SimpleTech Viruses

[srobot]

I ordered a SimpleTech 80 GB HDD from NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com) on Friday, and got it last night (Wednesday).

I was going to use it to backup a Hard Drive in case of a Virus infection.

Last night I plug it in to my Dell Latitude D520 computer, and 5 seconds latter McAfee popped up saying that it found, and removed "Generic!atr (http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=141387)" (Trojan) on drive E (The SimpleTech HDD)!

Okay this was quite something, I bought the Hard Drive to *SAVE* my computer, but here it is trying to *PUT* viruses on my computer!

I took a screenshot of the warning and saved it.

Then I thought I'd take a look to see if any thing was on the hard drive, no icons.

I then scanned it, yup, two "W32/USBAgent (http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=140764)" viruses, and one fine file of some type.

I shut the computer down for the night, and turned it on today.

The first thing I did was to scan the computer (which was fine).
then 30 minutes ago contacted SimpleTech, yeah, "we'll call you back" (someday...).

On the recording I said that it had viruses [this *was* to back up my computer] on it and I wanted a new one (not that I could not handle a few viruses).

I'm guessing SimpleTech was (maybe still is) infected by these viruses and then put them on all of the USB drives that they made/make (I don't think they meant to).

Both types of viruses are made to live on removable storage.

I'm not mad at SimpleTech, I only want to say beware if you buy one.

--Scotty

[tsmgr]

Thanks for your post, and apologies for any delays on our end. I head up SimpleTech Customer Support and personally wanted to get back to you. There's nothing to worry about and there's a quick fix. We have noticed a very small number of our portable drives did not get properly formatted before shipment. Because of this, messages returned from virus scanners indicate there is a virus, but we have had no indications that these drives have ever infected any computers. The solution to this is to do a “full” (instead of quick) format on the drive once installed. If you need any additional help or info, feel free to email me directly at dmasters@simpletech.com.

[srobot]

Thanks for your reply!

I had no idea you would post a reply. : | (sort of scary)

I don't know...

There was 4 items on the HDD (now 1, after getting rid of three "viruses").

I thought the hard drive should come blank?

I bought it as a 80 GB hard drive, but it only has 74.5 GB of total space (.1 GB taken up by an "item").

.1 GB = 100 MB (it must be a quite big file)

This SimpleTech HDD was made before the virus was listed.

I'm not calling you a liar, but it seems to me that a virus ripped up part of the hard drive.

--Scotty

If you would not mind having one of your employees call, please do so.

[Alex]

Hey Scotty,

If you're expecting to get exactly 80GB when you buy an 80GB drive, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but you are always going to be disappointed. You'll never get a hard drive to be the amount that it claims to be. I know, it pisses me off royally too, and I'm not the one to explain why, because I never can quite explain it correctly. But I do know the bottom line is to always expect a significant amount lower than what the drive is advertised.

All that said, it sounds like SimpleTech wants to work with you to help correct the situation. When you have a crapload of products going in and out the door, mistakes will happen, make no question about that. What proves a company is if they are willing to go above and beyond to help resolve the situation, which it looks like they are. Yes, it was a little freaky that they found your post like that, but I'm sure big companies like that have resources to do so:). The point being is that tsmgr asked you to contact him/her directly and see if they can work something out with you.

Do you know how to do a full format on your drive? Just right click on "My Computer" go to "Manage", then click on "Disk Management". Then, with your external hard drive connected, right click on it and select "Format". Just be sure you do not select "quick format", and select the full format option.


- Alex

[srobot]

I understand that a 80 GB HDD is not 80 GB.

I know how to format a hard drive, I've done it before.

I formatted the hard drive and it is now good!

Looking over these posts it looks like I'm mad at SimpleTech, I'm not.

I would like to say sorry to SimpleTech for saying anything that may have offended them.

I still am not sure about the viruses, but it's fine now.

The hard drive now has 74.4 of total disk space.

Thanks for your prompt service SimpleTech, I know I will be buying from you again!

--Scotty

PS - Alex, thanks for checking the forums on Sunday. : )

[kdwyer]

There are also other 'conditions' that can mimic a virus (no idea about this one tho) and will be flagged by an antivirus prg as such.
I don't use McAfee (or Norton) but I too have seen 'false positives' especially with newer technologies. I'd bet a standard EIDE or ATA/SATA is much less susceptible to this sort of problem, as the 'standards' are much more, er, standardized. There are several ways USB drives implement IO, some more reliable than others. And not all USB implementations are equal!
Glad to hear the company cares enough to be concerned.

[Alex]

you bring up a good point. I've had spybot installed on my computer for ages now, and have always kept it updated to the most recent version. I absolutely swear by it and recommend it to everyone I know. But, there is one funny thing that I've noticed: it has always tried telling me that ctfmon.exe is a "virus, spyware, malware or other resource hog", when in fact it is nothing of the sort:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282599

It is cftmon.exe that is the problem, not ctfmon.exe.

Ok, I'll shut up now:)