ANTI-VIRUS INFORMATION
from
the publisher of
The Hologlobe Press,
Victor Edward Swanson
Version 2
(October 10, 2004)
copyright c. 2004
*** Introductory Comment ***
I, the publisher of The Hologlobe Press, adhere to the practice of making sure that I do not pass along computer viruses through the Internet, and I always upload virus-clean files to the Web site for The Hologlobe Press or I put virus-clean Web pages on the Web site for The Hologlobe Press (at www.hologlobepress.com).
*** General Text ***
On August 9, 2004, late in the day, I was in the process of putting new Web pages on the server for the Web site of The Hologlobe Press, when the computer that I use to upload files to the server stalled; fortunately for me, I was able to get at least test pages on the Web site and meet my publishing deadline. What happened with the computer is all the programs that I normally use to see what is on the Internet, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 6) and Netscape Navigator 4.7, failed to operate anymore. Through research, I discovered that some type of virus (or whatever) from the Internet had--at the very least--hijacked my Web browsers; for example, when I looked under the "properties" feature of Internet Explorer (reached by right clicking on the Internet Explorer icon on the desktop), I discovered that the Web site address that was shown under the "general" window for the home page was http://www.windowss.cc/hp.htm1?=9, something that I had not put there.
Incidentally, I could not get Windows Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and ACEftp to start up, even off line after the trouble showed up, and I had been using McAfee Anti-Virus on my computer.
Right away, I began to do more studying and researching about viruses that affect computers that get connected to the Internet, and my research involved talking with people associated with my Internet Service Provider and with staffers at computer-equipment supply stores, and my research involved reading recent articles about computer viruses. I already knew about McAfee Anti-Virus and Norton Anti-Virus, but I learned more about both, getting some information about which of the two programs seems to be more reliable. I learned about other anti-virus programs, particularly AVG Anti-Virus, which is a product of Grisoft.com, and F-Secure, which is a product of F-Secure Corporation. Such anti-virus programs may or may not be good programs to use to guard against spyware-type viruses and Web-browser-hijacking-type viruses that already exist on computers or, more specifically, the hard drives of computers. I did research about anti-spyware software programs and anti-Web-browser-hijacking programs, and three that I learned about were Ad-aware (from Lavasoft), Hijack This (created by Merijn Bellekom, a Norwegian), and Spybot (created by Patrick Kolla, who is associated with an entity called Spybot Search & Destroy). In addition, I became familiar with the Web site called Housecall.trendmicro.com (related to a company called Trend Micro).
I was able to solve the problem with my computer by using AVG Anti-Virus. The program found ten infected files on the main hard drive of my computer. Five were deleted, and five were put in a "virus vault."
I am not going to recommend one anti-virus or virus-killing program over another, though I have bits of information that seem to hint at which programs are possibly the better programs. Certainly, I say that a person should use a regular anti-virus program when surfing the Internet, and a person should update the program from time to time, and I note that four of the programs that you might wish to choose from are AVG (which is available in a free form to home users), F-Secure, McAfee, and Norton. Regular anti-virus programs may or may not attack spyware programs and Web-browser-hijacking programs, and since I have not enough knowledge to know how well regular anti-virus programs are updated to make them able to attack spyware programs and Web-browser-hijacking programs, I recommend a person have an anti-spyware and anti-Web-browser-hijacking program, either installed on the person's computer or installed on a CD-ROM, and some of the programs that a person might want to have are Ad-aware (available in a free version), Hijack This (available in a free version), and Spybot (available in a free version); even if a person has and uses one of the additional programs regularly, the person should have copies of the others, since another might be helpful if the program that is regularly used is unable to solve a problem with a virus, and it is good to have the copies not only on the main hard drive of a home computer but also on a CD-ROM (such as a CD-ROM made at home) so that the CD-ROM can be used to do repairs if a program on the main hard drive gets damaged, such as because of a breakdown in a tiny portion of the surface the main hard drive that has a copy of a file. And I note that a person might find it helpful to see Housecall.trendmicro.com.
Remember: One sign that a person's version of Internet Explorer has been hijacked is Internet Explorer begins to regularly show a start page that the person is not familiar with or it begins to show a Web page that the person has not set up to be used as a start page.
Although people have been using operating systems related to Microsoft Corporation since the early 1980s and although people have been using computers that are run with operating systems from Microsoft Corporation on the Internet for many years, I do know not all people who are using operating systems related to Microsoft Corporation think about updating the operating systems they are using from time to time or regularly. Every so often, Microsoft Corporation issues "patches," which are designed to repair security flaws in operating systems that Microsoft Corporation has released. The "patches," which are electronic files, can be obtained in a couple ways, the most common of which is to get them directly from Microsoft Corporation through the Internet (either automatically or not-so automatically). For people who are unaware or have forgotten, I note that Microsoft Corporation, in essence, has a "security department" on the Internet, and it is ated at www.microsoft.com/security. The Web site noted in the previous sentence is where people can learn about security patches or "Security Bulletins" for some operating systems related to Microsoft Corporation, such as Windows 98 and Windows XP. By the way, what happens when you request a security patch from Microsoft Corporation through the Internet is the files of the patch get downloaded to your computer (in compressed form), and, once downloaded, get automatically opened up and made active.
Here is additional information to remember. Shareware.com is one of the popular Web sites from which to get electronic files, such as virus-killing programs. A Web site at which people can get information about the topics of "spyware" and "adware" is Spyware-Guide.com (at www.spywareguide.com), and one program that a person could learn about at Spyware-Guide.com is CW Shredder (a spyware killer).
By the way, my praise goes out to all the guys and galls involved in producing computer-virus killers.
Stay well!
Vic
The Hologlobe Press
Postal Box 5263
Cheboygan, Michigan 49721
The United States of America
To go to the main page of The Hologlobe Press,
click on: www.hologlobepress.com###