checking for possible virus on MAC

lola_run

Hello!

I hope someone can help me here.
A friend of mine has a MAC (it's like an ET of the computer world are these MACS).

He can no longer access Internet. He has called his ISP to see if there was any problem with the connection; they said there isn’t. They told him that it might be his modem. To rule this out, I'm going to see if my modem will work on his computer this weekend.

Since he never had an anti virus, anti-spyware or firewall installed (basically he doesn't have a clue about computers, but also said MACS are at a less risk from viruses, is that true?)

I brought around a CD with things like IP Scanner, Trojan Hunter, avast anti virus and kerio personal firewall so I could install these on his computer and run scans. However, his MAC refused this CD, the only thing it could do apparently was delete all the data on the CD, which I didn’t want of course. Why was the CD refused.

I reckon it could be a Trojan Horse. To check this, I wanted to look at the C:/ Drive of the MAC to see if this was ‘eaten up’ but on these ET type computers there are no disks, so even if there is a Trojan Horse somewhere how would I know?

If I put the data on a USB stick, will it be accepted by my friend's MAC?

Anti

Yes mac's are less vunerable to virii. But its not impossible to get them. The reason the mac would not take them is because you downloaded applications that are for a windows pc. You need to get mac varients.

I have no idea about macs myself, as i think they are the fisher price of the pc range.

I would suggest a mod moving this to the mac forum for a better response.

Cabaal

A mac won't run Windows programs so thats why AVG etc didn't work,

Generally speaking Macs don't get Spyware/adware or virus's, personally I'd say its down to network settings, modem/router settings or a line issue if its a DSL connection and his ISP are maybe just not seeing it.

You might have more look with this in the mac forum, you might need to learn a few things about Mac's to sort this though

440Hz

You know about Trojan Horses but not that Windows software won't work on a Mac? Hmmmm. something really isn't right there!

Anti wrote:

i think they are the fisher price of the pc range.

I would suggest a mod moving this to the mac forum for a better response.

Looks like I'm too late. It's already been moved. Oh dear... people are not going to like that one in here!

Oriel

Anti wrote:

I have no idea about macs myself, as i think they are the fisher price of the pc range.

Blind leading the blind, huh?
400Hz move this back in PC before I really get started...

jmck87

Oriel wrote:

Blind leading the blind, huh?
400Hz move this back in PC before I really get started...

Ha funny image.... yer man explainin to his mate all about trojans and virii... "dont worry my cool apps will sort it.... oh why doesnt this computer run my great apps?!"

Iomega Man

Hi Lola_run.

I use this on my Mac www.clamxav.com
Seems to work for me so far,does a complete virus (only) check.

Cheers

440Hz

jmck87 wrote:

Ha funny image.... yer man explainin to his mate all about trojans and virii... "dont worry my cool apps will sort it.... oh why doesnt this computer run my great apps?!"

More like 'why doesn't your great Mac run my sh1tty Fisher Price applications'?? maybe??

Kudos

Anti wrote:

I have no idea about macs myself, as i think they are the fisher price of the pc range.

This explains your use of comic sans in your sig.

Let me give you a better analogy, overclocked PCs are the souped-up honda civic of the car world. I'll keep my BMW thanks.

Cabaal

lola_run wrote:

Since he never had an anti virus, anti-spyware or firewall installed (basically he doesn't have a clue about computers, but also said MACS are at a less risk from viruses, is that true?)

Your friend is 100% correct, given your post and your attempts to run windows applications on his Mac I suggest you read up on using a Mac as you don't appear to have a clue about Apple Mac's

None the less please don't let this put you off posting more info so somebody here can help you, we really are all here to help

Oriel

Kudos wrote:

This explains your use of comic sans in your sig.

Let me give you a better analogy, overclocked PCs are the souped-up honda civic of the car world. I'll keep my BMW thanks.

