What to do if virus not detected by current anti virus program?

windows-7 virus

9,029

Solution 1

Try to upload it to virustotal.com . It will get scanned by 44 different antivirus products. Normally some of the scanners should find it...

Solution 2

This is an interesting question.

You can't really install another AV program as they often conflict with each other, may be having to uninstall one for another isn't a desirable option.

There are online tools, McAfee used to also let you download a program like Stinger which I've had some success with when sharing this with other AV programs. The question arises of why you should have to, especially if you had paid for an AV.

You also need to be careful of false positives.

9,029

warsong

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

warsong almost 2 years

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

I found a file in c:/Users/name/AppData/Local called shanjou.dll

I noticed it when I ran msconfig and had a look through why my startup was taking a long time and this is where I noticed an entry for RunDll32 being executed against shanjou.dll

I ran a few searches on the name but nothing came up. MS Security Essentials doesn't detect anything wrong with it. What should I do next? I have already moved it out of it's location into my own self-made quarantine folder.
- Dave over 11 years
  
  I made an edit to the title. Feel free to roll back.
- Matthias over 11 years
  
  You could try to do a start-up virusscan (Avast is capable of this) so the OS doesn't have the file in lockdown. Otherwise, try Combofix which is a more agressive scanner.
- warsong over 11 years
  
  I've already removed it from the boot sequence, I'm just wondering about what else I can do if it's not recognized as a virus. There's every chance it's harmless, but then why would someone copy it to an inconspicuous place like the /AppData/Local folder and add it to the startup programs running with RunDll32. It stinks of virus.
- Joel Coehoorn over 11 years
  
  The accepted answer to this question might be worth your time: superuser.com/questions/100360/…
warsong over 11 years

It looks like the link in that article is outdated, it doesn't have whatever it's describing, but I'll look for something similar.
warsong over 11 years

That worked. It's a backdoor trojan. I'm kind of worried now about what else MSE has missed. I thought it was reliable up until today.
Offler over 11 years

MSE is quite reliable. You won't find any antivirus thing which does not have false positives and misses some real viruses. (I would not trust for example every positive from ClamAV, it detects too much)
warsong over 11 years

Well, it missed it today. One miss is enough to lose my trust.
Offler over 11 years

There is also a broad range of free antivirus online scanners, maybe you can use some of them additionally (to find additional problems).
Simkill over 11 years

Oh sorry, it looks like they have changed their procedure since I last had to do this. You can try the free virus scan utility labeled 'Kaspersky Security Scan' here kaspersky.com/virus-scanner or ESET's version here eset.com/us/online-scanner You really need a better piece of AV software running than MSE. It's not robust at all. Programs like Kaspersky has a heuristics scanner that can detect infections that have never been identified before and is far more proactive.
warsong over 11 years

Already running ESET;s online scanner to see what else MSE missed.
Bigbio2002 over 11 years

Malwarebytes is a good supplement to a standard AV program.
Ramhound over 11 years

@Simkill - I have lots of malicious files that MSE would detect that ESET didn't. MSE is pleanty robust has one of the best engines on the market.
Ramhound over 11 years

@warsong - Which is the reason using a single product is never a good idea. There are lots of ways to expand your security lots of resources you should read also.
Joel Coehoorn over 11 years

@warsong I think you misunderstand how anti-virus software works. It is your last line of defense, not your first. It's much more important that you keep your machine fully patched, that you don't run as an administrator by default, and that you use common sense when browsing. There will always be a gap between when a virus is released and when AV products are able to detect it.
Joel Coehoorn over 11 years

Professional pay because the free tools aren't licensed for corporate environments where the professionals work.
warsong over 11 years

@JoelCoehoorn I think you're making a lot of assumptions about me.
Simkill over 11 years

@Ramhound MSE is almost completely geared towards anti-malware with a poorly crafted anti-virus element. It's not a good all round solution as its OK with anti-malware but viruses slip in all the time. ESET isn't designed to fight malware, so MSE is always going to pick up on those infections better than ESET as they are more common, but less dangerous. You're better off running Malwarebytes alongside Kaspersky as they won't interfere with each other and will both do what they are designed for very well.
Ramhound over 11 years

@Simkill - What a bunch of lies. MSE has found infections that even Malwarebytes was unable to detect. Furthermore there is no reason you cannot use Malwarebytes and MSE together. Your claims of MSE being designed to find malware is false, since the Windows 7 version, is an anti-virus and Windows Defender is the anti-malware product.
Simkill over 11 years

@Ramhound Please see these articles microsoft.com/en-gb/security/pc-security/mse.aspx and av-comparatives.org/images/docs/avc_sum_201212_en.pdf The first link clearly says it's an antimalware product for xp, vista and win7, then later says it also includes spyware and viruses, making it an all round solution. AV comparatives featured it in all of its tests in 2012 that the product could handle, but had to miss out on a lot, such as anti-phishing for example, because the product doesn't have these advanced features. Kaspersky out performed and won far more awards than MSE-
Simkill over 11 years

So a dedicated AV in Kaspersky + a dedicated malware removal tool in MBAM is considerably better protection than MSE alone, especially since MBAM Pro was released.
Ramhound over 11 years

I don't trust anything that av-comparatives.org puts out based on past results with their highest rated product failing to detect stuff that MSE detected without a problem. In other word I had to remove the product I purchase and replaced it with MSE. I use to be an ESET user, so when I say MSE found infections that ESET didn't, it actually did find infections that were not found by ESET Smart Security product. Furthermore you should use Malwarebytes no matter what product you use. Kaspersky is over priced.