How to get rid of virus which affects pdf reader?

[treez]

Hello,
As electronic engineers, we often need to download and read many datasheets in pdf format. At several of the electronics companies where I have worked, there has been a virus on the company PC’s that interferes with the use of adobe acrobat pdf reader. This virus keeps making the pdf, and computer freeze, the pdf can also sometimes just close itself, and sometimes it just goes “dead”, when you try and scroll it it just freezes, and the “blue wheel” comes over it.

The way to solve this is to uninstall adobe reader and then download a new one and re-install it.

However, do you know of an “antidote” software to fight this virus with, as I don’t always have internet access to be able to download another adobe reader, and sometimes one isn’t allowed to use USB sticks to put another one on.

 

[KlausST]

Hi,

1) use a good virus scanner.
2) use reliable data sources
3) use another PDF viewer than acrobat.
4) For many virusses there are some "desinfect" tools. Search the internet.
5) avoid unscanned transferring data from/to USB stick.

Klaus

 

[betwixt]

... and don't use Windows :-D

Brian.

 

[FvM]

It's not clear if you are talking about infected documents (e.g. containing malicious java script code), a corrupted Acrobat installation or possibly both.

On a recent Windows OS (Windows 7 or above) a virus can't easily modify the Acrobat binaries without user confimation. Nevertheless you may want to disable jave script execution in Acrobat.

A full featured protection tool (e.g. Norton) will also check any downloaded documents or programs for known viruses.

 

[BradtheRad]

Macintosh has a program called Preview which reads pdf's (and many other file types). (So if you spot a Mac on an employee's desk, ask whether you can use it to read a pdf.)

For Windows, there is an alternative called Foxit Reader.

At several of the electronics companies where I have worked, there has been a virus on the company PC’s that interferes with the use of adobe acrobat pdf reader.

Sounds like an opening for all kinds of malware. Example, a relatively new type called 'ransomware' which bad guys are working on so it can be transmitted with increasing ease. It encrypts all your data, then demands a hefty fee for the password. It gives you 24 hours, and after that it erases your data permanently.

 

[ads-ee]

Sounds like an opening for all kinds of malware. Example, a relatively new type called 'ransomware' which bad guys are working on so it can be transmitted with increasing ease. It encrypts all your data, then demands a hefty fee for the password. It gives you 24 hours, and after that it erases your data permanently.

Keep regular backups on an external drive that is only ON when performing backups. Then when you get one of these ransomeware viruses you can just wipe your HD and restore your data from the backup and never ever go to that website/download_that_program/open_that_whatever again.

Of course this only works if you keep backups...you do have backups don't you?

I could care less about losing my HD data, I keep everything of value on a network drive, which is powered off 99.9% of the time.

 

[treez]

Thanks,
I first had this virus in a company where there was much chagrin over the employment of engineers (myself being one of these) into a particular UK company where we were not "natives". My computer was virused there. The local guy that I was sat next to would be quietly sniggering as he saw me trying unsuccessfully to read pdf's on the company PC. I could hear him going off to chat about it with his pals. It was particularly difficult there, as I was given the job of evaluating a large number of LED drivers and SMPS controllers, which required me to read hundreds of pdf datasheets.

 

[D.A.(Tony)Stewart]

I eat viruses for lunch and rarely get any unless I get careless on downloads. I also never use any AV suite on any version of windows since XP to Win8.1 ( nobody will convince me to use Win10)

A simple adware cleaner which gets some trojans is called ADWcleaner. quick and free.
A comprehensive trojan cleaner is combofix.exe which also resets some windows explorer settings and replaces infected windows DLLs but requires expert to oversee.
I only use WinPatrol and a web firewall called Ublock Origin. (free, but I donated to WP 10yrs ago)
If you want support, I can send a link to log file generator.

I prefer Sumatra or Foxit for PDF viewing.