Excellent. Although, come on - Merc all the way! Pu-lease!

jmck87

Oriel wrote:

Excellent. Although, come on - Merc all the way! Pu-lease!

BMW?! MERC?! This has to be a joke...?

Interesting report I heard on the radio few days back... a consumer survey in Germany to see what car make the Germans themselves favoured.... Honda won by a country mile! Very suprising to hear Germans prefer the Jap cars over there own....

Anyway, back on topic.... OP... buy a Mac! New 20" iMac! Cant go wrong!

Kudos

Oriel wrote:

Excellent. Although, come on - Merc all the way! Pu-lease!

Mercs are for pompous assholes, BMWs however are just reserved enough for my liking.

Cabaal

ah come on lads, try keep things abit on topic.

440Hz

Ahhh rule quoting, a rare pleasure!

ref: Mac forum rules -

Dustaz wrote:

The basic rules
First and Foremost, for the purposes of this board - Macs are better.

OP, I don't want anyone to put you off asking for help here though, we are a helpful bunch, as long as you appreciate the glory of Mac we will be more than happy to help you!

lola_run

440Hz wrote:

You know about Trojan Horses but not that Windows software won't work on a Mac? Hmmmm. something really isn't right there!

Well, I've never owned a MAC and I had also downloaded a program for MACs on the CD which didn't get opened either, so that doesn't really explain why the CD was refused...

Yes, I know a lot about Trojans. I guess I'm quite good when it come to PCs, but not MACS. Hardly any one uses these MAC computer thingies, so I never thought I'd ever have to know anything about them.

lola_run

Anti wrote:

Yes mac's are less vunerable to virii. But its not impossible to get them. The reason the mac would not take them is because you downloaded applications that are for a windows pc. You need to get mac varients.

I have no idea about macs myself, as i think they are the fisher price of the pc range.

I would suggest a mod moving this to the mac forum for a better response.

Funnily enough when I was on my friend's computer I felt like I was using some kind of toy alright! I mean how are the drives organised? It's like some child's playpen with a load of toys thrown about. How should one find a virus if there is one? At least with Windows it's dead straightforward. Does a MAC accept data CDs or do I have to go out and buy some special CDs for MACS?

lola_run

Iomega Man wrote:

Hi Lola_run.

I use this on my Mac www.clamxav.com
Seems to work for me so far,does a complete virus (only) check.

Cheers

Thanks for that, but my friend only has version 9 so this won't work. Are there older versions of the program anywhere?

440Hz

lola_run wrote:

Funnily enough when I was on my friend's computer I felt like I was using some kind of toy alright! I mean how are the drives organised? It's like some child's playpen with a load of toys thrown about. How should one find a virus if there is one? At least with Windows it's dead straightforward. Does a MAC accept data CDs or do I have to go out and buy some special CDs for MACS?

OP, after this I don't see too many people rushing to help you out with your last question.

If you are looking for advice you should really re-consider your approach here.
I'd take it handy with those comments. No Mac bashing here thanks.

Cabaal

lola_run wrote:

Funnily enough when I was on my friend's computer I felt like I was using some kind of toy alright! I mean how are the drives organised? It's like some child's playpen with a load of toys thrown about. How should one find a virus if there is one? At least with Windows it's dead straightforward. Does a MAC accept data CDs or do I have to go out and buy some special CDs for MACS?

Good plan, now while your at it go to the Linux forum and look for help with it something while at the same time say its crap and windows is better, your really not going about this the right way

To be honest, as you can see I'm the Windows mod yet crazy enough I use/own a Mac and to be perfectly honest alot of Windows users don't know what there missing.

As I've said before and I';ll say it again, if my Windows machine broke in the morning I'd most likely get myself a 20" iMac to replace it, its not because I don't know anything about Windows....hehe very far from it.

But at the end of the day, Mac's just work and are alot more powerful then Windows imho

jmck87

ok, enough of the slagging...

