aaaaaaaaaaaargh!!
Have just accepted a file from someone I know...only for them to tell me "dont open it its a virus".....too late I opened it :(

What do I do???
I have an Apple Mac OSX (and am not very good with it as have always had microsoft!!)

terrified its going to take all my passwords bank details etc etc...

oh cack! no advise but i hope its ok!

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Free online virus checker
Run that NOW
Lea :)

Picks up viruses that some paid for one dont!!!!
Lea :)

running now...(I think!)
Cheers Lea!
*wipes beads of sweat from brow*

Its saying "testing platform and browser" and a little pink bar is running back and forth....is that it working???

(Im soooo useless with computers :( )

Hope it works :)
Make sure it is running as is a bit of a pin but dont ever go into the one bit that says buy now as you dont need to :)
Works for me :)  :) and is one that has been advised in the past for me when I have something that my virus checker hasnt picked up!!!
Hope it works :)
(did wonder if it was me that sent it  :-o :-o)
Then realised I hadnt sent you a message to say dont open it LOL
GOOD LUCK
Lea :)

How long does it usually take Lea?

1/2 - 3/4 hour
But you can still surf while it is doing :)
Hope iot works :)
Do you know what virus it is??? And has it caused problem on your comp????
Lea :)

Hi, don't panic too much, one of the great things about owning Apples is that virus are written for microsoft, and very, very rarely have an effect on a Mac.
bye
Gwen

I'm running one too Liv, just to keep you company!

Good to hear Gwen :)
As I am on windows so panic on any virus !!!
Lea :)

Gwen!
Thank-you that is reassuring (As my blind panic was born out of not being able to find any anti virus info when googling just now, that explains it!)

Lea:

No I dont know what virus it was..
It came as a message from a friend from her Msm Messenger (automated)
I answered her back saying I cant open the file you sent me ( and I tried to open it a couple of times so the file is on my desktop duplicated)

She then pinged back saying she hadnt sent it and not to open it... too late :(
seems its some automated virus she got the same way.

My exs daughter sent one like that a couple of years ago. Something like how ugly are you.
Was so shocked I rang her dad and told him as knew she wouldnt send messages like that. we sorted it between the two of usd but was scary when it happened!!!
Hope you get it sorted :)
Lea :)

One of our laptops died from a virus sent by MSN through Flo using so it is not used now because of that :-)

Virus writers used to be hackers that hated Bill Gates so they concentrated their efforts on Microsoft. That's changing as stealing information and identity to gain access to your dosh is becoming a more common motivation. Attacks on Macs are becoming far more prevalent then they used to be. I think Mac owners are pretty vulnerable now for just the reasons you posted Gwen - you've been largley unaffected for years.

Rats! :(
Lori I  was unable to run program Lea gave me last night...any suggestions?
Just back from work trying o figure it out. (is it a worm and not a virus)

Sorry Liv, long poles come to mind for Macs ;-) Seriously, I have only a basic working knowledge of Macs - no help I'm afraid.

Try looking at Symantec or McAfee and searching for the name of the attachment if you know it. That should point you to the offending virus. If you google for it only go to legitimate sites for help. So many of these viruses and spyware in particular are created as a way to drum up business for the unethical places that sell software to protect you from them.

It would only run part of the way for me too.

Hi again, please don't panic, Lori's post is typical of PC users who hate Macs!  Sorry Lori, but I have had Macs for years now, and keep fairly up to date on new developments, both negative and positive.  Virus are still so rare as to be almost non-existent.  There is lots of anti virus software which works on Macs, although none that is written specifically for the for obvious reasons, but they do tend to slow things down, and as there is little (if any) threat, hardly any Mac users use them. I had Virex loaded on mine, but have removed it becasue of speed issues (it came bundled with the braodband software) If you are still really worried, go to the Mac user forum (accessed through the Apple page) or one of the Mac magazine forums and search for Virus protection or look in faqs - or even post you query, lots of very knowledgable, very helpful Mac users will answer you quickly and with helpful, easy to follow up to date advice.

The "Macs are prone to virus now"line is trotted out frequently, along with "Macs are way slower than PCs", "Macs are cumbersome and harder to use compared to PCs" and "ther is SO much less software for Macs than PCs".  The only one of these which is true is the software one, however, it is only really games which are lacking - if you are a manic gamer then the Mac is not for you, however for anything design based, photo based, or just plain wordprocessing or web surfing, Macs are so easy to use, I do use PCs too, occassionally, but they just don't work as "elegantly" as a Mac, on which everything just meshes together almost seamlessly, and you can move things from programme to programme with minimum effort.

Of course, we Apple users also benefit from the fact that Apple stuff is just so pretty by comparison!
bye
Gwen

a bit late i know, but i've found that i've ever picked anything up, googling the name of the virus / worm / trojan normally give you the info on how to get rid of it. Also, Antivir's a good free virus checker to use-i've used it for years.

Yep Apples are far far safer than PC's with only a handful of viruses like OSX/Inqtana.A or The Leap.A (aka Oompa-Loompa).
I too love using both but I like my online games so the old XP gets used more. Apples don't have the grunt compared to the big pc's. I'm just putting together another pc based around the X38 chipset, wolfdale duo , vista 64, 4 gig ram, 2 750 gig drives and 2 ATI X2 cards. Clock it up and away I go with lovely 10.1 graphics which are still in the early days but hey its fun.
With CrossfireX and SLI and with the new generations of twin cpu graphic cards and with some X48 chipset boards which allow 4 crossfire cards which in turn if X2 cards were used you would have a system with 8 cpu graphic card (4 time 2 = 8)
Down side is Vista and drivers for the cards which are a pain at times and its always a case of messing around oh and the price as 4 X2 cards whould cost a cool £1000 plus.

Do you have norton?

I use norton on all my pc's but the new pc will not to start with. Norton does the job but it really hits your pc so I will be connecting to the net when I join a server through my brothers spare pc which does but as its just a gaming pc and thats all it will be used for I can soon format if I have a problem. I always backup profiles and settings along with updates. If I was going to use credit cards and control bank accounts then Norton for me would be a must.   

No idea how you do this on a mac as have never used one, but i have had similar virus...

Once you have thrown every virus removal prog you have at it, and you *think* you are clean...

Run a file search in your computer for files of the type and with the name that your virus came with. (If you are not sure, check in your msn log files, msn logs all convos UNLESS you turned that option off...).

Also, hopefully, you should have an option to check for recently created files   of a certain type, so check those as well (it was probably a .exe or whatever the mac equivalent is but check for .zip or agian, whatever the mac equivalent is for that).

If you find any of those then manually kill them also. Then run your anti virus again just to be safe.

> Hi again, please don't panic, Lori's post is typical of PC users who hate Macs!

Sorry Gwen but I'm not that petty. I wouldn't intentionally try to worry someone I'm rather fond of because of their operating system. Nor was I debating the merits of one OS over another. My point was that as identity theft on the whole is increasing we are seeing a change in viruses. Hackers from 10-15 years ago liked to break into systems to prove they could. Hackers now want to break into your system to steal your details. That's regardless of your OS though you're right about there being less as there are more PC users it's more worth their while to hack into Windows. I just think it's a bit naive and dangerous to tell people that just because they have a Mac they're not in any danger from nasty things happening to their computer. Opening things like attachments and downloading stuff off the web should be treated with caution no matter what OS you use.

I completely agree about taking sensible precuations, not opening attachments etc.  However, you did state that you wouldn't touch a Mac with a barge pole, which hardly suggested imparitality.  I was not trying to be personally abusive, but to point out to the OP that you post was a little heavy handed, perhaps, and therefore causing unecessary worry.  My advice to ask on the Mac forums will give her the most up to date info, and the easist way to fix any problem, should she be so unlucky as to actually have been infected.  However, I have never actually met or spoken with any Mac user whose system had been affected by a virus, the percentage of PCs to Macs is just so great that we are thankfully left out in cold!
bye
Gwen