Keeping old Files...

[Kahlan2255]

Alrighty, for some of you, this will be a completely *Duh* topic. But, i have kept Every complie/source ever released, in the time i have played EQ and used Mq2. (I am a packrat, but i cant help it, i need help i know)

My computer has been running Slower and slower and slower... I dont Zip these files, its not a huge folder, so why bother?!
I recently wiped my entire computer, it was starting to irritate me, its old, but to be perfectly honest it works *Enough* to get me thru.

when i run spyware/virus/anything i never Ever thought to check the one folder i keep passing between computers, Never once did my realtime protection go off. Turns out my folder of MQ compiles was turned to swiss cheese by 16 different Virus'. One when i tried to delete it created another folder, named the exact same thing, and started replicating itself, put my CPU usage at 100% and was mashing Gigs of info into my HD before i could figure out what the hell happened. on of the more serious, and thin your standard keyloggers and such...

Just found it funny, I was super protective of my computers, buti n my protective shield, i let that damn folder Openly ravage my comps directly under my own eyes...

Moral-No file is Ever too good to be checked for a Virus!

(And this has Nothing to do with compiles or sources in general, just that in my stupidity, the one thing i loved was harboring my enemy) lol

 

[SiegeTank]

Why exempt any folder from anti-virus scan? Probably takes only minutes to scan the MQ folder, even multiple generations of it.

Anyway, why would a virus happen to park itself THERE? Makes me wonder if you had more going on than you realize... /shrug

 

[Kahlan2255]

its like this...

im not sure why it parked there, or any of them for that matter.

My scanner has 3 different scan functions, Smart, Full, Custom.
When i first got it, i set it up to run my C drive, which i keep windows and programs on, and then on my D drive, it checked only recent download activity or files being Shared. (Shared files were my Game files, Wow, EQ, DAoC) but since i would only move the files when i reformat, it didnt check them. (best guess) so it was just caughti n the catch 22, that it never met the right criteria to be in the Scan. Finally did a full scan, which is when i found these. To be honest its a best case and point of neglect, i got into the habit of Open>2nd Tab>Run>Clear>Save... First tab is the Full Scan lol

 

[Xeniaz]

Viruses can insert themselves into other files to infect them. Keeping the files isn't where you went wrong. If you want to hold onto them, particularly the executable ones, you really should be zipping them up. In addition, you should be encrypting the archive and the file index to avoid this sort of issue in the future. When you place the file in the archive, you prevent a virus from seeing the contents of the archive directly, it would have to inspect the archive to see if there is a potential target there. By encrypting the archive and its file index, you prevent it from seeing or manipulating the contents of the archive. This keeps your files safe from being tampered with by people and viruses alike. The password you use doesn't have to be anything super strong, just needs to be something you'll remember.