You'd be suprised how straight-forward macs are... i would nearly bet my house with you (maybe an exaggeration) that if you used a mac for a week or two that you would never buy a windows pc for yourself again....

When you say the mac didnt accept the cd was it that it wasnt recognised to be in the disc drive at all? Or did it just not run/open the files?

440Hz

Cabaal wrote:

But at the end of the day, Mac's just work and are alot more powerful then Windows imho

Coming from a Windees mod that is like music to my ears!

Kudos

lola_run wrote:

Funnily enough when I was on my friend's computer I felt like I was using some kind of toy alright! I mean how are the drives organised? It's like some child's playpen with a load of toys thrown about. How should one find a virus if there is one? At least with Windows it's dead straightforward. Does a MAC accept data CDs or do I have to go out and buy some special CDs for MACS?

It's not special CDs you need, it's special care. You have to pour Calpol in the fan exhaust to clear out any virii.

Also, gather your thoughts into one ****ing post please.

Cabaal

440Hz wrote:

Coming from a Windees mod that is like music to my ears!

hehe, well I only have one minor complaint regarding Macs and its only really because all I have is MacBook and the graphics card sucks.

I wished games on Macs were abit better, but I'm sure that'll improve in times
Its not a massive issue as I don't play many games these days

davmigil

To OP: Either this is a superb piece of a wind-up for a Friday afternoon (in which case you took us all in hook line and sinker) or else ...//shudder//

My advice is to tell your friend that you will probably break their mac if you go anywhere near it as you are dangerous ignorant of them. Tell them though their problem is unlikely to me virus related and probably not a trojan horse unless they gave administrator access to a dodgy program they downloaded. Start with the obvious and work backwards. Use the network connections wizard in safari to see if that narrows the problem down. Tell them not to bother checking your modem or letting you anywhere near their usb port. Preferably tell them to take out a 20ft restraining order.

Kudos

davmigil wrote:

To OP: Either this is a superb piece of a wind-up for a Friday afternoon (in which case you took us all in hook line and sinker) or else ...//shudder//

My advice is to tell your friend that you will probably break their mac if you go anywhere near it as you are dangerous ignorant of them. Tell them though their problem is unlikely to me virus related and probably not a trojan horse unless they gave administrator access to a dodgy program they downloaded. Start with the obvious and work backwards. Use the network connections wizard in safari to see if that narrows the problem down. Tell them not to bother checking your modem or letting you anywhere near their usb port. Preferably tell them to take out a 20ft restraining order.

LOL

440Hz

davmigil wrote:

To OP: Either this is a superb piece of a wind-up for a Friday afternoon (in which case you took us all in hook line and sinker) or else ...//shudder//

Yeah, troll bells went off pretty early on, just watching to give the benefit of the doubt though.

lola_run

jmck87 wrote:

ok, enough of the slagging...

You'd be suprised how straight-forward macs are... i would nearly bet my house with you (maybe an exaggeration) that if you used a mac for a week or two that you would never buy a windows pc for yourself again....

When you say the mac didnt accept the cd was it that it wasnt recognised to be in the disc drive at all? Or did it just not run/open the files?

It wasn't accepted at all in fact. It just wanted to erase everything... weird. I even had a trojan horse scanning program especially for a MAC on it.
We tried inserting a music CD and it liked that, must be allergic to getting scanned for viruses, I reckon. ;-)

lola_run

davmigil wrote:

To OP: Either this is a superb piece of a wind-up for a Friday afternoon (in which case you took us all in hook line and sinker) or else ...//shudder//

My advice is to tell your friend that you will probably break their mac if you go anywhere near it as you are dangerous ignorant of them. Tell them though their problem is unlikely to me virus related and probably not a trojan horse unless they gave administrator access to a dodgy program they downloaded. Start with the obvious and work backwards. Use the network connections wizard in safari to see if that narrows the problem down. Tell them not to bother checking your modem or letting you anywhere near their usb port. Preferably tell them to take out a 20ft restraining order.

