you probably didn't actually get a virus, but it's good to be safe for next time. Good Luck!
Satyagraha

[ January 27, 2004, 12:06 PM: Message edited by: BYuCnslr ]

Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :

Thanks---that was the one I was told about, but forgot it's name.

I think I may have a nuisance worm---my web homepage gets changed without me changing it, my favorites get some unsavory additives that I delete and come back when I log on the next time.

I'll do a scan tonight when I get offline.

Thanks again, everybody. [Hat]

Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :

Sounds like adware to me.

Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :

???Adware??? [Confused]

What's that?

Posted by Liquor and Fireworks (Member # 5785) on :

I used AVG on my old computer, I actually kind of liked it, it didn't make me use internet explorer and login to an account to update, I would recommend it if you don't want to buy an antivirus program.
As for firewalls, get Zonealarm, as it is more secure than sygate (which failed the tooleaky test IIRC) and easy to use.
Also download Spybot Search & Destroy and SpywareBlaster to keep any adware or spyware from getting on your computer.
As for the home page/bookmark thing, just switch browsers to mozilla , it doesn't take crap like that.
If you need help using these you can ask for it here, and I'll try to help.

Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :

There's also Ad-Aware, though I use Spybot.

Posted by Liquor and Fireworks (Member # 5785) on :

Ad-Aware has a prettier interface, but is slower and not quite as good as spybot(based on personal experience and reviews). It's probably better for computer illiterate people, but spybot is by no means hard to use, just click on internet update, download latest definitions, and click on check for problems.