Computer Viruses - No Joke!!

Very recently ....
I received > four < letters from folks warning me ... and at the same time, apologizing for possibly contaminating my comp. system with a virus called jdbgmgr.exe.

Is that the same one that you found Cass???

Now the part about all of this that just makes me absolutely insane is that at this point in time ....
I e-mail with a total of three people, and only one of those on a regular basis!!!
Of the four warnings that I received ....
Only One of the four people are Known to me at all!!!!

My first thought is .... > THAT’S what comes from “forwarding” e-mail!!!! <
And it’s my absolute BIGGEST Pet Peeve!
In fact ...
Normally if I receive a forward from anyone ... no matter how tempted I am to read it ... I simply delete it!!!

I remember only to well how last year, when I was in still in Oz ... my system picked up a really nasty virus!!
It mailed bits of my saved MSN conversations to Everyone in my address book!!!
It was a nightmare!!!
And now it looks as though I have another Virus!!!
Sooooooooooo ..... for now ...
Anyone who recieves an e-mail from me ... DELETE IT!!
And as always ... I highly recomend that if you get an e-mail from anyone that looks the least tiny bit sus ... DELETE IT!!!

~ sighs ~ .... well I’m taking my entire tower to the Computer doctor tomorrow.
I’ll let take care of what ever needs doing.

But here’s a question for all of you ....
In this day and age ...
When None of the current virus software seem to detect some of these nastier
viruses ....
Is There Any Thing That We Can Do To Protect Our Systems From The Virus Dangers That Seem To Be Lurking “On Line” ... Every Where We Go!!!!

What do all of you do to protect yourselves???
Any and all advice will be appreciated I’m sure!!

Thank you!!

In all honesty dove no there is not alot you can do.

Other than keep your anti-virus updated with the most recent patches.

Alot of people suggest you use a firewall but they are only really effective if you are being singled out and attacked which is unlikely.

Personally i dont bother with an extra firewall, i just let the one within xp run, but for my last virus the blaster worm it may as well not been there.
Seeing as though that was designed to impregnate the massive security hole in xp all you had to do was visit an infected site and it walked in.
Fortunately even though i have only owned computers for a couple of years i know what im doing so i removed the worm and patched xp so it could'nt come back.
Most virus'es come as executable files, which im sure you know so need to be opened or run.

Although i know how dilligent you are about your email you need to be even more so.
Same as downloading files of any description.....anything ending .exe has the potential to be a virus.

MP3's however are safe as its very rare they are infected.

As a rule of thumb when ever im getting anything from say kazaa(the main virus distribution centre on the planet) i check a few things.....

If im looking for a program eg paintshoppro.....i know its gonna be about 53000kb

some files will say its psp but be about 78kb.....thats a virus and no mistake.

whenever i d/l anything im unsure about i run it through norton first.

Plus like you i have few contacts that mail me to my inbox, most go to junk and they are all deleted and never opened.....and i never ever fwd mail.

The most important thing i find is to make your virus software is bang up to date, and i recieve updates daily although i did have a virus which disabled the ability to d/l new virus patterns, and i eventually ended up with over a 1000 virus'es......all the same virus but it had infected that many files.......

that ended in a format.

Having used norton, pc-cillin, and mcaffee i tend to sway towards norton finding it the most reliable viral tool.

I mean look at mcaffee...it's spose to scan email....yet so much gets through it's scarey.

Many viruses i have had have not been malicious in the respect of system harm, theres only a few like chernobyl but all viruses are a pain and result in the average computer user fueling the pockets of comp techs.

The only way round this is to learn how to remove them yourself.

You will never stop viruses from getting in to your comp but you can learn how to deal with them once they are there and there are plenty of sites like nortons who run you through the step by step removal of viruses....it's how i taught myself.

Good luck dove

Love to (((you))) and ((yours))

To ease your mind a little bit Dove.. jdbgmgr.exe is a hoax virus.. it's not real.

anyone who ever EVER receives a virus warning email needs to check into it before falling for the hoax, and then forwarding the 'hoax warning' on to all your contacts. If you fall for the hoax and delete a file that your computer is SUPOSE to have, then your computer could be worse off then if it actually had a virus.

Go to this site and bookmark it... save it to your favorites.

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html

This company is top rated and will list all the hoax virus's out there... jdbgmgr.exe is one that is listed.

The only real virus threat out there at the moment is the WORM virus. If you receive an email from someone you know but see that it is written to someone other then yourself...that could be the worm. Cos it attatches itself to bits and peices of emails that have previously been sent..then it sends them out to all your contacts.

