if I download a .rar file with a virus in it, and just open the archive without extracting is my PC safe?

Question

AVG picked up a Trojan in a rar file I downloaded that I didn't open yet (dloaded it and overnight scan detected) I opened the rar to scan the items individually but didn't extract, am I still safe? (I was always under the impression I couldn't get a virus unless I extracted/ran the files, but I cant help the lingering what if im wrong feeling )

Answer 1

You are safe.

Even if you exract it, the virus wont spread.(But you virus guard will not alow you to extract it.)

Answer 2

AVG together with other anti-virus software will look at "virus like" code and mark it as virus even though it isn't. To explain: a virus will pack it self into a self-extracting executable file (a bit like some zip .exe files) to avoid detection. Other virus programmers think "that's a good idea" and follow suit. AVG sees this trend and thinks it's safer to mark all files that are packed in such a way as viruses rather than let an unknown one slip through.



The up side of this is that you are protected from hidden, unknown viruses. The down-side is that a safe file can be marked as a virus. This is where the human side has to come in and you have to decide if you trust the location where you got the file from. If you trust it, then unpack and run it, if not then don't. I would suggest that a warning like this on a file from a big organisation like samsung, sony etc is more than likely safe but one from a bit-torrent or P2P sharing is less likely to be safe.



To answer your question, you are safe looking at the contents of the archive (as long as the archive itself is not the virus) Extracting the contents is also safe (as long as you don't extract anything to an autorun directory like startup in your start menu) Executing the file is the risky bit, but you will probably find that AVG will capture a virus on run anyway.

Answer 3

most anti-virus would've cleaned that file automatically for you.

i haven't tried AVG yet, but based on my experiences with nod32 and Microsoft security essentials, this is the case.

in any case, since AVG detected it, i'm pretty sure you are protected, whether you open the .rar file or not, just make sure your anti-virus is always updated.

Answer 4

Chances are you dont have a virus. When dling files from p2ps if it contains a crack or key generater, it will show as a trojan. Sort of a false positive. I still dont recommend opening.

Answer 5

yes you are safe for now.. just make sure you dont open the virus otherwise it was save itself in your temp folder and activate infecting your computer ...

Answer 6

Virues aren't alive. If you don't execute the code they don't do anything but sit there.

Answer 7

You are pretty safe don't worry just delete or quarantine it.