ARCHIVED: What is the Wazzu virus, and how do I get rid of it?
The Wazzu virus is a type of Microsoft Word macro
virus. It consists of a single AutoOpen macro which can affect your
files by inserting words like "Wazzu" in the text. Often it is
detected by users because they notice that their file extensions
change from .doc
to .dot
and the file
behaves strangely. The .dot
extension designates a
Word template or macro.
The Wazzu virus is not extremely dangerous to your hard drive, but it can affect localized versions of Word, possibly infecting your Normal template. (Unless you direct otherwise, in Word, new documents are based on the Normal template.)
For information concerning protection from and removal of macro viruses, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: How can I combat macro viruses?
Once you have disinfected the files (see the Knowledge Base documents ARCHIVED: Using Symantec/Norton AntiVirus for Windows, how do I scan network drives for viruses? and ARCHIVED: Using Symantec/Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition, how do I immediately scan a file, folder, or drive for viruses?), run the virus software again on the target disk to confirm your work.
If you have scanned your disk the second time around and the virus
software says it is clean, you still may have to do some work to
return your file to its original state. If you notice that the
.dot
extensions still remain on the hard drive in some
instances, you will need to reopen each disinfected file in Word, then
copy its contents to a new file.
- In Word, open the document, then, from the menu, choose . Click .
- Open a new document. From the menu, click to place all the contents of the original file into the new document.
- From the
.doc
extension. Then you can go back and delete the old file that had the.dot
extension. menu, choose . Enter an appropriate
filename using the - You may also need to delete occurrences of "Wazzu" in the file, either manually or by using Word's search and replace function:
- Under , select .
- In the
Find and Replace
window, in the "Find what:" field, type the offending word (e.g.,wazzu
). Leave the "Replace with:" field empty. - Click .
This is document adam in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 10:28:13.