Help! Virus Threat!

[Escapefromwhatever]

Ok, I know this is probably nothing, but I'm freaking out a little bit, and I need your help. I was on Omegle, started a chat with somebody, and we both said hi. He asked "asl," which I later found out means information about me, but at the time I responded, "asl?" He then disconnected from the chat, and a minute later Norton popped up saying it had found "Bloodhound.196" on my computer and couldn't do anything about it other than "restricting access to the file." I know Norton often pops up with flase alarms, naming quite a few of them "Bloodhound," but I was wondering if you guys had any advice for me to make sure I am virus free? I already ran a quick scan using Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Remover, and am in the middle of a full scan, and so far everything looks okay, but I just need some reassurance and advice on how to adress this situation.

Also, can Omegle or people on Omegle give me viruses? If so, I'm staying away from that site.

 

[Lyiat]

Heh. I used to get that warning all the time. You run XP, right?

The thing about Bloodhound is that it can be a -very- serious problem... if you actually have it. Most of the time, it turns out to be a corruption in your internet data cache. Clear it and check again.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Heh. I used to get that warning all the time. You run XP, right?

The thing about Bloodhound is that it can be a -very- serious problem... if you actually have it. Most of the time, it turns out to be a corruption in your internet data cache. Clear it and check again.

I feel a little embarrased asking, but how exactly do I do that? Do I just delete temporary internet files and cookies?

EDIT- Yes, I run XP.

 

[Lyiat]

Pretty much. Even if its still there, I wouldn't worry too much. Norton detects that virus all the time for no apparent reason. Now, if files start to go missing off your computer, then I would start to worry about it.

 

[teisjm]

To quite the master of awesomeness Weird Al yankovic, here's the damage controll you need

If you get infected, you'll wish you had never been born
So before it e-mails your grandmother all of your Porn
Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down
Drop it in a 43-foot hole in the ground
Bury it completely, rocks and boulders should be fine
Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online

 

[Lyiat]

To quite the master of awesomeness Weird Al yankovic, here's the damage controll you need

If you get infected, you'll wish you had never been born
So before it e-mails your grandmother all of your Porn
Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down
Drop it in a 43-foot hole in the ground
Bury it completely, rocks and boulders should be fine
Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online

And you... your really not helping at all.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

To quite the master of awesomeness Weird Al yankovic, here's the damage controll you need

If you get infected, you'll wish you had never been born
So before it e-mails your grandmother all of your Porn
Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down
Drop it in a 43-foot hole in the ground
Bury it completely, rocks and boulders should be fine
Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online

And you... your really not helping at all.

Yup. But thank you for being so helpful. I hope you don't mind if I send you a friend request.

 

[teisjm]

To quite the master of awesomeness Weird Al yankovic, here's the damage controll you need

If you get infected, you'll wish you had never been born
So before it e-mails your grandmother all of your Porn
Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down
Drop it in a 43-foot hole in the ground
Bury it completely, rocks and boulders should be fine
Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online

And you... your really not helping at all.

Yup. But thank you for being so helpful. I hope you don't mind if I send you a friend request.

Srry couldn't help it. just a little humor, laughter is the best medicin.

If you're really afraid of what you might've gotten heres an idea
I know this is not the most used tec for staying virus free, but it's not a joke
Backup all your important files (usually music, vids , pics and save games) on another drive. Then format your harddrive and reinstall everything.
Once everything is re-instaled you take a ghost image and burn it down on a disc. Then you'll have a clean image ready if anything nasty should come up again.
I know it's a bit of an extreme solution, but once you have the ghost image it'll be a lot easier next time around. The bonus of this solution is that it's gonna work no matetr what kind of nasty things you've gotten, unless it has infected the aforementioned important files

One of my friends actually does/did this so se doesn't have to use anti-virus software at all.

If not i't has usually always been doable to find a solution on google, seeing as almost nobody is the firts to encounter any problm, and there's many boards out specifically made for virus problems, which may give you an answer faster.

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Once everything is re-instaled you take a ghost image and burn it down on a disc. Then you'll have a clean image ready if anything nasty should come up again.

Mind me asking, what is a ghost image, and how do you make one? Is it sorta like an .iso?

 

[teisjm]

It's like a backup copy of your harddisc, a sort of saved game for your harddisc.
Haven't used it myself, so i don't know how to do it, or how hard it is, but a quick search on google gave me this link which may be usefull (this one is actually a norton, but theres several others out there i you want em) http://randsco.com/index.php/2009/01/09/p619

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Uninstall Norton and get AVG home. If that can't remove the virus you'll have to back everything up and format.

 

[iJosh]

Yea, It's mostly the internet cache. It usually happens when its over cluttered.

 

[Lyiat]

Clearly no one bothers to read the thread... The problem was Bloodhound. It is almost ALWAYS a false positive. Read the thread before posting advice, please.

 

[burninjack4l]

I've had a lot of non-tech suave friends ask for help with their computer, a lot of times I end up going over, and physically helping them, or using logmein for friends out of state at college... But, there's a basic set of programs you should get when your computer is really in the pits.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

http://www.avast.com/

Both free, both extremely effective, and most importantly, malware free. I can't even begin to tell you how many people, daily, end up doing more harm than good to their computer's when they try and fix a problem, which may or may not exist.
They're extremely user-friendly, and can take care of a lot of problems.
They're not magic, but, they really help maintain a working rig.

Hope that helps a bit.


Note: I'd recommend replacing Norton with Avast, or simply sticking with Norton, (obviously) do not install both of them, they will not like each other.

++ If you run norton full time, just use Spybot's search and destroy feature, don't allow/activate any of the full-time watch, this will also cause conflict between it and Norton

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Thanks for all the help everybody! My computer seems to be in the clear right now. I know that Norton can be a pain sometimes, but this is a family computer, so I really can't do anything as drastic as changing firewalls. Later, when I'm dealing with my own computer, it'll be a different story