Am I infected with a worm or what?

I ran the Housecall free scan and it said I had the worm 1-Worm/Swen in my documents and settings and to remove it I should run my AVG for Windows. Wel-l-l, the AVG doesn't know anything about the worm. I've ran it about 3 times and tried to find the worm myself, but I can't find the file it's supposed to be in. I ran Housecall 3 times to be sure and it says the same thing every time. What should I do? I have updated the latest AVG so I will be sure I am up-to-date on it?????
Housecall said if my virus protection doesn't find the worm, then my virus protection isn't doing it's job!

 

I-worm.swen (W32.Swen.A@mm and other names) will try and usually succeed in disabling your onboard AV protection. Appears to run normally but doesn't work.

Removal tool Here

 

OMG, Newt! How did I get this worm anyway? Now I'm really nervous! I downloaded the removal tool, but, well, gosh, it looks so dang technical, I hope I can figure out how to use it without ruining my puter !

I bet you're saying, "Frazzled, just do one step at a time ", right?
Okay, Mr. Newt, I'll give it my best shot. I just hope I live to talk to you another day!

 

1--What are you Using for AV program?

2-- do you check for update DAILY ?

3--Do you have it checking e-mail IN & OUT

4--Are you running any sort of Firewall ?

5--If you happen to be on DSL or Cable Internet it not advisable to shut your AV program OFF. It is too easy to forget to turn it back on.

That is true. Check above 1 thru 5.

But they also fail to say what Newt did. Some Viruses shut the AV program down as their first order of business.

BillyBob

 

Just to clarify, AV protection without a firewall is like leaving the window open while you locked the door. Worms and trojans come from the net, and if you are on a high speed connection, they just come in a little faster.

Johanna

 

Also for a little added HARDWARE protection install a Router.

One of them gritter will take a LOT of load off of a Software firewall.

I do not see anything referring to the version of Windows that is being used.

But if XP, the built in Firewall is only ONE WAY ( incoming ) . You still need a software firewall to have control of what goes out. What goes out can get back in.

BillyBob

 

Swen removal easy

Even if it seems immoral from ME to post THIS url:

Try this removal tool:

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/swen.shtml

It's a "Click'n Run" tool: run it, reboot, done.

And, as Johanna said: get a Firewall - a personal firewall (software firewall) is just fine for single PCs.

 

Well, Newt, I ran that W32 Swen. removal tool and that wasn't so hard once I got over the fact that a lot of those instructions were "ifs, ands, and buts " I ran it twice (and I did turn off System Restore and did just what it said to do." It said I do not have the Swen worm (twice it told me.)

So then I ran HouseCall again, it told me the Swen worm is in a file (it named it) in my documents. I can't find that file in my documents. But, at the end of the scan it said , "Congratulations, HouseCall did not find any viruses in all my files and folders. "

So, now I'm back at square one, I don't know if I have a worm or not! Who shall I believe???

What do ya'll think of the PC-cillin for home users? Anybody using that? Heck, if it will keep me from worrying about having a worn or getting a virus, I'll buy it. It says it prevents your puter from getting any virus (real time protection). How 'bout it? Anybody believe in this dude?

Is a worm and a virus about the same thing??

 

Oh, oh, one more question. Should I turn my System Restore back on now or wait until I find out for sure if I have the worm?

 

A worm is a flavor of virus.

PC-cillin is excellent.

Turn system restore back on. It offers it's usual protetion and if you later find you really were/are infected, you can always turn it off and remove the infected restore points.

If you happen to have an infected file that is part of a group of compressed files, the AV software will have problems locating it and often can't clean/delete the infected file.

Norton certainly cannot but will give you the filename and tell you to delete it manually. Norton will, however, repair any damage that was done to the registry and remove any files dropped on your system by the virus. It will just continue to report you as infected and be unable to complete the cleaning.

 

Thanks, Newt, I appreciate you helping me, all you guys and gals are so excellently smart, thank you for being here and willing to help us still learning.

I keep running the removal tool, and it keeps telling me I have no worm in my files. HouseCall still says I do. I've got a terrible headache.

I'll start my System Restore now. I don't have Norton, but I do have the Kerio firewall, and I'm going to download the PC-cillin. Thank you again, and have a good week coming up!