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    Any point in using an antivirus when my computer's already infected before it detects it?

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by cathy, Jul 12, 2009.

  1. cathy

    cathy Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm using Avira Antivir Free Personal Edition, updated daily, and I do monthly scans on my computer. I'm also running on Windows XP Professional.

    Recently a virus was transmitted to my thumbdrive when I plugged it into my classmate's computer to transfer some files. A couple of hours later, Avira detected a virus from my thumbdrive and I deleted it off immediately. I did a full scan of my computer and my thumbdrive, and Avira reported that they were both clean.

    Things were fine until I rebooted my computer the next day. I wasn't able to get past my login screen any more. It would just freeze there, and I had to boot into safe mode to do a system restore before it would allow me to log in.

    So, the first thing I noticed is that my desktop wallpaper was gone, and there was some message about an active desktop recovery. No biggie since I've screen this screen a couple of times. The last few times I simply had to push the button to restore my desktop, but this time it kept giving me some IE script error whenever I tried to restore it.

    I attempted to do another virus scan again as a precaution, and then I realized...my entire Avira Antivir had just disappeared off my computer. It was still listed under 'Add/Remove' programs, the directory was still there, as well as a few .txt files, but the rest of it had just vanished. I had to re-download and re-install Avira again. After doing a quick scan, it said that my computer was clean of viruses.

    So, here's my question. How useful are antivirus softwares when the damage is already done by the time it detects it?
     
    cathy, Jul 12, 2009
    #1
  2. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    I've been through a similar experience as you can read here. Some virusses are nasty and can quite easily disable virsusscanners.

    The best way to prevent this is not running in an administrator account. I guess you were probably in administrator account. That is dangerous.
     
    Phil, Jul 12, 2009
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  3. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    No AV can be 100% secure. They are just as as good as their database (up to date per sé). As long as you can recover from infection then it is fine, and maybe time to try another one?

    I would not run my comps without one AV.

    cheers ...
     
    qhn, Jul 12, 2009
    #3
  4. jin07

    jin07 Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    You should disable autorun for flashdrives. Also, run a scan whenever you use someone else's drive. Another thing that could have prevented this is a good firewall.
     
    jin07, Jul 12, 2009
    #4