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Questions tagged [virus]

A software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer.

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1258 questions
467
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18 answers

How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC?

What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware? What are the symptoms of an infection? What should I do after noticing an infection? What can I do to get rid of it? how to prevent from infection by…
Gnoupi
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124
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5 answers

Why does anti-virus software not delete the viruses, malware, etc., but instead quarantine them?

Why does anti-virus software not completely delete the viruses, malware, etc., but instead quarantine them? Is it not better to completely get rid of them? Why? And how can I manually remove them?
Sardar_Usama
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5 answers

Why the heck does NTFS allow invisible executables?

You can hide any file inside of another file just by typing: type sol.exe > container.txt:sol.exe and to run the file hidden file just use: start c:\hide\container.txt:sol.exe But the crazy part about this is it doesn't increase the size of the…
Kredns
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103
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23 answers

How can I make a Windows PC bullet-proof for home users?

I realize that virus-proof on a Windows PC is far fetched, but in the interest of keeping time spent as the "family-tech-support" to a minimum, I am looking for ideas to lock a computer down to the point that it is very hard to collect…
Andrew Garrison
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102
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16 answers

Can AVI files contain a virus?

I'm downloading an AVI file via a torrent, but my anti-virus detects something. Is it possible that the AVI file contains a virus? It is quite weird since the torrent has many positive reviews.
IMB
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60
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7 answers

My webcam just came on "out of the blue"

I have a Microsoft LifeCam HD sitting atop my monitor. Today, completely out of the blue, its light came on -- I was simply browsing the web (in Chrome) when it happened. After about 5 minutes the webcam turned off. Naturally, I immediately…
AngryHacker
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57
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4 answers

Is my host machine completely isolated from a virus-infected virtual machine?

If I am running a Windows 7 virtual machine on a Windows 7 host using VMWare or VirtualBox (or anything else) and the virtual machine is completely overloaded with viruses and other malicious software, should I worry about my host machine? If I have…
Diogo
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55
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8 answers

Can a virus from a VirtualBox VM affect the host computer?

Can a virus from a VirtualBox VM affect the host computer?
user3183
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39
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1 answer

Avast on macOS High Sierra claims it has caught the Windows-Only “Cryptonight” virus

Yesterday I ran a full system scan using my Avast antivirus software and it found a infection file. The file's location is : /private/var/db/uuidtext/7B/BC8EE8D09234D99DD8B85A99E46C64 Avast categorizes the infection file as : JS:Cryptonight…
Lonely Twinky
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35
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6 answers

Do all programs running in a computer show up in the processes tab in Task Manager?

The reason I am asking this is because I am curious if there can exist a virus in the computer without me ever being able to know it exists. To be more specific, a virus that emits no signs of any sort.
itzjustricky
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28
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4 answers

Console window keeps popping up

I keep seeing a console window pop up for a fraction of a second every couple of hours. Seems random, I can't pin it to any one particular event. Is there any way I can trap the window and see what it's doing? I'm on Win 10, latest updates, Norton.
Absinthe
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27
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12 answers

How can I explain what a computer virus is to people who are not familiar with computers and programming?

I have to teach a group of non-CS students what computer viruses are. The course material contains only definitions and some details about what those viruses do. But those things are known to everyone who knows what a computer is. I want to touch…
nixnotwin
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4 answers

Can a Chromebook be infected by a computer virus through a malicious website?

I am wondering if a Chromebook can receive a virus through a malicious website. I recently have heard they are immune to any sort of virus, but I am not sure that's true. Does somebody know if Chromebooks can be infected with a virus?
Compositr
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26
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4 answers

CMD prompt window pops up and instantly disappears periodically

Windows 10 - Every 10 minutes or so, a command line window flashes on my computer. I'm afraid I may have been infected by something. I've been staring at the Task Manager (and process explorer) for days, and can't narrow it down to what is causing…
boscher50
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24
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5 answers

Strange output from terminal `exit` command is this a virus?

I don't think that I have seen this before, but whenever I run exit in terminal I get a very strange output. This is what it looks like: logout Saving session... ...copying shared history... ...saving history...truncating history…
iProgram
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