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Major Virus Problem !!!
Hi, I recently upgraded ubuntu 11.10. I downloaded ubuntu 12.04 LTS (DVD), and did a fresh install. The next thing that I noticed was the start-up recovery did not work: (Froze). I continued using 12.04 with all the updates. As a couple of weeks went by, the OS got very unstable. I suspected a virus, so I ran clam antivius checker. To my horrer, it said that I had 400 virus's. (I swiched from windows to ubuntu about 7 yeard ago, and until 2 weeks ago, never had a virus). I'm thinking I should download ubuntu 12.10, and do a clean install. Any suggestions?
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Where did you get the ISO for Ubuntu 12.04? I dont think if you get the ISO from the Ubuntus site you wouldnt get any viruses. 12.04 is a good release at this point so maybe re install just get the file from a good source.
Good luck to you. |
Thanks much for your reply, I think that I did get get it from Ubuntu, I will download a new iso from ubuntu...........
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What virii did it find? Depending on how you set the flags in clam, it can report a "virus" for very insignificant things, such as broken links, etc. Also, most of what clam searches for are Windows virii in your files. These won't affect Linux, but you could accidentally spread them to your Windows friends. If you copied over a bunch of files from your backup, you could have accidentally copied over some Windows virii with them, which clam will report even though they won't affect you.
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What you just said is very helpful info, I really appreciate it !!! Rich....
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You might need to bear in mind, that there are some pretty bogus virus checkers out there, marketed by some pretty dodgy outfits. You download and install a free trial version, and that version is programmed to tell you that there are hundreds of viruses on your machine, and will encourage you to spend money on the upgrade to the "pro" version... you really have to ask yourself, just how likely is it that 400 viruses have found their way onto your machine in a couple of hours?
It's just possible that your installation was unstable for some completely unrelated reason. It might even be that there is something about the upgrade that doesn't 'agree' with your system. If you downgrade to your previous version *before* trying again with the upgrading process, you'll know it probably wasn't a virus issue in the first place. That's happened to me before with Ubuntu. |
is it possible that ClamAV is detecting the Canonicle spyware that is built into Ubuntu as a virus and all of its connecting files that report 100% of your activities directly to Canonicle who then in turn sell it to the likes of FaceBook and other mass marketing companies?
That is the first thing I thought of when I saw your OS. |
Virus problems
That's interesting, about the built-in spyware by ubuntu. Is linux-mint any better? I've been very happy with ubuntu for aprox: 7 years, but am having trouble now. What OS do you recommend for ease of use? Thankyou much.........
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Before you install did you check the DVD if it has defects .
It was in the past a standard option on the install dvd from Ubuntu . Beside that turn you're firewall ON .It is off by default . I can not imagine that you really you many viruses |
Yes, I did check for defects on the DVD. (I was shocked when clam-antivirus said 400 virus's.
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Yes but what sort of virus ?
Windows virus or linux virus ? To my knowledge clamav is checking for windows virus Windows virus can not harm a linux system |
ClamAV is for linux. Seems kind of high, in fact so high, I'd wonder.
I'd do a clean install again but this time with networking all removed. I mean physically removed. Also remove any un-needed usb storage or other devices that are not fully re-formatted in the install. Then do only the clamav install and try again. |
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400 virus's
My computer is dual boot: windows 7, and ubuntu 12.04 LTS. When I ran clam anti-virus and got a read-out of 400 virus's, I did note that there were some exe files listed as infected. So, I booted windows 7 and checked for virus's there, and the windows virus checker said there were no windows virus's there. Thanks, Rich...........
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clam will normally find some things that norton and mcaffe miss
mostly the " spy-ware" they are paid to miss but it also depends on your definition of "spy-ware" child safety software can be called "spy-ware" and so can " bing-toolbar, mcaffe toolbar, google-toolbar, and a host of other "crap-ware" that gets bundled with MS Windows programs if you do not have 15+ "toolbars" on internet explorer it is unlikely there is really 400 viruses on the windows 7 install |
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