Damn Sasser Virus

[demonmagus]

Hi, I have the sasser virus, and I can't get rid of it (the one that shuts your computer down in 60 seconds), and I am hoping someone can help me

thanks

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

i had that a couple of year back it was called msblast and microsoft.com has the removal toolk and the patch to stop you getting it back ( i had it 10 times before i found that patch)

 

[nmonks]

Get a Mac or install Linux on your PC. No more viruses, spyware, adware, or anything else nasty, and problem solved!

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Fella]

http/www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data...moval.tool.html

First result on google for sasser virus, tips on removing it.

 

[demonmagus]

http/www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data...moval.tool.html

First result on google for sasser virus, tips on removing it.

I have tried that before and it doesn't work, it doesn't detect it so it isn't a case of the virus re-entering my system, also, migrating to linux isn't all that practical, but as you can see from my 'cheating apple' thread I am probably gonnna get a powerbook

 

[andywg]

Linux is great, so long as there is support for your system. I tried to move over but found there is no support for my motherboard's SATA driver, meaning I would not be able to touch my 200GB main hard drive.

I could re-configure the kernel to try and adapt a patch in, but I just don't fancy messing about that much with the bare bones of the system just to get it working properly.

 

[Flumpus]

I second a Mac or installing Linux...

 

[demonmagus]

lol, I know that mac is better for viruses but I can't spend £1000 upwards like that, I am probably getting a mac soon anyway, but i'm not gonna throw away this PC.

 

[nmonks]

You don't have to throw out anything. For £450 you can get a Mac Mini that re-uses your existing screen, keyboard, mouse, etc. Then you can upgrade your Windows PC to one running some form of Linux. Maybe leave a partition on the hard drive for Win XP so that you have that option, too. Best of all possible worlds!

Cheers,

Neale

lol, I know that mac is better for viruses but I can't spend £1000 upwards like that, I am probably getting a mac soon anyway, but i'm not gonna throw away this PC.

 

[demonmagus]

yes, but I love gaming, and we all know a mac isn't for gaming

 

[Bloo]

Failing removal, you can always just get a new harddrive and re-install.

 

[smurfyy_2k3]

Failing removal, you can always just get a new harddrive and re-install.

hehe the worst job in the world it should be easy enough to remove tbh if you can locate where its stashed itself just delete the file heres the removal tool http/www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data...moval.tool.html

 

[nmonks]

Not a problem. Partition the drive, then use Apple's BootCamp utility to install Windows XP. Run Mac OS X for work and the Internet (look Ma, no viruses!) and reboot to XP if you need to play your shoot 'em up of choice.

Incidentally, all the 20 top-selling PC games have also been sold on the Mac. The issue isn't so much the range (which is limited, I admit) but that they are often sold relatively late (3-12 months) after the PC release and you won't see Mac games for sale in your PC World or WalMart type emporia. They're certainly out there, but every Mac gamer I know (including myself) buys games mail order where the prices are better and the choice far wider.

Cheers,

Neale

yes, but I love gaming, and we all know a mac isn't for gaming

 

[smithrc]

anyone actually going to try and suggest something to do with removing the actual virus?

I dont buy a new car when I get a problem... I fix the problem...

 

[nmonks]

OK, I accept we are being a bit cute...

Can we assume you have up-do-date backups? If this is so (and by God it should be if you're using Windows) then simply reformat the hard drive and re-install Windows (preferable a version with SP2, but failing that get someone to download the Network installer of SP2 so you can update Windows without connecting to the Internet). Now reinstall your applications from the orginal CDs, and copy back your data from your backups. Then go out and buy some up-to-date virus protection software, and install it. Ditto for anti-adware, anti-spyware, etc. Finally, download and use Firefox, and cast MS Internet Explorer into the outer darkness it so richly deserves. Well, maybe leave it on the hard drive, for those MSIE-only sites like bloody Microsoft's support and updater pages.

Easy as pie.

I learned long ago that any computer problem that cannot be solved within an hour is usually best solved by reformatting the hard drive and then restoring from my backups.

If you don't have backups, then things become more complex. Do you have the option of booting up from another device, say an external hard drive? Or an iPod? The best thing would be to do that, copy across anything you haven't backed up (documents and whatnot) and _then_ erase the hard drive.

Possibly there is some anti-virus software that will do the trick. You should have at least one anti-virus program in the CD bundle that came with your PC. But again, your problem is running the PC for long enough for you to be able to run that program. Again, you really want to boot from an external drive.

At least with my Macs, I make a point to have a plug-and-play external device (i.e., an iPod) onto which I have system software and repair utilities. That way, if something goes wrong, I can at least boot up the machine and start some basic repairs. Ultimately though, your only real strategy is to rely on backups, so that when things do go pear-shaped, it doesn't matter (much).

Anyway, if your car was as unreliable as a Windows PC, you would have taken it back to the dealer a long time ago. Can you imagine a car that crashed once a week? Got damaged by things it picked up invisibly along the roads it was designed to drive on? That required you to upgrade the engine every year just to stop the thing exploding in your face? That allowed nefarious people you couldn't see to suddenly take control of the steering wheel and gear-stick? We're a lot more tolerant of design flaws in computers than we are with cars, and we shouldn't be.

Cheers,

Neale