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How can I remove a virus ?

Posted By : Ileen of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on February 5, 2003

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ive been infected with a virus.it disabled my virus scan before i could catch it.what can i do to remove it??

This question was answered on February 5, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


Prevent a virus infection or to recover from a virus, follow these steps:

Scan your computer with an updated antivirus program If you do not have an antivirus program installed, Trend Micro, Inc offers a free online virus scanning service at the following Trend Micro Web site: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.as

Install the latest security patches from the following Microsoft Web site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Reinstall your antivirus program (if it has stopped working)

Get the latest "virus signature file" from your antivirus vendor's Web site For each new virus, antivirus vendors issue updates as inoculants against new viruses

After the virus has been removed, scan your computer again to make sure that the virus has been removed completely.

Schedule your antivirus program to check your system while you sleep

You may have to format your computer's hard disk and reinstall Windows and all your computer programs if one or more of the following conditions are true:

Your antivirus software displays a message that it cannot fix or remove the virus.

The virus damaged or deleted some of the important files on your computer This may be the case if Windows or some of the programs do not start or they start with error messages indicating damaged or missing files

The symptoms described in this article persist even after you clean your workstation and you are sure the problems are caused by a virus.

Make sure that a firewall is installed on your computer For more information about security and firewalls, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/firewall.asp

For Windows XP-based computers, turn on Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) For more information about ICF, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/proddocs/hnw_enable_firewall.asp

For all other versions of Windows, install a third-party firewall For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/firewall.asp

Make sure the Microsoft Outlook E-mail Security Update is installed:

Outlook 2000 post-SP2 and Outlook XP SP1 include this security update by default.

Outlook 2000 pre-SR1 and Outlook 98 do not include this functionality, but you can obtain it by installing the Outlook E-mail Security Update For more information about the Outlook E-mail Security Update, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/2000/Out2ksec.aspx

Configure Outlook Express 6 to block access to virus attachments

Earlier versions of Outlook Express (pre-Outlook Express 6) do not contain attachment-blocking functionality Use extreme caution when you open unsolicited e-mail messages with attachments.

Disable Active Scripting in Outlook and Outlook Express

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Posted by Ileen of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on February 5, 2003

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