Altered Reality
01-26-2009, 12:29 PM
So far I used NOD32, but now I want to use something free. Considering that I use Windows XP Home with SP2, what do you suggest?
Also, I wanted to know: can a virus mess up system files (like EXPLORER.EXE) so that they appear to be working normally, but they are actually infected beyond repair? I'm asking this because this is what (apparently) happened to my uncle. He uses Windows 2000, I don't remember if the OS was updated to SP2 or SP4. Anyway, he is a total n00b regarding computers, so he got a virus the first time he connected to the internet, which caused random popups (mainly related to porn and gambling) to appear during web surfing, and a general slowdown. I installed the latest version of Avast to try and fix this, I ran Windows 2000 in safe mode and launched a scan with Avast. Avast immediately found the memory to be infected, with a huge number of system files infected with Win32/Virut, all impossible to repair. I formatted his computer and reinstalled Windows 2000. Did the virus actually fux0r up all those files, or were they false positives found by Avast?
Also, I wanted to know: can a virus mess up system files (like EXPLORER.EXE) so that they appear to be working normally, but they are actually infected beyond repair? I'm asking this because this is what (apparently) happened to my uncle. He uses Windows 2000, I don't remember if the OS was updated to SP2 or SP4. Anyway, he is a total n00b regarding computers, so he got a virus the first time he connected to the internet, which caused random popups (mainly related to porn and gambling) to appear during web surfing, and a general slowdown. I installed the latest version of Avast to try and fix this, I ran Windows 2000 in safe mode and launched a scan with Avast. Avast immediately found the memory to be infected, with a huge number of system files infected with Win32/Virut, all impossible to repair. I formatted his computer and reinstalled Windows 2000. Did the virus actually fux0r up all those files, or were they false positives found by Avast?