No, it's not a windup at all. I have better things to be doing. I'm seeing my friend tomorrow and want to have some kind of solution for him. Perhaps it's just his modem.. he's had it for three years, but the lights were on and all so it's weird. It's one of those Thomson Speedtouch modems, 510.

My automatic reaction was that it was a Trojan Horse, especially when he told me had absolutely no virus protection. I thought I could come to the rescue, as I had numerous problems with trojans myself.

I'll try that Wizard thing in safari... if I can manage to find it! There's no bleedin' search function either on those MACs.

lola_run

Kudos wrote:

It's not special CDs you need, it's special care. You have to pour Calpol in the fan exhaust to clear out any virii.

Also, gather your thoughts into one ****ing post please.

What's calpol??

440Hz

lola_run wrote:

There's no bleedin' search function either on those MACs.

Sigh!

lola_run wrote:

my friend only has version 9

Search in Classic:



Try reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_9 or just learning about OS 9 before telling us what it does not have.


If you just ask us questions about Macs, instead of insulting our OS of choice we will be more than happy to help you.

http://www.macoptions.com/os85/finder2.html try this, dummies guide to OS 9, this is the page about searching.

lola_run

jmck87 wrote:

ok, enough of the slagging...

You'd be suprised how straight-forward macs are... i would nearly bet my house with you (maybe an exaggeration) that if you used a mac for a week or two that you would never buy a windows pc for yourself again....

I'm not so sure about that. My friend has had his machine for over 3 years and still is pretty clueless about how to find things on it! He knows how to read his email and play music and that's about it. He doesn't even know if he has a firewall, which makes my job more difficult. It's like the blind leading the blind.

babypink

lola_run wrote:

There's no bleedin' search function either on those MACs.

wow........that really takes effort!

If its os 10 he's using (identified by a strip at the bottom of the screen that moves when you run your mouse over it...called the dock) - click on the desktop then the file menu (in the white bar at the top of the screen), then click find.

If its running the latest OS, you'll also see a blue circle with a magnifying glass in the top right corner of the screen...click this and search also.

Cabaal

lola_run wrote:

No, it's not a windup at all. I have better things to be doing. I'm seeing my friend tomorrow and want to have some kind of solution for him. Perhaps it's just his modem.. he's had it for three years, but the lights were on and all so it's weird. It's one of those Thomson Speedtouch modems, 510.

Given all lights are on the ADSL Modme its unlikely to be the ADSL connection but you never know, tried any test logins with it?

My automatic reaction was that it was a Trojan Horse, especially when he told me had absolutely no virus protection. I thought I could come to the rescue, as I had numerous problems with trojans myself.

I understand your logic perfectly, I remember many years ago I did admin work in net cafes and used to come across Windows machines infested with spyware and virus's and god knows what, but that just doesn't tend to happen with Macs

babypink, the op already mentioned his friend is running OS9

lola_run

440Hz wrote:

Sigh!


There is! You just don't know anything about Macs in order to find it.

Search in Classic:



Try reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_9 or just learning about OS 9 before telling us what it does not have.


If you just ask us questions about Macs, instead of insulting our OS of choice we will be more than happy to help you.

http://www.macoptions.com/os85/finder2.html try this, dummies guide to OS 9, this is the page about searching.

Thanks for that, I'll print that off and bring it with me tomorrow. I hope I can find it. Are there are shortcuts on Macs like Windows + E that can make my work quicker?

cornbb

From a Mac user and a regular reader of this forum:

The OP may be naive but thats no reason for all the regulars here (and the mod) to take the piss completely. How are they trolling, this thread wasn't even started in the Mac forum? Macs are not beyond reproach. If no one is going to help a newbie here then that is not a very welcoming gesture from the Mac community and maybe this thread should be moved back to Computers/Technology or another non-cliquey/non zealous forum where s/he might actually get some help.

