Computer viruses....can anyone help??

[magnum]

Does anyone out there know how to get rid of trojan viruses? I've downloaded free software which has detected a virus called trojan downloader but it won't remove it. Every time I log on it warns me that I have this virus. I've searched on the internet and apparantly trojans can be planted to assist with getting peoples credit card details. I shop online a lot so am quite worried. Of late I have also been getting loads of emails with attachments that msn is blocking as it says they are unsafe. I know computer basics but am at a loss as to what to do. If anyone can help I will be eternally grateful as have spent all afternoon on this!

This is the problem with many free anti-virus programmes, I'm afraid. However it may have dealt with the problem: when your computer starts up does it say anything about having "quaratined" the infected file? If so you you should be safe.

But your best bet is to get either Norton or McCaffee anti-virus (I think both have free 30 day trials) - both of those will sort out the problem. Trojan Downloader itself is not dangerous, but it tries to download its big brother which is capable of logging keystrokes (and therefore getting credit card details etc) but don't place any orders in the meantime and change all passwords once you've managed to delete or quarantine the file.

I've got AVG Free version and it's excellent. You click the icon in the toolbar every week and it goes away and get's the latest library.

Go to www.grisoft.com and have a look at it.

I can't say enough good things about it. It even checks all incoming E-mail if you use Outlook and stamps out going E-mail to say it's virus free.

You may have problems getting rid of the virus totally unless you know where to look. They are crafty gits who put viruses out there. Depending on what OS you are running will depend on the ability the virus has to protect itself. You should be able to get information off the web once you know the exact name of the virus and that will tell you where to look for all the hidden files.

Good Luck

Thanks for your replies. have just come back to this. I've got AVG and it tells me I have the virus but when I run the scan it can't find it. I rebooted my computer last night to take it back to how it was when we bought it. Really didn't want to do this as I have lost loads of data (nothing important though). The first thing I did when I logged on was run a spyhunter scan and it has still detected 5 parasites. I am at my wits end and really worried in case someones got my details. They might even know I use mumsnet!