December 2005
Eliminating
Detected Viruses
and Threats after Disinfecting
a Computer |
Sometimes you may find that once you have eliminated viruses and other threats on your computer, the antivirus will continually detect those same threats in the _restore folder without being able to eliminate it. This may worry many of you because you may feel the virus cannot be destroyed.
When malware is detected in
this restore folder, it does
not mean the computer is still
infected. |
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As a matter of fact, this
situation is created
particularly by computers
that have Windows XP
operating system. If system
settings are accidentally
modified, Windows XP offers
their users the possibility
of restoring the system
automatically or recovering
eliminated files. It is for
this same reason that
Windows XP keeps all the
eliminated or modified
elements inside its hidden
directory, called
_restore. This folder
is protected so that content
within it cannot be
manipulated by anybody or
anything.
The only problem with this
feature is that even though
it may prove beneficial at
times, when the antivirus
performs a new scan, it will
continue to detect these
threats and/or viruses
again, as they have been
stored in the _restore
folder. The scan is not
able to eliminate these from
detection as they are in the
_restore folder which
is protected by the
operating system, thus out
of reach.
What can be done to
eliminate these viruses and
threats from the restore
folder?
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1. |
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Log on as the
Administrator or with
the details of the
user with
administrator rights. |
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2. |
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Click with the right
button on the mouse on
My Computer. |
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3. |
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Select Properties. |
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4. |
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Click System Restore. |
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5. |
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Check the Turn off
System Restore or Turn
off System Restore on
all drives checkbox. |
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6. |
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Click Apply and then
OK. |
Lastly, if you want to
reactivate the System
Restore option, perform the
following:
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1. |
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Click with the right
button on the mouse on
My Computer. |
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2. |
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Select Properties. |
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3. |
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Click System Restore. |
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4. |
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Disable the Turn off
System Restore or Turn
off System Restore on
all drives checkbox. |
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5. |
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Click Apply and then
OK. |
Once you have completed
these steps, please carry
out a full scan of your
computer using your
antivirus to ensure that it
has been correctly
disinfected. |
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What
do you do if you receive an
e-mail message from your bank
account saying that your check
account was overdrawn because
of a check you didn’t write?
Before you answer, it is very
important to realize that this
may be a false accusation and
could potentially be a good
chance that someone is trying
to scam you. If you encounter
such a situation, it is
possible someone is performing
a Phishing scam on you.
Here’s how it works -
The person who is initiating the
scam sends an e-mail to millions
of people. The message is
designed to appear to come from
a bank, Internet Service
Provider, online business
company or any other
organization or person that you
might have regular business
dealings with. The From header
on the message is spoofed, and
the message is designed to look
as official as possible in
attempt to gather as much as
information as possible from the
receiver.
The vast majority of people
ignore these messages because
sometimes the people who read
these emails may not even have
any business dealings with the
phony sender. However,
sometimes it is coincidental and
it happens to be a company you
generally deal with and catches
your attention.
What happens now, such a message
typically tries to lure you into
giving up information by
deceiving you with its proposed
solution for you. It might even
provide the company’s actual
address, phone number and URL
appearing to be a legitimate
email. They will attempt to
make the message look as
authentic as possible;
consequently, they will ask you
for an account number, PIN
number, social security number,
birth date or any information
that might be useful.
Legitimate companies will not
ask for this type of information
via e-mail. Once you have given
them your information, most of
these thieves are very capable
of cleaning out your bank
account with the information you
have provided or launching other
identity theft scams.
How can you avoid being a
victim? There are several steps
you can take in deciding whether
this is a phishing attack or
not. Always read e-mail
messages that are looking to
gather information several
times. Odds are that the
message will appear legitimate
and might even have the correct
information of the company it is
claiming to be from. However,
ask yourself some questions.
Are there any misspellings or
bad grammar within the message?
Does the company even have your
e-mail address on file? Is this
the first message that they have
sent you via email? If you have
any suspicions about the email,
then chances are it probably it
is legitimate.
The best thing to do is to call
the company that the e-mail is
claiming it’s from. However,
make sure that you do not use
any of the information that is
provided within that email. If
you are going to call, look the
number up in the phone book. It
is a lot safer this way. If you
want to check out the company’s
website, make sure you do so
manually. Do not click on a
link within the e-mail. Another
precautionary measure to take is
to review your bank statements
and credit card statements
regularly to make sure no one is
stealing money from you or
making purchases in your name.
Lastly, if you do receive spam
that is phishing for information
forward it to
spam@uce.gov
and report it to the bank,
company or organization that was
impersonated in the e-mail.
Also, if you believe you have
been scammed, file a complaint
with ftc.gov -
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
and then visit the following
website -
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
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What
is Google Base?
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Do you have information that
you would like to have hosted
for free on the internet?
Google has created a site
where you can have your
information hosted and made
searchable online - Google
Base. If Google finds the
items to be of value they may
place them in their other
sites. Please click on the
following links for more
information: |
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