My 2c

Edit: ok, there have been some helpful replies that I didn't read before finishing my post. But I still think there is too much piss-taking of a user starting at the bottom rung here...

babypink

Cabaal wrote:

babypink, the op already mentioned his friend is running OS9

my bad

@cornbb.....when the object of the forum is compared to a child's toy...and apparently compared in earnest, not in jest, what do you expect?

440Hz

lola_run wrote:

I'm not so sure about that. My friend has had his machine for over 3 years and still is pretty clueless about how to find things on it!

Does your friends machine look like the one on the left or the right??

Just checking

Will

personally think its a wind up..but anyway
im thinking it was just a scratched cd that you put in the drive, why else would it reject it and not a music cd?
i dont use OS 9 myself, listen to the regulars here. i bet its just something simple that you are over looking, just toy around with the thing for an hour or so, theyre very intuitive.
good luck with eh the problem

440Hz

cornbb wrote:

The OP may be naive but thats no reason for all the regulars here (and the mod) to take the piss completely.

I don't think that is entirely fair. I asked nicely at the start not to Mac bash, and said I was happy to help, and I have tried. AND I will answer any question which is put as a question about Macs that is not made as a dig about plastic toys.

However, agreed, Im going to start <mod mode> a bit more here. So, no more Mac bashing, no more OP bashing... simple straightforward Q&A from this point on please.

lola_run

440Hz wrote:

Does your friends machine look like the one on the left or the right??

Just checking

funnily enough, it looks like the one on the right!!! The buttons are the same colour! it's not a laptop.

cornbb

440Hz wrote:

I don't think that is entirely fair. I asked nicely at the start not to Mac bash, and said I was happy to help, and I have tried. AND I will answer any question which is put as a question about Macs that is not made as a dig about plastic toys.

However, agreed, Im going to start <mod mode> a bit more here. So, no more Mac bashing, no more OP bashing... simple straightforward Q&A from this point on please.

Fair nuff so. It might be a piss-take but as it was started in Comp/Tech I think its probably a genuine user with zero Mac knowledge. When we get such users in Recording/Mixing/Pro Audio we tend to hold their hands, it gets tiresome sometimes but brings new regulars in.

babypink wrote:

@cornbb.....when the object of the forum is compared to a child's toy...and apparently compared in earnest, not in jest, what do you expect?

Well with the amount of PC-bashing that goes on in here a little bit of give-and-take is in order But fair enough, trolling and/or excessive taking the piss shouldn't be tolerated.

440Hz

cornbb wrote:

When we get such users in Recording/Mixing/Pro Audio we tend to hold their hands, it gets tiresome sometimes but brings new regulars in.

Ah in fairness we do that here too. Posters here are great at giving their time to explain things clearly to Mac n00bs, I don't think anyone could claim that is not the case. But when you come in with the Fisher Price guns blazing claiming Macs are crap but you want our help, that is a different story.

This thread is about 2 posts away from being locked. Only reason it hasn't happened so far is that I'm hoping we could still offer some help/advice because that's what we are good at here. Any more digs though and the big key is coming out

lola_run

Thanks for the useful replies. I've got some work to do this evening, so we'll finish up soon.

I'll try testing my modem on his PC to see if it works.
If it doesn't then I'll scan for the trojans with a mac program stored on a USB stick (surely MACs accept USB sticks)

If that shows up nothing, I won't have a clue what to do next. I can't do pings on a MAC either I suppose?

What I'd like is a step by step problem solving guide.

(Once again, this is no wind up and whatever about MAC bashing, perhaps some of you could try to be a bit more understanding to us neophyes. I'm sure I'm more knowledgeable on certain subjects than some of you.)

440Hz

lola_run wrote:

Thank's for the useful replies. I've got some work to do this evening, so we'll finish up soon.

