A Few Virus Protection Questions…

[Less Paul]

Tell me if I’m doing enough to protect my system from viruses?

I have a new PC at home, running Windows XP. I don’t do any direct file sharing from home because it’s dial-up and too slow for practicality. I use Limewire from my work computer, which is a MAC, running OS X and a broadband internet connection. Typically, I’ll download from work during off hours, unzip files there and burn them to CDs. I take them home and scan the CDs with Norton AntiVirus first, and don’t load anything suspicious.

I also run the virus scan on the PC every couple of days, depending on how often I transfer files from work.

I haven’t had any problems so far. But am I doing enough? Or are other measures called for? Can Norton see sufficiently deep into CD files to avoid trouble?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[Lord of the Rings]

Sounds reasonable to me but since I'm a mac person I've only seen 2 viruses & one I found on a CD the other on a zip disk. Norton seemed to do a good job reading the CD. A couple of other things you might consider; see xtra tools:

* ad-ware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (Free)

* Spybot - Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html (Free)

* Peerguardian: http://peerguardian.methlabs.org/pg2.html

[Less Paul]

Thanx LOR.

I also use the Grisoft when I'm in a hurry. Norton takes almost an full hour on my HD to do a complete scan.

The thing I like most about this set up is that it offers an extra level of insulation. I can scope out the files on the Mac with almost no fear of getting infected in the check-out phase. And especially so because I’m downloading stuff for a PC.

If the Mac world offered anywhere near the kind of software options PCs do, I’d switch. Even tho my work Mac is only 400 Mhz, it spoils me something bad.

But I’m having trouble finding Mac anti-virus software. I’d like to scan new files on the Mac before making the transfer to my PC. And then re-check them on Norton. But I’m not sure any Mac-base anti-virus SW could do the job on non-native files. Ya know?

Also, I know mp3 files can’t be infected. But what about CD+G files?

[Lord of the Rings]

I use Norton AV myself. There's also Virex which has been popular on macs for many years (& is on a G3 here.) That's all I know for mac without searching for them. I was under the impression the mac Norton AV would also detect pc viruses. It gets updated every week yet there's so very few known OSX viruses. In fact I just checked thru the virus definitions & 99% say pc viruses.

As far as using Norton AV, I use it manually. I can afford to do that on a mac. Just periodically doing full partition checks. Generally I'll just check individual folders. That is ideal for LW.

[Less Paul]

Thanx, LOR!

Know anything about virii and CD+G files?

[Lord of the Rings]

Not really no. Somebody else asked about that also - to create karaoke cd's. Not something I've ever done. But I did find something out for that other person. Here's a quick Google search result

Also see: http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=33899

[Less Paul]

Thanks LOR. You da man!

I'm fine with how to burn the CDG files to CD. I'm just wondering if those files carry the potential for virii.

I know mp3s and avi are safe. I would think CDG files would be too, because they are basically derivatives. I don't think they have any executable elements. Like a txt file.

I'll do a little looking around and report back in case anyone else is interested.

[Lord of the Rings]

Sorry 1 out of 10 for reading the question. lol No I haven't heard of such a thing nor did my searches reveal anything. Not unless the original files carried the virus before burning. I don't know enough about cdg disks but if they contain a data section then there is a possibility they could contain virii. Looking at http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/cdgfaq.htm there seems to be variations of cdg formats. Also keeping in mind formats like wma & wmv which are rather subceptible. I'd imagine the addition of virii could only happen before the initial burning of the disk; ie: those that can be recorded on wouldn't be likely to have the ability to have virii added but then again, I suppose there's ways around things. I'm talking to the wind so I'll shut up. I'll wait to hear any responses.