If I have a virus, will HiJackThis show it?

truthseeker · 06-15-2008, 04:48 PM

If a person gets infected with a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger, will HiJackThis show it?

I mean..... is my understanding correct that if I have a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger on my PC that it will be running in memory, and HiJackThis would show something running when I do a HiJackThis scan?

Because why would a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger not be active in the memory? If not active and running in memory, then what would it be doing? Just sitting on my HDD doing nothing?

**Cellus** · 06-18-2008, 12:42 PM

HijackThis helps to show traces of malware by a knowledgeable analyst, but it does not actually scan and detect malware. For this you need actual anti-virus/anti-malware software.

Malware may not necessarily be active in memory for several reasons. For one, it may be triggered only during execution, or at a certain date/time. Malware comes in all shapes and sizes.

06-15-2008, 04:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
truthseeker Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 405 OS: Vista	If I have a virus, will HiJackThis show it? If a person gets infected with a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger, will HiJackThis show it? I mean..... is my understanding correct that if I have a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger on my PC that it will be running in memory, and HiJackThis would show something running when I do a HiJackThis scan? Because why would a virus, trojan or spyware or keylogger not be active in the memory? If not active and running in memory, then what would it be doing? Just sitting on my HDD doing nothing?

06-18-2008, 12:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,664 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Re: If I have a virus, will HiJackThis show it? HijackThis helps to show traces of malware by a knowledgeable analyst, but it does not actually scan and detect malware. For this you need actual anti-virus/anti-malware software. Malware may not necessarily be active in memory for several reasons. For one, it may be triggered only during execution, or at a certain date/time. Malware comes in all shapes and sizes. __________________ TSF Networking Team Virus/Trojan/Spyware Removal Help Donate!