From...

August 11, 1999
Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT)

by Carla Thornton

(IDG) -- PROBLEM: Even if your PC runs an antivirus program, the risk of a data-destroying infection is real.

SOLUTION: Take a few additional precautions to help keep your computer safe and sound.

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Shane Toven never worried about computer viruses. The chief engineer and IS manager for KAXE-FM in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, knew that the whole staff used antivirus software and practiced "safe computing." Then last April, Chernobyl -- one of the year's deadliest viruses -- slipped past the public radio station's security. Two of the station's Windows 95 machines suffered full meltdown.

"At first, all of our PCs worked fine on April 26, the day Chernobyl was supposed to hit. Then a couple of t hem quickly ground to a halt," remembers Toven. "When I went to reboot, I got the dreaded 'insert system disk' message. According to Fdisk, there were no partitions and no boot sectors -- classic signs of Chernobyl."

Feeling more than a little sheepis h, Toven realized he hadn't updated McAfee VirusScan's signatures, the data files that identify specific viruses. (He was using an older version of the package that could not update itself automatically.) Chernobyl probably sneaked in "through a contamina ted file attached to an e-mail from someone we knew," he says. The virus destroyed 2 gigabytes of data, including employee records, correspondence, and other vital files.

Even if you follow the usual safeguards -- installing and updating a good antivi rus package, avoiding e-mail attachments from strangers, and never downloading files from the Internet -- your system probably isn't 100 percent safe from viruses. Few of us compute in isolation, never exchanging files with others. New viruses can claim c asualties before antivirus vendors identify them. Your best line of defense is to assume your PC will become infected -- and take steps now to save your neck.

Smart precautions

Experts and survivors who've tangled with the nastiest viruse s offer the following wisdom:

MAKE UPDATING SIGNATURE FILES EASY: As Toven discovered, the key to warding off most attacks is simply keeping your antivirus software updated. But remembering to check for new signature files, downloading them, an d distributing them to the people who need them can be a hassle. Fortunately, most programs now remind you when signature files need to be updated, and will download the update for you from the company's Web site at the click of a button. The best, includ ing Norton AntiVirus, PC-cillin, and McAfee VirusScan, perform this job automatically as often as once a day.

KEEP A BOOT DISK HANDY: Melissa and other Word and Excel macro viruses that torment most users at one time or another do little seriou s damage. But an infestation such as Chernobyl may stop your PC from even starting up. That's when you reach for the boot disk -- a floppy from which you can run the antivirus program's scanner if your PC becomes inoperable. Most antivirus packages give y ou the option of making a boot disk during setup. If yours does not, you can easily make your own, notes Ken Dunham, virus expert at About.com (formerly the Mining Company). Dunham says users can find instructions for creating a start-up disk, plus other virus-related advice, at antivirus.about.com (link below). "You should boot from a clean disk before removing a virus," he says. "Some viruses can't be cleaned any other way."

USE MORE THAN ONE ANTIVIRUS UTILITY: No single antivirus package can detect and remove every virus, so using multiple programs lessens the chance of a virus getting through. "Pay for one commercial package and add one or more free programs," suggests Dunham. "Set the primary package to scan all the time and use the second ary programs only when you need them, so they don't conflict. It's like getting a second opinion from a doctor." Find a list of free antivirus products at antivirus.about.com/library/weekly/aa051099.htm (link below). And pick up extra protection from a fr ee Web-based scanning service like Trend Micro's HouseCall or Network Associates' McAfee Clinic (links below).

CLEAN UP AFTER AN INVASION: Once you rid your PC of its marauder, don't stop there, advises Joe Wells, author of the WildList of viru ses. "Read up on what the virus does to files, then take steps to eliminate unpleasant surprises down the road," he says. "For instance, Melissa turns off the dialog box asking if you want to enable macros in Microsoft Word documents, so after disinfectin g you'll need to turn that feature back on to remind yourself you have that security option." (In Word 97, select Tools, Options, click General, and check "Macro virus protection"; in Word 2000, select Tools, Macros, Security and choose Medium security.)

Back in Grand Rapids, Shane Toven was about to reformat the hard drives on his devastated computers when he happened upon PowerQuest's Lost & Found data-recovery utility (link below). "I downloaded and installed the demo, and in half an hour, I had re covered all my wiped-out files," reports Toven. Another utility, the free MRecover (link below), can also restore Chernobyl-savaged computers.

Toven got a lucky break. Your best defense: Keep backups of all your vital data. After his near-fatal brush with Chernobyl, Toven changed his modus operandi: "I went out and bought a separate NT server just for backups," he reports. "I also now keep clean, write-protected boot disks for each operating system we use."

Carla Thornton is a contributing editor for PC World. If you're having trouble resolving a PC-related hardware or software probl em, we'd like to hear from you.