Genealogy Chat

I have had a Norton warning that my computer has been infected with' hda.exe Trojan Download' Norton System works ect. cannot remove it. I have tried Trojan remover, but it is still on my C drive and Norton warnings keep coming on saying that it can still detect it. I have searched the web, it seems I am not the only one to get it so far no one seems to know how to lose it. Maurice

I had this one in 5 places yesterday - avg7 reported it to me. I think it was actually called Downloader. avg7 put the infected files (downloaded by teenage son - do you have one in the house?) in the virus vault and then I deleted them. Why dont you go to grisoft.com and run the free avg7 to see if it can get rid of the trojan for you. I dumped my paid for mcafee two years back when I had several trojans and viruses that it either didnt detect or couldnt remove. avg7 found and removed them all. The other thing is, when you have deleted the infected files, go back and switch off your system restore and run the anti virus program through again as the trojans can apparently hide in the restore system. Remember to put the restore program back on afterwards.

Thank you Heather, I will try that, Regards Maurice

If you Google 'Downloader + virus' there is some information. The risk assessment to your computer is low, so the virus shoudn't cause any damage.

I had exactly the same one yesterday, but Norton had stopped and deleted it. A message came up telling me that it had done so. I have used Norton for years and it always seems to work for me. Nicky

We also had this wee 'Downloader' and used spy sweeper to get rid of it . The virus would block web pages saying this page is unavailable.Even after it was blocked we had to reset the computer back to before the downloader infected us.

Thank you all for the advice , I have a friend coming over in a couple of days who has a few more marbles than me when it comes to computers, I will let him read your comments, before we get the hammers out. I cannot detect any problems with the computer, since the virus hit on 23 Dec 05. Just annoying that I keep being warned of its presence by Norton and that Norton cannot stop it. regards Maurice

Hi Maurice, Have you updated your Nortons virus definitions or is your Norton set to update automatically? If your Norton is not up to date then it is practically useless. Or it may be that the scanning engine on your Norton is old and can't deal with this. Is your Norton new or old? The fact that you are calling it Norton System Works makes me uneasy. If you don't mind paying a bit of money there is a programme called A² that might remove your trojan. http://www(.)emsisoft(.)com/en/software/free/ You could try the FREE edition first and if that doesn't get rid of your trojan you could try the Personal Edition (have to pay for it) might get rid of it Cheers, Horatia

BRIAN - YOU WERE RIGHT I have just read that it can stop anti Virus Software from working. I have noticed that My Norton Antivirus (Little Yellow Flag) does not operate as a default when I start up any longer.Each time I turn on I have to reset it manually as it comes up with the red cross over it. Having reset it (and asked it to operate as a default) it is ok until I close down, but then it reverts back to Red Cross mode again. So I have learnt the reason for that now, thank you Maurice

OK, I have just looked up Norton System Works and they do have a 2006 version so it is still a modern product! I must have been thinking of my cousin. He has a version of Norton on his PC that dates from the year dot!!!! ;-) Cheers, Horatia

Free AVG 7. Go for it! Norton is not what it claims - just expensive and repetitive for about 3 months before sub renewal is due with constant reminder messages popping up.

What I love about avg7 is that every day it updates automatically. With my old paid for Mcaffees it seemed to be a couple of weeks before it updated itself. A couple of weeks is a long time in virus infection!

Now have added free trial AVG - thank you and it has removed several Trojans! One problem now is that I cannot receive emails via Microsoft Outlook. Would Norton antivirus interfere as it is still on my computer? Perhaps I should remove free trial AGV now it is done its work. Any advice? Maurice

Maurice, You are definitely NOTsupposed to have two Anti Virus programmes running - they will conflict with each other. Decide which one you want and then uninstall the other one. When you say you can't receive messages in Outlook do you mean Outlook Express or Outlook? They are two totally different programmes even though they are both Microsoft. Outlook comes with Microsoft Office and Outlook Express comes with Internet Explorer. Are you getting an error message? If so what does it say? Cheers, Horatia

Its probably because the avg7 also does a email scanner, and as Horatia said, there is a conflict. You could turn off avg7's email scanner if you want, but I think its precious and has saved me opening many a virus infected mail. It also scans your outgoing mails so you cant pass anything on. Try switching off your Nortons temporarily if you have decided to keep avg7 instead. Or just clear the avg7 program.. Im so pleased it sorted the trojans though. You can also get a free firewall at Zonealarm.

Dear all. I made an executive decision to uninstall the AVG, as it seemed logical to return to the original Norton set up that has worked in the past with no problems. Everything is now working properly on the Emails and the Norton is loading by default as it should. I am very grateful for the time and trouble you have all taken, I just hope that many other people out there have benefitted from your 'Expert' knowledge, on their behalf thank you. I am now left in the dilemma as to which is the best to continue with in the future. I have just paid (in Oct and Nov 05 £50+ to Symantic (Norton) for continued updates for 12 Months, so it seems a waste not to continue. Having said that, I am most impressed with your AVG answer. I think I will switch to that, if the problems come back. I hope someone from Norton is reading this. Regards Maurice

I had so many problems trying to renew Panda antivirus that it needed an engineer to sort it out. He put me on AVG and it's been brilliant since. I'm still getting emails from Panda but just delete them unopened. I am really impressed with AVG.

Maurice, Do you know how to update your Norton? Because as good as AVG is I can't believe that a fully updated Norton wouldn't have been able to prevent these infections. Do you have any spyware scanning programmes on your PC? If not you should. Happy to recommend some if you wish? Do you use Internet Explorer? If so, do you know how to configure it to prevent spyware installing? Do you frequent dodgy free music websites? Lots of nasty viruses and spyware can be picked up on these Peer to Peer File Sharing Programmes. Before blaming the software we use, it might be best to consider our computer savvy and if we are doing all we can to protect ourselves. Cheers, Horatia

I was recommended avg7 by a certified microsoft engineer when I lost my whole hard drive to a virus. I still put on the mcafees cos Id paid for it. When I started getting more probs someone on here suggested avg7 and thats when I dumped mcafee in favour of avg which is free anyway.

Hi Folks I'm back. Want to guess what the problem was? I had AVG7. It detected the little beast all right, but only deleted a copy. Downloader managed to put my boot sector out and although I now have my data back, I have lost three years worth of emails and my address book. Be afraid, be very afraid, and unlike me, do some backups!