I've got a laptop that's got some kind of infection - i can see the damned thing sending something out like crazy and i suspect it's virus infected emails. How do i turn it off? turn off a port? a service?

 

There's not really a port you can turn off. What do you mean by see the damned thing sending? A lot of network activity? It's better to find out the source before just turning stuff off Gimme some more info, I'll help ya find it.

 

well, when nothing is running, the network activity icon shows lots of uploads. i even called my ISP and they said we were sending up a large amount of data which usually means a virus. everyone but this laptop has NAV, and being that NAV won't let me install on this laptop, i'm trying to figure out what is sending out these viruses (i'm assuming the outlook express services). of course these are logical deductions but i got a bunch of virus infected emails when i enable the connection on this stupid laptop.

any pointers? trying to figure out why NAV won't install now...

 

Well, if you close outlook express, it should stop the virus from sending stuff out. But sometimes it'll only look like it's closed. Are you running Windows XP? If you are, hit ctrl-alt-delete and then click Task Manager. See if outlook express is still running in there, and while you're at it, send me a screen capture of the list.

Is this the same laptop that is sharing an internet conxn with other computers?

 

i checked using Norton's online scan tool, so I've got about 100 files infected by Netskey and Beagle viruses.

I deleted the infected files, running the fixtool from norton, and we'll see if they work. thanks!

BTW, Outlook Express doesn't have to be on at all for these viruses, they use some kind of service on Windows to send out viruses

 

hey mingster--

do yourself a huge favor and download and install the following free software:
1) ZoneAlarm
2) SpyBot
3) Ad-aware

check download.com for the last two. run each of them fairly often.

set the ZoneAlarm settings to alert you for whenever a program tries to access the internet. if you aren't personally trying to access it, then you can block that program.

also you'll want to invest in a good anti-virus program and download the updates often. also, go to microsoft and download their security updates

for best results, wipe your hard drive and reinstall the OS. be careful when you backup your old documents and programs, as you might accidentally be backing up some viruses as well-- only to reinstall them on your freshly cleaned hard drive. a good scan of those files should work.

virus writers are getting extremely sophisticated and the intentions of many of them go well beyond benign-- some of them are designed to seek out financial and personal data on your hard drive and send it back to the virus writer. others sit and wait for you to input personal information into websites... and send off that data as well.

 

you know, i went back to grad school and got my MBA so i can get AWAY from tech support/desktop support/sys admin crap. but my company is so small, i have no choice but to do it. sucks

oh well.

Thanks everybody!

 

Yea but viruses that use outlook req. that it's loaded in memory.

Follow what tritium said, you'll be able to better pinpoint what's causing all of this mess. Make sure you keep your virus scanner updated!!