Recently, over Windows Live Messenger, I recieved a link from one of my friends, which I clicked on. It took me to a 'This page cannot be displayed' page - y'know, the one that you get taken to when you don't have internet access. Anyway, my friend told me that she did NOT send me that link, and that to immediately scan my computer for viruses. Well, I scanned my computer using my anti-virus software - no viruses were found. The spyware-scanner DID find 5 spyware things, but they were deleted afterwards.. there's no way for me to TRULY know if I have a virus on my computer, so I was wondering how long a virus typically takes to start going to work? So far, my computer isn't acting different, and everything's been working fine, no slow-downs, no pop-ups, no nothing. I was even able to restart the computer with no problems. Can a computer virus take several HOURS, or DAYS, or even WEEKS, MONTHS, or YEARS to start acting uo?
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Little_Melon // Jun 18, 2008
Some viruses may sit there dormant until a certain time passes, triggers it and starts causing havoc on your computer. I had the same problem on MSN from my friends, many of their computers were infected but that stopped. I clicked on the link (stupidly) and my AVG quarantined the found virus it immediately. Some virus may infect immediately while some may take some time.
2 Techguy // Jun 18, 2008
Yes, viruses can hide in your computer and stay dormant for periods of time. Your scan wouldnt pick it up because it is doing nothing, but as soon as the virus activates you would be able to find it with antivirus software. You probably don't have a virus, so dont worry about it
3 Shishir // Jun 18, 2008
If the virus have infected your system or just got installed, it will be traced by your anti-virus even if it is not functional. Therefore if you have a good anti-virus and it is not able to detect it, then relax, the virus is not there.
Only in cases where the virus if new, it may not be traced by the anti-virus because they don't have the signatures of it. Usually the signatures of new virus are released in 24 hours.
In your case it seems that the link is just to boost popularity of the site, therefore it have no virus.
Thanks
Shishir Gupta
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