Brand new mac is full of viruses and I am a technophobe

[redelse]

I just got a new mac and i think the viruses came from my old computers files, but I need to use them for work.  I have 28 viruses today and 118 warnings or something, but I cannot get avast to actually do anything to them...like - NOTHING.  Am totally freaking out because...I don't want my lovely computer to be slow and crap like my old one.  Plus - I thought macs were supposed to be virus free.

The viruses are JS: Agent-BW (Trj) and HTML:Xorer.

Can't delete them, can't move them to chest...

Can anyone give me some advice?  Please remember that I know close to zero about computers...

Thanks.

E

[Happy-Dude]

(Since no one replied, felt like I should say somethings.)

EDIT::
--Realized some things with Macs ... -_-
**Did you run a Mac software update? Those can be really important (but I'm not sure how they interact with malware).
--Being a technophobe, I don't think you would be running Mozilla Firefox. Once your issue is solved (hopefully, Avast! is enough, or else I doubt many of us know where to go ... except for redoing your hard drive, which you don't want to do),  get yourself a copy and install Ad-Block + NoScript on top of it.
--end edit--


You probably aren't receiving fast responses (like avast! forums usually does) since you are in a Mac environment. Different anti-malware programs, different behaviors, and different everything (even avast! for Macs is a bit different).

Alright, what I can suggest for you (sorry, its not much ...):
--Update Avast!
--Setup Avast! to run a boot-time scan (here are some visual directions; not sure if they are the same for Macs: http://www.schmahl.net/cr/avastbootscan.htm)
--Try to quarantine/ delete those files

**Is there a way you can revert these changes? Like a backup/ system-restore-like behavior on Macs? Time Machine ??

Report back ASAP.

Plus - I thought macs were supposed to be virus free.

--Now you know its not true . One of the reasons why I hate the Apple philosophy and business structure: http://gizmodo.com/5040593/cranky-windows-guy-apples-iphone-bugs-stopped-me-from-switching-to-a-mac

[wyrmrider]

not a mac person but does Clam Av have a mac product?
who else?
which OS are you running?  Puma, Cheeta, Bobcat?
Spyware written for windows will not run on a mac but might infect later windoze systems

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=157772

http://www.sophos.com/products/enterprise/endpoint/security-and-control/8.0/mac/

as with windows completly uninstall current product before installing another
do any on line scans run?

looks like a lot of scam stuff out there so BVVC

[.: Mac :.]

This happens quite often, people transfer windows viruses to their Mac.  No need to panic, these will not harm your Mac but they could be a problem if you sent them to anyone running windows.

If avast is unable to delete them you can delete them manually.

If you Like you can also try the free ClamAV based program called ClamXav available here: http://www.clamxav.com/index.php?page=dl

Plus - I thought macs were supposed to be virus free.

There are very few malware for Mac that are actually In the wild, most of them are just Proof-of-concept. So while the mac is not virus free, the chances of actually getting a Mac virus/trojan/worm are very slim. Most of the time what AV software on the Mac finds is just Windows viruses.

[CharleyO]

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Welcome to the forums, redelse.   

I am wondering ... did you get the Windows edition of avast or did you get the Mac edition of avast?   

Windows edition :

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Mac edition :

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-antivirus-mac-edition.html

You need the Mac edition.


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[.: Mac :.]

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Welcome to the forums, redelse.   

I am wondering ... did you get the Windows edition of avast or did you get the Mac edition of avast?   

Windows edition :

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Mac edition :

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-antivirus-mac-edition.html

You need the Mac edition.


***

He most likely has the Mac edition as the windows version will not run in OS X.

[CharleyO]

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Maybe so, Mac ... but I wanted to ask because just in the last few days we had another who was trying to run the Windows edition on a Mac, but, I do not remember right now the OS of the other Mac user.


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