getting feedback that my pc is sending out emails without my knowledge. think it must be some infection. pls advice how can i identify and remove it. using win 2000

First you gotta detemine what virus your system is infected with. Once it's known, then there will be specific fixes to remove it. Just do a search using the virus name... you will see several sites having the specific fix.

Surely you are using a good quality anti-virus software like Norton, McAfee, or AVG (to name a few). If not then you should get one and never browse the internet without it running for protection from this kind of garbage.

Viruses and spyware are 2 major concerns when browsing the internet. I use both anti-vurus software and anti-spyware software. Programs like SpyHunter, AdAware, HiJack This, & SpyBot are amonst the front runners in anti spyware/adware software. All can be found on the internet... some are free and some require payment so use your choice... AdAware 6.0 is free and I personally consider it one of the best in fighting this war. All these programs can be found by using a common seach engine using the program name as the keyword.

Also, you should contact everyone in your email address book and tell them to check their pc for possible virus infection (which most likely came from your pc). This happens to thousands of pc/internet users daily.....

apart from using programs to identify the virus, is here another way we can do it yourself and identify the majors kinds virus. i know it could be a bit lengthy but hope u don not mind.

tks

I suppose you could if... You knew program code and had the ability to recognize virus in the coding and also if you had mental telepathy/xray vision that allowed you to see it before an attack. Another method (but not quite as effective) would be to note drastic changes in the way your system works... slower system speed, weird things happening (especially when you go online), nasty emails from folks you don't even know accusing you of sending them virus infected emails, etc. are all indications of possible/likely virus infections in your system.

Aside from that, AV software provides the "spot & intercept technique" automatically and much faster than the eye of a well trained coder could and most of the time long before it has a chance to do serious harm. My suggestion is to be safe/be smart and get the av software and make sure you update it regularly. Same suggestion applies to spyware software as well.

Here's a pretty informative site for virus identification...
http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html

noted and many thanks

Go to http://www.trendmicro.com and run their free virus scan to find and clean any virus from your computer.

Just because you have received returned mail that you have not sent, or a bounced email from a server stating that you have sent a virus to that address, is not a definitive indication that your computer is infected by a virus. Actually, if you are encountering these types of occurrences, it is more likely than not that your computer is not the one sending the emails.

Today’s more effective viruses are much smarter than their predecessors; they setup their own SMTP (out going mail) server on the host computer, and select an email address to send to as well as an email address to show as the address sent from (in other words the virus was sent form a computer FAKING that it was your address sent from). The virus does this to avoid detection on the host computer. The addresses are usually acquired from the host computer either from their contact list and/or temporary Internet files.

On the same note if you are not currently using a virus scanner or firewall then it is advisable to look into the acquisition of one post hast.
To find out if you have a virus you can use one of many free online virus scan utilities. Just perform a search for “free online virus scan”.

Or try this one:

http://security.symantec.com/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym

Trendmicro as previously posted also works very well but the company is not as well known as the one I have listed above which is Symantec best known for Norton AntiVirus.

Different scans may find different viruses so if you want feel free to use more than one (they are free). If you are infected the best thing to do is format, reinstall windows, and use virus protection from day one. Otherwise your taking a chance even if you remove the viruses found it is possible and likely that there are more that were not recognized.

For users of any Windows Server Operating Systems: The online scan may work (not sure) but Norton AntiVirus is for workstation platforms only, as far as I know. I am currently looking into finding good CHEEP server virus protection myself. If you know of any please email me.

Good luck.

Dan Ferguson
Software Engineering student at Quebec, Canada.
noemailaddresses@allowed.com (PLEASE take out “,,,,“ between @ and g before sending)

Go to http://www.trendmicro.com and run their free virus scan to find and clean any virus from your computer.