There ya go
I REST MY CASE

This must be total irony but the very same day i answer a post on virus'es i get the worst one i have ever had.

i got a lovely boot sector virus which destroyed the boot record and even the boot fixing tools in dos like fixmbr(fix master boot record) would'nt work.

So i have a nice new harddrive waiting for the next infection, which was'nt long in coming as this is the 2nd time i have tried to post here today.

The first time i tried i got the blaster worm and it shut me down,so i had to remove that that and come back........so no matter how much you think you know , no matter how good you are at removing and understanding them....you cant stop them if you plan to use the net....its an occupational hazzard.

Hello Folks,

ok about your virus, try this page babe see if it helps it might takea wee while to run depending on the size of your harddrive and the amount of stuff you have on it. use it prety regular and it seems to do the trick. Ive not had a virus problem for about 2 yrs now.not even your last e-mail one got through. so it must be doing the job.

www.trend.com

its a company called trend micro, the make the anti virus software for pc cillin. just click for a free 'house call', Choose your country area and let it do the rest. it usually clears mine in about an hour.
but i havea pretty slow dial up connection, well you know us country bumpkins Dove, we have to rub 2 sticks together to get a connection lol. If you got probs there Dove, flash the Bat light in the sky babe and i'll tell you what to do

well take care for now. and i hope that medication works. let me know how you get on.

bye

Doctor John xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dearest Orakal ....

Concerning viruses ......
I swear what you’ve written here was some of the best reassuring info. I’ve Ever Received on the subject!!

Thank you so much for taking the time.
(((((((You)))))))

Silly as this may seem to some ...
This whole virus thing is emotionally devastating to me!!

I honestly don’t understand them at All!!!
Don’t know where they come from, or understand what they do, or how they effect the performance of my computer ... and to just FIND Them suddenly THERE!!!!
Well it makes me tear my hair!!!

And as you mentioned ....
Yes!!!
I try so hard to be Extra careful with my e-mail, and I know I drive all my friends insane with my diligence as far as fwd.s are concerned.
It’s just the only thing that I really know to do, to try and protect my system from all these horrid viruses!!!

Thanks again for your information O ...
It was a very nice bit of reassurance.

Char .....
I Just can’t believe it Sweetpea!!!

~ muttering colourful, ugly things here ~
I mean ....For pity sake!!!

I’m having the worst time here trying to comprehend “hoax” viruses!!!

Isn’t it bad enough we have to constantly guard against the Real Thing ... Without also having to deal with someone sending a message that tells us, we have a virus ... then walking us through the process to rid ourselves of said virus ... only to then find out that it’s all some kind of a sick joke!!!

There was No Real virus after all!!!
But now of course ... after carefully following the instructions ... you realize that you have just deleted some tremendously important part of your computer system!!!

What’s Wrong With The People Who Do That Kind Of Thing!!!

~ whispering ~
Yes Yes Merlin ....
You were right ... I shouldn’t have doubted you.
LOL ... what was I thinking???

~ wink ~

You and Char are like a having a stereo playing the same tune!!!
Each one a speaker in my ear!!!

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeesh!!!

Ohhhhh Orakal .....
Darn It!!!

That’s terrible!!!
I’m so sorry!!!
But at least you know what to do about all of that stuff.

and your words here >>> ... so no matter how much you think you know , no matter how good you are at removing and understanding them....you cant stop them if you plan to use the net....its an occupational hazard. .... <<<

Again O ... it made me feel a little better that even ppl who know about these things still have trouble.
Thanks for sharing all the info.

LOMFAOooOOOOooooo @ “Bat Light”

Hey There John!!!
Thanks for that addy for www.trend.com

It just so happens that Dr Sloth gave me that addy while I was in Oz last year.
But ..... ~ sighs ~ .....
Back here in the USA I have since “that” time gone through two computers, and I had lost that addy!!
Fortunately ...
Char still had it so a couple of nights before you posted it here in the Garden ... she got it for me and I managed to get all the worms and viruses cleaned out of my comp. system!!!

Whoooooo Hooooooo!!
Healthy Again!!!!
erm ... well ... I think I am anyway.
At least when I run the system check ... nothing shows up now.

Thank you for taking the time to post all the info here though.
And for anyone who’s never tried the “anti virus software - pc cillin”
It’s Really Wonderful Stuff!!!

Thanks again John!!!
And ... erm .... will shining the bat light in the sky be good for getting me Stathaven Toffee???
~ batting eyelashes imploringly at you ~
LOL

Hi Dove,
yeah I got the Bat light and yeah it works for toffee lol, its on its way babe. you should get it in the next couple of days with a bit of luck. Please let me know when you do, casue the mail is terrible up about here.
right im gone, catch you all soon

John xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx