If you’re a technology fan, you probably try out a lot of software, visit a lot of web sites, and have your share of externally-connected drives. And eventually, you’ll fall prey to a computer virus or worm that you cannot eradicate. What can you do if that happens to you? Read on for some answers.
Q: I run Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software on Windows 7. Recently it has been telling me that my computer is infected with Win32/Rebhip.A. I tell the program to remove the virus, and it succeeds. But the message that my computer is infected keeps re-appearing. How can I get rid of this virus?
A: If standard antivirus scans and automated removal attempts do not get rid of a virus, you will have to get a bit more aggressive. Start by doing some research on the virus that has infected your PC.
Rebhip.A, it turns out, is a self-propagating virus that is spread over unsecured shared drives on networks and from removable USB drives. That means that while your antivirus tool may be getting rid of a current instance of the virus, if its source is not eliminated — or if it has inserted an entry into your Windows registry which causes the virus to be re-deposited on your system — you could be facing a Sisyphean task of continually removing the virus, only to be infected once again when you restart your computer.
There are two steps that may help you get rid of this or any stubborn virus. First, search a trusted site on the Internet to see whether there are any manual removal instructions. Occasionally there are. If the manual fix involves removing entries from the Windows Registry, get an overview of the Registry and know what you’re doing before you attempt the fix. You’ll find good…