I'll try testing my modem on his PC to see if it works.
If it doesn't then I'll scan for the trojans with a mac program stored on a USB stick (surely MACs accept USB sticks)

If that shows up nothing, I won't have a clue what to do next. I can't do pings on a MAC either I suppose.
What I want is a step by step problem solving schedule. Again, this is no wind up. Whatever about MAC bashing, perhaps some of you could try to be a bit more understanding to us neophyes. I'm sure I'm more knowledgeable on certain subjects than some of you.

It is highly unlikely to be ANY virus if he is running Classic. It is most likely the modem or some network settings. If you could give us a bit more information we will try to help you out. I hope the thread did not put you off posting about this problem. Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions.

You can do pings, yes.

The problem here OP is that you are working on a very old OS and for anyone here to give you step by step instructions is not very easy, its a matter of trying to think back and remember menu options from years ago.

Kudos

440Hz wrote:

Ah in fairness we do that here too. Posters here are great at giving their time to explain things clearly to Mac n00bs, I don't think anyone could claim that is not the case. But when you come in with the Fisher Price guns blazing claiming Macs are crap but you want our help, that is a different story.

I think it's a combination of the fisher price crap and the fact that the OP claims to know a lot about trojans, I think he must be talking about the prophylactics.

He tried to load windows apps on a Mac (OS ****ing 9) and so clearly fails at computers. Even a regular noob would have asked themselves "what the **** operating system is this?".

To the OP: get him to send the computer to a professional, though the cost might merit just buying a new one altogether. *points at sig*

Also, Trojans are the absolute least likely culprit, they are, for the most part, a Windows condition.

babypink

cornbb wrote:

Well with the amount of PC-bashing that goes on in here a little bit of give-and-take is in order But fair enough, trolling and/or excessive taking the piss shouldn't be tolerated.

i think thats quite unfair.....looking through the 5 pages of topics i don't see anything deliberately out to bash PC and I really think you'd be hard pressed to find blatant PC bashing in the content of the threads. Of course we poke fun at things like Vista being a POS (even seasoned windoze users agree on this one), and extoll the virtues of our *nix based goodness, but i wouldn't call it bashing. I'm all for give and take.

OP....fair play for reading all the posts in this thread without going nuts.

I'll keep my posts on topic


I don't know if it will help but here is an apple support document on modem problems

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106871

Cabaal

Depending on how old the Mac is
- Yes it can accept USB's, infact they did before most PC'S
- Yes macs can do pings

If you test his modem on your PC and it works that obviously says its not the modem, as such I'd suggest your next port of call is network settings.

Take your time looking at the settings, it seems very strange at first especially with OS9 imho, but its all pretty logical.

lola_run

440Hz wrote:

It is highly unlikely to be ANY virus if he is running Classic. It is most likely the modem or some network settings. If you could give us a bit more information we will try to help you out. I hope the thread did not put you off posting about this problem. Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions.

I've told you everything I know. It's a Thomson Speedtouch Modem 510. In fact, now that I think of it only two of the lights were lit. One was off. Perhaps this is the problem. How do I test if the connection is working? (although my friend's ISP said it was). Can I enter a default website?

lola_run

Kudos wrote:

I think it's a combination of the fisher price crap and the fact that the OP claims to know a lot about trojans, I think he must be talking about the prophylactics.

He tried to load windows apps on a Mac (OS ****ing 9) and so clearly fails at computers. Even a regular noob would have asked themselves "what the **** operating system is this?".

Wrong, I didn't try to load ONLY Windows aps on a MAC. I already stated that a Trojan scanning program on that CD that I downloaded from the INternet. So what's the problem there, eh, smarty?

PS: The 'he' is actually a 'she'. Sexist too, I'd certainly not hire your services if I needed them. If you act like that with your clients, you/your company mustn't be doing that good.

440Hz

Try this http://www.vtc.com/online-tutorials/Mac-OS-9-tutorials.htm free OS 9 video tutorials. Its so long since I ran Classic its like trying to remember how to do things in Windows 2 or something.