Ladies and gentlemen, I have problem with my Yahoo Messenger ( 9.0.0.2162 ). Why my status message always changed? I have no idea what happen to my YM program? Is there a posibility it's infected by a virus ?
I'm waiting for you guys support.
Thank you.
Why my yahoo messenger status message keep changed by itself?
Please include more information in Additional Details so that I, or anyone else, can help you better. What kind of message do you see as your status message? Is it one you wrote that it keep changing, is it some strange status message that includes a link (do not click on it btw), or is it a status message that tells about when you are signed into Yahoo! games, listening to LAUNCHcast Radio or broadcasting your webcam. The last 3 can be changed to not show such status messages in Preferences (in Messenger menu at top of Y!M), Privacy category.
There is a computer virus or other malware that can be spread via Yahoo Messenger by clicking on bad links, accepting bad fire transfers etc that can cause Yahoo Messenger to do very strange things including weird status messages and sending out IMs to all your contacts with bad links in them that could infect others computers if clicked on. So this is why I am asking.
If you think you are infected then please read below:
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YAHOO VIRUS/WORM?
Never click on links somebody sends you unless you are sure it can be trusted. This goes for email too. You might think it is from a friend but it is really not. Infected computers can target everybody on somebody's contact list. This article on how to avoid instant message viruses is informative: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/compute…
Uninstalling yahoo messenger will not remove the infection from your computer. You need to run anti-virus and anti-spyware scans. Be sure to also scan any external hard drive, flash drive, USB storage device that you use as well. I have even heard that iPods can be infected so be sure to scan those too. Below I give more detailed instructions about internet safety and scans that are recommended.
An important point: Be sure to turn off your system restore when cleaning your computer of known infections because when you reboot sometimes the malware is put right back on your computer. Then when your computer is clean, turn it back on.
You need anti-virus protection with real-time protection (shields). One that is up to date and able to receive virus definitions every day. Here is where you can read about the best commercial anti-virus programs: http://anti-virus-software-review.topten… . You should have only one anti-virus program installed on your computer. Because anti-virus programs have real time protection more than one can cause conflicts and not work as well. And you must have one to protect your computer at all times. You can safely use online virus scanners to supplement your main anti-virus program. Here is a link for some free online scanners:
http://www.johannrain-softwareentwicklun…
If you cannot afford to pay for an anti-virus protection then you should get one of the free anti-virus software available. They are not as good as the commercial ones but still can do a good job and are very necessary. You can read about the free ones here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/secur… . Look under “ Best Free Antivirus Software.”
But anti-virus protection is not enough. You also need anti-spyware protection that has real time protection. One of the top rated commercial ones is Webroot Spy Sweeper. Two of the best free spyware scanners are Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware. These will not have real time protection that commercial ones do. But you would use them to scan. You should use at least 2 free ones that do not have the real time protection. If you have a commercial anti-spyware program you can still use a couple free ones without real time protection to supplement. You can find free anti-spyware programs on the same link as above but look under “Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover.” On the same link you can look into free trojan scanners too. The best commercial one is Trojan Hunter.
Here is an excellent article to learn how to be safe on the internet, http://surfthenetsafely.com/index.html . It covers everything from viruses, spyware, and firewalls in great detail. The links in it that do not work right are pointing to the link I gave above from techsupportalert.com ( or gizmo's freeware). So just use the one above. This is also a good article to read from techsupportalert.com: http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/… .
One last important note. Often free security programs have to be manually updated while the commercial ones have automatic updates. It is vital that you keep your security programs up to date with the latest malware definitions or they will be useless.
