A few days ago I had a request from a friend who suspected her computer was infected with a virus.
She had Symantec installed, and apparently up-to-date, I was curious, so I suggested she go to myNetWatchman to download this useful little utility and run it on her system before running the Symantec scan.
A couple of processes were flagged as being viruses so she ran Symantec and it also identified them, so it looks like myNetWatchman works as a scanning and identification tool.
- myNetWatchman needs a live internet connection as it uploads any unrecognised programs to their server for scanning.
- If you use Google Chrome you should copy the url into Internet Explorer or Firefox (my choice) – don’t ask me why, but in Google Chrome the page doesn’t update as the program completes each step.
My preference is for Avast AntiVirus – I haven’t had a virus on my computer yet, even though I am frequently required to insert other people’s memory-sticks in my laptop. Insert -> Scan -> Treat Infections -> Access Files.
She then rebooted and ran myNetWatchman again – and it came out clean.
So with an apparently clean system, I suggested she take some further steps to reduce the chance of future infections:
- Make sure her Windows installation is up-to-date by running Windows Update.
- Install Windows Defender.
- Disable autorun for removable media (coming soon in another post).
The above has worked for me on a number of occasions, but nothing is guaranteed and there are many people out there with more expertise than me – if in doubt go and Google for a second opinion.
