posted
Does anyone know how worried I should be if the W32hllw.hai has been infecting files of mine? So far they have all been quarantined until now.
After 7 years w/o any virus trouble I got broadband at work & at home. I got Norton on both. My work set-up is on a network & the router has a firewall. Once when I was troubleshooting connection problems with my isp, they didn't support routers & had me bypass mine to see if modem worked. It did, & I didn't understand firewalls so I left it out of the loop for several days so I could still get on-line untill I looked into why it cut me off. Anyway I got about 10 virus notices from Norton. None could be repaired, but all could be quarantined. The computer wizard I hired to set up the network to begin with fixed everything up again & explained why the firewall was so important. He also got me set up with Zone Alert as my local firewall for extra protection, especially if I bypass the router again.
On my home system I will be installing a VPN (virtual private network) router so I can access all my files & software on the business computers from home. Untill that happens I figured I'd better install Zone Alarm at home because I ended up getting about 10 virus notices here as well.Norton still was not able to repair any but was always able to quarantine them until last night. After failing to repair OR quarantine, it left me with the reccommended option of "leave alone but do not open" which I accepted. A full virus scan found nothing else to worry about but I sort of feel worried that the thing is eating away data in some dark corner as yet un-detected.
The home system was fully backed up after I removed it from it's former life as my office workstation. There is no data to worry much about, so if I have to re-format to be sure everything is clean I could do that. It is still enough work that I don't want to do it if I don't have to.
Another question I have is about Zone Alarm. If anyone else has it, do you know why it often slows down my roadrunner to be slower then my old 56K connection? Not always , but sometimes it's so bad I just have to disable it to be on-line & not go nuts waiting. The connection at work set up by my friend (who is AWOL at the moment) is fine all the time, but my home machine that I installed Zone Alarm on is having intermittant speed problems.
[ June 23, 2002, 06:51 AM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
posted
Glenn, I just checked my quarantined file reports. It is W32.HLLW.Hai I forgot a dot. Also not sure about case sensitivity. I recall checking Symantec's site when I first had encountered the infections, & didn't find much info, but you are somewhat renowned for research tenacity & skill around here so I am curious what you may find.
[ June 23, 2002, 06:51 AM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
posted
Thanks glenn, I just spent a little time going over what you found & copied some for future reference. I think I am in fairly good shape at the office with everything quarantined & both the router & Zone Alarm firewalls in use. I was having the messages on startup looking to run the "missing" file but those .ini files were "rem"d already by the AWOL consultant I spoke of. My home system has not has that problem, so I haven't attempted that solution, but I'm glad to have the info ready at hand now.
Zone Alarm has been slow to respond to my emails about the slowdown to my connection, but for a free download trial, I guess I can't expect much. Hopefully I can solve that one so I won't be tempted to bypass the firewall at home again.
posted
Doug, try closing down Norton completely and see if that clears up the slow connection problem.
Part of PC Tech 101 has become: "If you are running any Norton Software when experiencing problems, disable Norton completely."
There could be an issue with that machine, Norton and Zone Alarm. I've never had a problem with Zone Alarm slowing down my connection and I've been using it since it became available.
I suspect it's Norton slowing down the machine, it wouldnt be the first time Norton's ever created a conflict with other software on a system. I have Zone Alarm, it runs 24/7, but I dont have Norton anything, so that isolates that problem.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Doug, no Zone Alarm is merely a Firewall, which is why it works better than the rest because it's not trying to do everything. It does one thing and it does that one thing very well - keeps people from snooping into your machine.
I dont run Norton or any other A.V. software at all. I dont like the performance overhead of A.V. software constantly running in the background, nor the cost of subscriptions every year, nor the annoying messages popping up every time something questionable comes in. Instead, I practice safe computing and dont open every email that comes down the pipe. In cases of high risk bugs like klez (I still get 20-30 of these per day), I turn to www.datafellows.com for FREE manual removal instructions and FREE scanners built to detect just the "bug of the month". These are no frills methods that sometimes require technical skills, but I'm a highly technically minded person and have the knowledge to do what's needed.
I do run scans from time to time using the free tools at datafellows.com and havent had any virus infections at all.
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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but i use norton and zone alarm. Zone alarm won't stop java script virii and many trojans from comming in thru yer browser ports. ( the most infamous is the "JS exception" that changes the home page in yer browsers and writes to yer registry. Another virus is the comet curser that not only changes yer curser but it also changes your serch engine to a lamer serch engine. its nearly impossible to get rid of if u dotn know where to stop it ... many smut sites and some lame sites do the JS exeption stuff. (LOP.COM) < notorius for hijacking your browser.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5278 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Doug, I'm not very shy when it comes to dealing with anti-virus softwares, or patient when dealing with suspect files. Mine is set to clean or repair the infected file but if it can't do that it's set to delete it.. kill the little nasties ...!
I've got no patience for dealing with quarantined files, usually what happens that one of my other A/V programs (I use 3) finds the quarantined file and screams a false alarm.
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
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