Wellesley College, Information Services, Computing Documentation

Virex
5.9.1 to 7.5
Macintosh

What if my Macintosh gets a virus?

For Macs running Mac OS X and Virex 7.5

Detection by the On-Access Scanner

Virex 7.5 now includes an On-Access Scanner like VirusScan on Windows. If the On-Access detects a virus when you download a file from the Internet (including FirstClass) a window will appear with a message saying how many files were found and what it did to remove the virus.

You can click on the triangle to view more details about the virus.

If a virus is found but not deleted, or Virex is unable to delete the virus, please contact Information Services for help. Faculty and Staff can call the Faculty/Staff Computing HelpDesk at x3333; Students can fill out a ResNet Student Computing Help Form. You may also post to the Computing Questions conference on FirstClass, although it is not an official Information Services conference.

Detection by the Manual Scanner

If Virex finds a virus during a manual scan of your computer, it will automatically attempt to clean the file. If it is unable to clean the file it will delete it. The window will look like the following:

If a virus is found but not deleted, or Virex is unable to delete the virus, please contact Information Services for help. Faculty and Staff can call the Faculty/Staff Computing HelpDesk at x3333; Students can fill out a ResNet Student Computing Help Form. You may also post to the Computing Questions conference on FirstClass, although it is not an official Information Services conference.

For Macs running MacOS 9 and Virex 6.1:

The AutoStart Worm

The AutoStart Worm is a virus that sometimes infects older Macintosh computers with AutoPlay turned on. Virex is able to detect and clean the AutoStart Worm, but this virus may reinfect your computer unless you follow the directions below.

  1. Restart your computer with extensions disabled. To disable your extensions, press the Shift key on your keyboard as you restart your computer. Continue to hold the Shift key until you see the message Extensions Disabled (Off).
  2. After the computer has started up, use Virex to scan your hard drive and any disks that might have been infected. Check our Using Virex 6.1 documentation for more detailed instructions on scanning with Virex.

To prevent the reoccurence of the AutoStart worm:

  1. From the Apple menu, go to Control Panels and choose QuickTime Settings.
  2. Choose AutoPlay from the menu at the top of the control panel window.
  3. Make sure that the Enable Audio CD AutoPlay and the Enable CD-ROM AutoPlay checkboxes are not checked.
  4. Close the control panel window.
  5. From the Virex icon in the control strip, click on Open Virex Control Panel.
  6. In Preferences, choose File Access. Make sure that the following are checked: Scan Files at download, Scan Files when opened, Scan Compressed Files at Download.
  7. Go to Automatic preferences and make sure the following are checked: Scan When Mounted = Always, Floppy Disks, Hard Disks, Ejectables (Unlocked), Ejectables (Locked/ Read-Only).
  8. Click on Save.
  9. Restart your computer.

Virex Error: Could not save report in file "Virex Report"

If you are using Virex 6.0 or 6.1 on a Mac running Mac OS 8 (or higher) and you receive an error message when trying to quit Virex, saying Could not save report in file "Virex Report" because the volume could not be found (is not mounted), Click OK. Virex is trying to create a report on the Macintosh HD. If the hard drive of your computer is named something different, the report cannot be created.

To create a new destination location for Virex reports, go to the Edit menu and select Preferences. In the left column of the dialog box, select Reports. In the right section of the dialog box, under Report Name and Location, click Select and designate a folder for the reports. We recommend that the reports be kept inside the Virex folder.

Computing at Wellesley
PC Documentation