Ideally the next step would be to contact us . We have cleaned up after many viruses, and can assist you in determining if in fact you do have a virus, and how to 'clean' it from your computer.

If you can't reach us or are in a frantic state unable to wait, you can try and detect and clean the virus yourself. If the suspect computer has a Virus Scanner installed on it already (such as Symantec Norton Antivirus or McAfee VirusScan), the first thing to do is to update the virus signature files. These are the reference files that the scanning software uses to identify the viruses. New viruses come out daily (there are over 50,000 known viruses to date) and you may have one that your older signature files don't know about. Getting the updated signature files is usually free, just download the files from the companies website (download the Norton Antivirus signature files here and McAfee VirusScan files are here). Follow their instructions for installing them.

Note: If you don't have any antivirus software (shame on you and now we know how you got into this predicament :>), Symantec has a fully functional trial version of their product available on their website here. You can download it for free and use it to get out of trouble. Once your done, it will be well worth the expense to buy a full copy for about $40 to prevent a future infection. After you install it, you should update the signature files as noted above. MME is recommending Symantec's product based on our experiences, as it's seems to be the easiest product to use and keep updated.

Once the signature files are updated on the suspect computer, run a Full System Scan of all your hard drives (the C: drive for sure) and wait to hear the verdict. If it detects a virus, it will usually attempt to clean the virus. We highly recommend that you contact us BEFORE you attempt a repair. We have seen on many occasions that the cleaning process may fail on a file that is critical to operating the computer, and if it does it may quarantine or delete the file, leaving your computer inoperable. If you must proceed, do so with caution. Allow the software to attempt a repair. Most of the time it can do it. If it can't, it will tell you and then usually offer three choices: Quarantine the file from future use; Permanently delete the file; and finally the option to ignore the file and continue to let it be used. We would recommend the quarantine option followed by contact us eventually.

Once the process has completed once, reboot your computer and run it all again to ensure that nothing has crept back in. If you can scan all drives a second time without a virus detection, you've at least stop the spread of damage. If files were quarantined, you need to decide if they need to be replaced or can be discarded. Finally, is your computer functioning normally now. If it is, you've made it!

You need to consider a few other things. Depending on the virus, you may have inadvertently sent it to other people. If you have used Floppy diskettes in your computer and passed them onto someone else, the diskette may have been infected. If you emailed a file to someone, the file may have contained the virus. If there was any chance that you sent someone a virus, the best thing you can do is to call them on the phone immediately (time is of the essence) and let them know that there is a chance they may have received an infected file, and to scan the file/diskette immediately (or take other appropriate measures). You can always recommend that they contact us if they need help. You can learn more about the MO of the particular virus you had at your antivirus software vendors web site (You can find the McAfee VirusScan library here and the Norton Antivirus library here).

And finally, you may also need to consider cleaning or discarding any floppy disks that you may have infected and that are still in your possession. The last thing you want to do is re-infect your own computer. The antivirus scanning software can scan floppy diskettes, so scan any disks that there is even a remote chance of being infected. If a diskette is infected, our recommendation is to discard it immediately unless it contains critical, irreplaceable data. In that case, attempt a repair.