Risk of virus while starting up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jyeshta
  • Start date Start date
J

Jyeshta

Hi all,

If I have a cable modem plugged into my computer as I reboot, am I in
danger of getting a virus or worm as the computer starts up? Thank
you.

Gail
 
Hi all,

If I have a cable modem plugged into my computer as I reboot, am I in
danger of getting a virus or worm as the computer starts up? Thank
you.

Gail
Click to expand...

I should add that I do not have a router.
 
No, because it hasn't got an IP address yet. Your antivirus software
should protect from the moment you get past the POST.
 
I may be mistaken, but, I believe the chances are so remote as to be nothing
to worry about. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Simply
practice 'safe hex'.........have a good firewall, AV and a couple of
antispyware/malware apps, i.e. Spybot S&D, Adaware, Spyware Blaster.
Heirloom, old and no probs so far
 
I may be mistaken, but, I believe the chances are so remote as to be nothing
to worry about. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong. Simply
practice 'safe hex'.........have a good firewall, AV and a couple of
antispyware/malware apps, i.e. Spybot S&D, Adaware, Spyware Blaster.
Heirloom, old and no probs so far
Click to expand...

Thank you, Heirloom!

Gail
 
While the computer is booting up, you are not at risk of getting a
virus. You are of course at risk of viruses that are already in your
system. Take the regular precautions and you should be OK
 
Hey null,
I guess I don't understand just how these things
work.........Jyeshta is on a cable modem, as am I. I have a static IP
address that is 'standing' at the modem at all times. Of course, I have a
NAT router between the cable modem and my PC as a hardware firewall. But,
back to topic.....if she, too, has a static IP, it should be hot from the
get go. It is my understanding that the startup axis begins loading after
the POST is complete. My sound manager is the first thing to load, then the
'remove hardware' and then my AV. My firewall is the last thing to load.
Have tried to determine how that can be set, in XP, to a particular order,
but, have only found third party software that was capable of doing it. If
this is the case, how would the AV come into play "the moment you get past
the POST?" Would there not be some lag until startup apps are loaded into
memory?
Heirloom, old and POST, Poor Old
Senile Twit
 
There cannot be any lag, because AV software is set up by default to look for
boot viruses at bootup. This is one reason why you shouldn't have more than one
vendor's AV software installed, because they tend to step on each other's toes
and weird (bad) things can happen.
 
Heirloom said:
Hey null, <snip>...if she, too, has a static IP, it should be hot from the
get go
Click to expand...

It's not 'hot at the get go' because the TCP/IP stack hasn't been loaded yet.
 
While the computer is booting up, you are not at risk of getting a
virus. You are of course at risk of viruses that are already in your
system. Take the regular precautions and you should be OK.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Louisville!

Gail
 
Back
Top