Things are being deleted may it be a virus?

Every single saved file for games on my pc has mysteriously been deleted. All of them are gone and if that's not enough, one of my AIM screenames had gotten all the buddies erased. That shouldn't be a problem too much because I never have time to use AIM and I also don't have much time for games either. But still, I don't want this to happen and I would like to know if this is a virus or a hacker?

download the following free programs:

Free avg antivirus
Spybot search and distroy
adaware se
ccleaner
zonealarm firewall-the free one

update all the programs.except zonealarm and run them until they stop finding issues then move on to the next one.

I wont use the firewall or antivirus b/c i already have a good one.

[edit on 2-1-2007 by wildcat]

Originally posted by wildcat
I wont use the firewall or antivirus b/c i already have a good one.

Actually, maybe not. If files are being mysteriously erased, if I were you, I would do everything I can to ensure there are no malicious programs running on your computer.

2 cents

I'm sorry for the confusion, I meant that I am finding out things have been erased when I use the program. I haven't played those games in a very long time. All of my saved files somehow got erased all at once. Or they get erased once I open them up, but not keep getting erased. It was Civilization that I found out first. I don't know how Halo CE got erased. I think this because I remember that I played it once since I found out Civ got erased. But now I found out it's erased too. So that means Half Life 2 may be erased too.

[edit on 3-1-2007 by wildcat]

Originally posted by Mechanic 32

Originally posted by wildcat
I wont use the firewall or antivirus b/c i already have a good one.

Actually, maybe not. If files are being mysteriously erased, if I were you, I would do everything I can to ensure there are no malicious programs running on your computer.

2 cents

I will do that.

[edit on 3-1-2007 by wildcat]

I use eTrust firewall and antivirus. Will avg antivirus and zonealarm block it? eTrust is a very good one made by a very experienced company, I think I better stick with eTrust for that. eTrust is made by Computer Associates.

My setting on eTrust allow all cookies, is that bad?

Originally posted by wildcat
My setting on eTrust allow all cookies, is that bad?

Personally I wouldn't want to allow ALL cookies. Certain cookies are vital though, to certain sites that you may visit, such as ATS. ATS for example uses cookies to store your username and password. Many sites also do this.


So I would not want to block ALL cookies. But perhaps increase your security one step at a time. I don't know about how eTrust works, so I can only give you general advice, nothing specific.

I would go one notch at a time, and see where the setting works best.

And I also would recommend using AVG Antivirus and AVG Antispyware.

free.grisoft.com...

You can download the free versions of each. I also recommend updating them, to ensure you have the latest definitions.

Run a scan with both of them. If you are not happy with them, you can always uninstall them.

I would say give it a try.

If you still don't want to, then I would suggest checking to see if their are updates available for the applications that you use. Perhaps yours is out of date, and maybe why they don't detect anything.

I did a quick google search, and found a description of vulnerabilities with eTrust, that include the ability for files to be erased

The second vulnerability allows attackers to read and delete arbitrary files from the host server with permissions of the service account

source: supportconnectw.ca.com...


I would do something about this ASAP

On that page that I linked to, they have a patch for the vulnerabilities.

But still, I would suggest AVG.


[edit on 1/3/2007 by Mechanic 32]

Ok, the things I have done so far are:

Download- AVG Free, CCleaner, SnoopFree, Ad-Aware SE Personal, and Spy Bot S/D

I have used them all and they found some problems, but I got rid of them. The file deletion has only affected my games, thankfully it's not any of my reports, essays, or projects. I haven't found any other files that have been deleted. I will run all of those programs again right now.

I suspect the guy who might be doing this might of played a online match with me. I don't play online very often though but when I do play UT2007, I sometimes get a speed hack detection notice.

[edit on 4-1-2007 by wildcat]

I think the most important thing to do at this time would be to go to the eTrust link I provided above, and either use the patch they had provided, or see if an updated version exists.


Because running all the apps mentioned may not help really, if you do not fix the problems with eTrust as well.

Originally posted by Mechanic 32
I think the most important thing to do at this time would be to go to the eTrust link I provided above, and either use the patch they had provided, or see if an updated version exists.


Because running all the apps mentioned may not help really, if you do not fix the problems with eTrust as well.

Well my eTrust gets update everyday, so would that of already downloaded that patch?

Perhaps not, if your files are still getting deleted. It wouldn't hurt to download it, imo.

If you still have related problems, perhaps an email to customer support (@ eTrusT)is in order.



[edit on 1/4/2007 by Mechanic 32]

I am planning to get eTrust 2007.

Originally posted by wildcat
I am planning to get eTrust 2007.

Sounds good!

Hope everything works out.

Yesturday I ran AVG Free, it slowed down my computer so much to a degree where I actually thought about buying a new one. I am never going to use that software again, it sucks. I trust eTrust, not some free antivirus that slows down your pc.

Originally posted by wildcat... it slowed down my computer so much to a degree where I actually thought about buying a new one. ...

I am truly soory to hear that. I have been using AVG for quite some time, and I haven't had any problems with it. And from what I have read in this forum, most other users have also had good things to say about it.

I honestly don't know what else to tell you.

At any rate, hope you get all sorted on your end.

[edit on 1/6/2007 by Mechanic 32]