NictaTech Software / Virus and Malware Library

What can a virus do?

This depends only on the type of virus you contracted. There are some viruses, which are not designed to cause damage, just to spread, however there is always a possibility that they can conflict with your existing software and either slow down or damage your computer. The damage can also come from inexperienced administrator/user, who will damage other files, while trying to remove a "harmless virus". Therefore none of the viruses are safe. On the other hand there are some viruses that were intentionally designed to cause damage, by destroying the data, deleting software etc. There are also some viruses that can damage your hardware components or cause them to wear out. For example Win32,W97M/Beast is capable of opening and closing your CD-ROM for several hours during the night time.

Can you give me any advice on how to better protect my computer from viruses?

• Don't open e-mail attachments, even if they are presented as text files or if they came from unknown persons.
• Schedule periodic drive scans at least once a week.
• Do not panic if you discover a virus. Not well thought through actions or trying to delete it on your own may result in even more damage. First connect to the web and wait a few minutes for Digital Patrol to autoupdate. Then call up the program from your start menu, select "Scan". Whenever Digital Patrol finds a virus it will ask for your permission to delete it.
• Do not use infected machine until it is disinfected, because a virus might spread and it will be harder to battle it.
• If you are on the network, immediately inform your network administrator.
• Always inform the people you exchanged disks with about the infection and suggest to them to scan their drives with the latest AntiVirus Software.

I never got any messages that virus definitions were updated, why?
Each time you logon to the web, Digital Patrol checks our servers for the latest virus definitions. If update is required, it will occur automatically.

Can I use several anti-virus programs at the same time?
We do recommend using two or more anti-virus programs at the same time.

Trial will work only 30 days. That means that the program will find only known viruses, and wouldn't find any new (unknown) viruses. Heuristic analysis is our exclusive technology and we provide it only to our registered users.

Why can't I scan for Trojans in trial?

In trial you can scan for known Trojan programs (i.e. added to our virus list). Unknown viruses can be found only by full version.

Why is it important to update frequently?

For secure protection of your computer from most recent virus you need to update Digital Patrol everyday. Automatic Update is a unique feature that allows you to update not only virus base, but also any changed program components. Everyday update is also a unique feature of Digital Patrol. Most antivirus programs issue updates at best once a week. We update our bases everyday. That means that you'll be protected from wide spread virus (like Nimda for example) before epidemic burst.

I launch Digital Patrol, but update doesn't start.

You need to launch Digital Patrol Live Update. It is located in the same Start Menu folder as Digital Patrol itself.

What does "I/O error" mean?

This error occurs when Digital Patrol can not open the file because of joint access. The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.