Virus?

rhcp

I was on the internet when a file suddenly downloaded on to my computer. It wasn't anything I did and I wasn't on any dodgy site.

Having had a bit of a look at my computer, I noticed that a similar file had been downloaded about 3 weeks ago. I have run avast and malwarebytes, but they have shown up nothing. I did do a scan using hijackthis, but haven't a clue what the results mean!

What is the best way to find out what this file is, without opening it, and seeing if it is malicious?

I have been having problems with my computer, but that started a couple of months ago, so I don't know if they are related or not, ie constant crashing, webpages not loading properly.

tronator

rhcp wrote: »

What is the best way to find out what this file is, without opening it, and seeing if it is malicious?

If you have access to a Linux system, the "file" command will tell you, what the file actually is.

file test.odt
test.odt: OpenDocument Text

You could boot a Linux Live-CD and run it in a terminal.

bod1467

Might help if you also give us the name of the file?

gunte

Check it with

VirusTotal

rhcp

The file is called: download

I checked with virustotal and it came up this:

MIMEType
text/html


ContentType
text/html; charset=utf-8


Description
Coral is the UK s most trusted and respected betting site online. Bet on live in-play football, horse racing and much more. Get a 20 Free Bet Today | Join Now.


ContentLanguage
en


Title
Online Sports Betting | Live In - Play Football | Horse Racing


FileType
HTML


Robots
INDEX,FOLLOW


HTTPEquivXUACompatible
IE=9; IE=8; IE=EDGE


FileTypeExtension
html


Keywords
Betting | Online Betting | Sports Betting | Bet Online with Coral


Don't know why coral are downloading files to my computer and I wasn't on the Coral website at the time. Thanks gunte for the link.

bod1467

Sounds like it may have been an advert in the page you were looking at.

If you open Explorer and go to Organize | Folder & Search Options | View and then untick Hide extensions for known file types you should be able to discern file types in future quite easily.

GunJack

if it's down to ads, try adwcleaner and JRT, get both from bleepingcomputer.com

bluesnake

some of the best tools i have found for detecting rogue programs can be obtained free of charge from MS. They are called 'Process Monitor' and 'Process Explorer'. Youtube and google will show you how to use them, but are much more involved then hijack this and they do not cover boot-up per say.