Animation Source Forums

If you wonder why I haven't been on the site these days, that's because my computer has been infested with a very, very nasty virus.
It has rarely happened to me, as I have good protections (Spybot, Adaware, Zone alarm and Avast) but this time one got through. I don't know how I got it though...

That virus is called Bagle. And, I must say, that's the most nasty one I've ever seen.
It has deactivated each of my security softwares : Spybot, Avast, Zone alarm...And, I wasn't able to reinstall them as it would lock the executable files! Without any firewall, I could have got even more viruses, that's why
Worse than that : it would only allow me to go to the web for 5 minutes (after that, it would close my connection)
And even worse : I wasn't able to boot on the XP Safe mode either!!! It would restart my computer every time before I would be able to access the desktop.
And even even worse : when I booted in "normal" mode, it would randomly restart my computer at any moment!
I thought I was really going to get mad, because I tried every software other people with the similar problem used (Eliblaga, a spanish software specifically for that virus, couldn't get to remove it!)
I've finally been able to destroy it by using my second hard drive's old windows XP (which was clean), and using Antivir to scan and delete them (it took 6 hours! and the virus replicated itself in 40 different locations...)
Of course, I could have formatted and reinstalled everything, but I really don't like to do it as I have so many softwares that I use regularly, and the virus could have copied itself on another hard drive partition so that the problem would not be fixed.

Remember people : security is very important! Use a firewall (eg: Zone alarm), use an antivirus (Antivir, I wouldn't recommend Avast anymore though because it didn't detect the virus...), and an adware removal software! (Spybot and Adaware) (The ones I've listed are free)

Also, don't forget to make backups of your work! You never know what can happen!

I still can't understand how some people can do that...They are devil to me. There are so many good things to do with using programmation, than to destroy the work of others.

Ooh that sucks D= I'd be pissed if that happened to me. That's why I'm glad I got a mac XD. I still have and external hard drive to back up my laptop though, just in case.

Holy... Now that's just nasty.

Out of all the viruses I've heard of, that's gotta be the worst. Ugh.

Rebuild Windows. You don't normally have a choice. (And when you format a drive, toast the whole thing.)

Once you have a fresh install, don't use the admin account regularly. Only use it to install trusted software. Never surf on an admin account, or use it to perform daily tasks. Preventative medicine works much better than the "cure."

It's Windows, not OS X. You must be extra careful. (Most adware, spyware, spam, and virus blockers are crap anyway.)

How healthy your computer is depends on how you use it.

I work with these types of viruses/problems everyday, and the best method to avoid a virus is generally common sense and a bit of knowledge about what types of applications and web sites are dangerous and which are safe. Most anti-virus software programs are released with a standardized list that is developed by what developers define. But remember, a virus can be programmed probably over a sextillion or more different ways... basically endless; and how, therefore, can just a list of detectable viruses that may be updated once a week or month be all that protective?

I, myself, use a RAID system along with Acronis TrueImage to back up and protect my data by automatically backing up my server, desktop, and laptop whilst monitoring and notifying me if any system files or processes have been modified over the last 4 hours. While an expensive process probably most people wouldn't want to pay for, the cheapest way people believe can protect their computer more is an anti-virus program. I never rely on my Norton AntiVirus (personally, I just keep it off most the time). Then again... most people don't know the slightest thing about the Internet and computer other that just typing in addresses and clicking. Sometimes, in that case, you may need a little boost in protection.

Recommended by Lennox: Use another account for casual usage, and save the administrator account for important tasks. A casual limited account is perfect for casual surfing the web, and more safer for the inexperienced user that accidentally clicked that ridiculous pop-up ad or downloaded a fake update from a seemingly legit website.

Yes I do, because I didn't format and everything works fine now. I would have lost one week to reinstall everything. Not even mentionning that the virus could have replicated itself to another partition or hard drive, so that reformatting wouldn't have corrected the issue!


Like if it was possible with Windows XP... They're very badly managed, you can't really install any software without admin rights. And I don't want to have to switch.
Besides, viruses probably can bypass that and install themselves even if you aren't on an admin account.

And no, I don't feel like using a Linux distribution, I use an Ubuntu at work and it's pretty fine for programmation works but not so much for an everyday's usage...That's my opinion anyway.


That's good for a server, not for the common usage of a desktop...Too expensive and complex to manage. Besides I suppose you're dependent on the software you use to make the images.

Oh my...glad you got rid of the virus.

On Christmas eve 2007 my computer laptop had caught a boot-sector virus through on of my brothers soccer videos. It sended bizarre messages to my friends on msn and after it completely crapped up my hard drive. I restarted it over and over but It didn't work. All it showed was a blue screen for 1 second and took me to the same area in the laptop where It tries to fix the problem.

The only solution was to restore the whole thing. It worked (thank god) I didn't lose much except some precious photos I took of a city called Fujeirah and other memorable things. Was devastated when I lost them. 2 days after I had a fight with my mom over the lost photos.

Yes, but I didn't know too much what were the malwares and what weren't. It wasn't very clear, and besides it only detects, not solves.


True, but I've read several times that Avast only detects the viruses once they already are stored on the hard drive unlike Antivir which can detects them in memory...

I've never heard of Bagel, but that must of been extremly irritating. I use PC cillen, Fire wall and a few other things. I've never had a computer viruse. (Yet and hopefully never) But my dad fixes computers for some people around town, some of which had nasty viruses. But it's good to know how to rid them, which is why I stick around and watch some times. But I never donload things unless 1. I trust the website 2. People recomed it and 3. It is well known. Nowdays there's all sorts of dodgey things in dowloads But my PC cillin gives me a pop-up if it detects anything dodgey when I enter a website. I'm sorry to hear about your problem, but aleast it's gone now. May I ask how your computer managed to catch this virus?

Hm. Well, my dad works in this general area, so I'll ask him when I see him in a few days to see if there's any way of prevention next time, although it sounds like this Bagel is a pretty bad one...