Dealing with a virus attack, Part 1

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Look carefully at the message your antivirus software gives you. A lot of people miss this part.

technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Dealing with a virus attack, Part 1: Don't panic and don't send warnings to your friends

Sept. 6, 2000

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, Al Fasoldt
Copyright ©2000, The Syracuse Newspapers

   What should you do if your PC has been hit by a virus? You probably know how your sister-in-law reacts or what your Uncle Marty does. They send out a billion e-mail messages to everyone they know warning recipients they might be receiving a virus. This, of course, just guarantees that everybody gets the virus.
   So get smart. A virus isn't the end of the world and it's no reason to panic. Follow these simple guidelines this week and next and you'll know how to deal with any computer virus infection. Before you do anything else, make sure your Windows PC is running an up-to-date antivirus program. There are many good ones to choose from. A good antivirus program is the only reliable way to know if your PC has been hit by a virus.
   The most important thing is to make sure you're not mistaking something else for a virus. If your computer locks up ó if you see a message on the screen telling you something has caused an illegal error and will be shut down ó that's just Windows talking to you. This happens now and then and there's nothing you can do about it. Just reboot.
   Sometimes Windows PCs show other errors. In nearly all cases, these are not caused by viruses.
   But what about a confirmed virus? Let's say your antivirus program pops up a warning that tells you it found a virus. If you have time, deal with it immediately. If you don't have time right then to fix it, write a note and tape it to the screen warning everyone to leave the computer alone.
   The next part is very important: Do not turn off the computer. You need to keep it running so you can deal with the problem. If you shut it off and you can't get it running again, you'll have a bigger problem.
   To get rid of the virus, look carefully at the message your antivirus software gives you. A lot of people miss this part. They see the main part of the message but don't read the rest of it.
   If the AV program tells you it found a virus and deleted it or got rid of it in some way, you don't need to do anything to your PC. If you can figure out where the virus came from, fine. If you can't, don't worry about it. Viruses usually enter Windows PCs through e-mail. Do yourself a favor and delete all the unnecessary mail that came in over the previous two or three days.
   But don't send a letter out to all your friends and relatives telling them you might have sent them a virus. This seems like a helpful thing to do, but many times it simply passes viruses along to other Windows users. If you want to warn them, send a message from another computer you know is safe ó the one at your office, for example, if your company allows you to send personal mail, or the one at school. Or call your friends to tell them.
   If the AV program simply reports that it found a virus but doesn't say anything else, the virus probably is still active. It's time to get rid of it. This can be easy to do or hard to do, based on how your antivirus software is designed. I'll tell you how to go about that next week, and I'll offer help for those times when you just plain have to reinstall things.