I have grifsoft avg on my system which I love. When I download some things off of Frostwire they are in exe form. When they are downloaded, avg always finds a virus. I click 'Heal' and it does so successfully, every time, but for the life of me, I can't get any exe file to open properly and work. Every time there is an error that says the pathway is not valid. What am I doing wrong?

Forget downloading all the spyware programs, I have a very simple and 100 % effective way to stop Limewire. I have been having the same problem with Limewire starting on its own and not being able to shut it down. And everytime I would uninstall and reinstall it. This would help, but only for a little while, then it would do it all over agian.
Now, Start your computer in safe mode (while computer is booting up, hit F8 repeatedly to get it to enter safe mode) Now mind you this is XP I'm working with, so if you have another operating system, I hope this still applies. When in safe mode, go into My Computer- C drive- documents and settings- all users- start menu- programs- startup.... then in there if there is a file called svchost (it will be an .exe file) delete it. This is what starts Limewire and it gets downloaded to yur computer everytime windows does and automatic update. It is a windows file, but is unnessesary and only causes problems. At least it does for me, and this is the only way I've ever been able to get limewire to back off. Deleting it has never causes my computer any problems, I hope this helps someone out there

After reading the post by juliettebrandice I was stunned because svchost is an intergral part of Windows. Therefore, before anyone follows juliettebrandice's advice they should read the following MS artucle:Which means that your Windows could fail to run or suffer from crashes (blue screen of death) if this file is deleted.

The rest of the article is located here http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314056

To push the point further, I found this other article which says:So the morsl of this tale is "Do not delete SVHOST" if you have a virus, get rid of the virus instead.


UK Bob

You may have found that article, and I found this one:

Description:
svchost.exe is a system process belonging to the Microsoft Windows Operating System which handles processes executed from DLLs. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated.

Note: svchost.exe is a process registered as a backdoor vulnerability which may be installed for malicious purposes by an attacker allowing access to your computer from remote locations, stealing passwords, Internet banking and personal data. If unaccounted for, this process should be removed immediately.

Note: svchost.exe is a process which is registered as a trojan. This Trojan allows attackers to access your computer from remote locations, stealing passwords, Internet banking and personal data. This process is a security risk and should be removed from your system.

Note: svchost.exe is a process belonging to Microsoft Service Host Process. This program is a non-essential process, but should not be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.

So the moral to THIS story is, if it is causing problems, delete it. As I said, I have done it, and have been doing it for months everytime it comes back and have had no problems. Everytime you follow someones advice on here about removing this and deleting that you run many risks if you dont know the inner workings of a computer, but the bottom line is, if you want Limewire to stop taking over your computer, delete this file. It is, in MY history and MY history only, the only way I've been able to get it to stop.
What everyone on here does is up to them, and I guess the REAL moral to the story (if we are dealing with morals) is dont use programs to illegally download music and you wont have any problems.

Juliettebrandice

If your Windows XP can run without "svchost" then OK but from my own experience XP becomes unstable (and will probably crash) if "svchost" is not running.

Now, I do know that "svchost" causes your PC to become vulnerable by accessing the internet and opening ports without your permission, this is what first brought this “MS app” to my attention. However, I found that if I blocked "svchost" from accessing the internet with my firewall my XP remained stable while the expected vulnerability, i.e. opening unprotected ports, no longer happened.

You have said:If you deleted svchost.exe from your hard drive then it could not come back so I guess what you really mean is that you terminate it when it starts to run.

Either way, I think you have taken care of the symptoms without curing the problem, i.e. you still have a virus on your system but now you can’t see what it is doing.

But as you said, it works for you.



UK Bob

"What everyone on here does is up to them, and I guess the REAL moral to the story (if we are dealing with morals) is dont use programs to illegally download music and you wont have any problems."

At first I wondered whether you're just stupid or whether you're actually paid to give such a false advise regarding viruses etc. Thanks for clearing that up. Now I know you're really full of ****. Let me tell you this, even the most stupid subject of a Windows user will someday learn how to use a computer properly, possibly just by getting rid of Windows. By pumping your stupid viruses into P2P networks, you're simply accelerating evolution. Some may die in the process but the species as such will become stronger. Then your times are finally over. Don't expect mercy.

I recommend Avast Antivirus (http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html) Don't download it anywhere else. Built in p2p scanner.

You guys keep making a big deal about people downloading software and how it's illegal and those people are stupid and deserve the virus because it's not legal. But you guys are admitting to downloading and sharing music files...THAT'S ALSO ILLEGAL! So do you not also deserve the viruses? You cannot justify people getting malicious software because they're downloading illegal stuff. The fact of the matter is, two wrongs don't make a right.

By the way, it is absolutely possible to attach malware and spyware to mp3s...or even create an executable file and change the extension to mp3. So my advice is to be very cautious even when downloading music. I highly recommend Clam virus scan. Clam seems to scan files even as they are downloading ...I recommend pausing a download after the file begins, then scanning with clam. If a virus is detected, cancel the download. This may not always work, but doesn't hurt to try. And I'd stay away from any videos and software...even if it's open source. Your best bet is to use sourceforge.net or something for software and (unless you're sharing unsigned music) use iTunes for music. I mean songs are only .99¢. You guys can't be that cheap...

Exactly which country are you refering to that downlding & sharing of music files is illegal? Not all countries have the same copyright laws. In fact many are very different. So to make your point & intending it universally is incorrect, unless of course you actually work for MIAA or related sponsored groups.

The spreading of viruses is illegal in most countries around the world. Even in the USA! Yet the sponsored groups of the MIAA, etc. do this. So which is the more severe here? The spreading of viruses or sharing a few music files. Such viruses have affected businesses & cost them large sums in money for loss of revenue, not just the home users. So basically the MIAA & related groups are the "Terrorists" of the internet.

I installed Privoxy. I'm really not very computer savvy. How do I "configure your web browser to connect to localhost and port 8118 as your proxy server."