Technology Virus VBS.Redlof.A Need Questions answered please!!

[karmon]

so i'm browsing the internet and listening to windows media player radio tuner from like greece or something. and all of a sudded, my symantec window pops up and says 'realtime scan found a virus. name: vbs.redloft.a. blah blah blah.... but then it said, quarantine failed. clean up failed. so i run full scan on my computer, it detects the virus, i delete the file...etc. etc. cleanup resolved (at least hopefully)

well my question is that, (although i'm really not versed in computer language) i tried following the directions on how to fix the problem from this website.

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/vbs.redlof.a.html

anyways, as i was trying to fix the problem from the registry key as that website suggested me do near the end of the page, i didn't notice any of the changes made that it said we had to fix??? does that mean it was caught before the execution started in the registry? i really don't know too much about viruses and how they work if it's instantaneous or what. i guess my questions are -

1. i don't know how i got the virus. i run a computer scan everyday at 12:00 in the afternoon. virus was detected about 13 hours later at 1:08 in the morning as i'm browsing websites. i tried reading up on how i may have gotten it but i guess i don't understand computer language all that well....i never downloaded anything or visit any malicious websites (at least i don't think i do) i do watch clips and stuff on media player and listen to music on their radio tuner from all over the world. does this mean it was a dormant virus that didn't execute until later on?

2. if it didn't make any changes to my registry key, does that mean 'realtime scan' caught it before it did anything bad, even though it said 'clean up failed' and 'quarantine failed'? (notice i ran a manual scan minutes later to which i hope fixed everything). do i just have to not worry about this anymore because (i think) i may have fixed the problems already? is this something i don't expect to bother me again in the future?

3. i just got a new laptop and am very anal about getting it infected. i downloaded everything and have windows SP2 already installed and although my virus protection (symantec) isn't detected as my virus software (patch to be released in nov-dec), everything i think is in tip top shape. i have all security to medium settings but had it on medium-high for a bit (got annoying after i have to verify every procedure so i moved it back).....should i go back to medium high?


sorry for this babble. it's just i got really freaked out about this whole thing because as i've said, i've been real careful and such since i got this laptop. thank you so much ahead of time for any help or advice.


one last thing..... what does this virus do? i couldn't understand exactly there explanation on what it does to my computer. and i'm really interested in how i may have gotten it if it's not through email or whatever?

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[karmon]

the only way i think i may have gotten the virus is that if i visit radio stations from other countries on WindowsMediaPlayer 10.0 . is this possible? because it said one of the ways that the virus spreads is through a buffering system? is this the same as when the player is 'buffering'? i really have no clue......i'm just a bit paranoid because i might end up visiting the website or whatever again...

and, i have XP SP2 firewall set up to which it specifically states "protects from incoming viruses, etc. etc) should i get another firewall up too?

 

[SDN]

The XP SP2 Firewall is not very effective at virus filtering. It stops certain viruses, but many, if not most, can still get right through in email, program downloads, infected html pages, etc.

I think you got yours from an infected email or possibly infected website.

Either way, keep using your virus protection software. And make sure your antivirus software updates itself regularly.

The combination of the firewall and antivirus software will help to keep your computer safer. But as long as your computer is connected to the Internet, you're always going to be at risk.

 

[fielight]

actually, if you have XP on your laptop, then you can just do a System Restore and things should fine; the purpose of that program is to restore the computer back to a time when everything was running fine. start > programs > accessories > System Tools > System Restore. i had this nasty thing once that i couldn't get rid of even with an updated Norton Antivirus, so i ended up doing a System Restore and it never bugged me again.