Java/ByteVerify

Last night I suddenly got Virus warnings flashing up on the screen. XP started telling me that it had detected new hardware and was looking for the software for it.

As I hadn't installed any new hardware and I hadn't deleted anything - I switched off, unplugged and then restarted. The sound card had suddenly lost half a dozen drivers so I reinstalled the software. Soundcard worked fine - I ran AVG again and it warned me that I had Java/ByteVerify infected files in XP's Documents and Settings folder. It identified the files but wouldn't remove or "heal" them as it said they were in use. Neither Ad-Aware nor Spybot would fix the problem. Although I later found that it isn't necessary, I removed Java - the problem was still there.

This morning I ran AVG and manually removed the files identified by AVG as being infected by right clicking on the identified files and "opening up the containing folders" and deleting the individual files. I now get no virus warnings with an AVG scan or any other scan come to that - try HouseCall from TrendMicro. There's a Java page here about it and Symantec's instructions for removal are here.

I'm pretty sure I know where I got the virus from. I was looking for tips about installing Win 2K and when I opened some page or other - "up flashed" page after page of porn. In my case it was definitely a case of "down" flashed page after page of porn when I discovered I couldn't stop the damn pages opening except with task manager. If I could get my hands on the bar-stewards they would need more than "the drug that puts Viagra to shame" to get them up and going again.