The strange case of the farting virus

happygeek 0 336 Views

If you work in IT support you pretty much learn to expect the unexpected, but nobody could have seen some of these little gems, just revealed by the Panda Security tech support team, coming.

For example, how about the customer who wondered if Panda antivirus software could be blowing the fuses in their house? Here is the actual support query received:

“Hello: For some time now, my fuses have been blown, and until the power is restored, I am left without electricity (light, fridge and other electrical appliances). I have carried out several checks and have reached the conclusion that it could be caused by my “Panda Titanium” antivirus which I am very satisfied with. I think the antivirus blows the fuses when trying to update while the computer is turned off. Could this be the cause? Please send me a reply so I can solve this problem”.

I also rather liked the reports of a farting virus: “For some time now I have been unable to make my ActiveScan Pro work. I enter the user name and password, but the only answer I get is a ‘fart’ sound (pardon the expression)”.

I wonder if this is related to the problem another customer was having: “Three days ago, when I sent a fax from my PC I heard a sound which I once read corresponded to that of a virus (the sound is similar to taking a foot out of jelly). I have scanned the PC with the antivirus several times and it has not detected anything, the virus is still there”.

Best of all though, has got to be the customer who got the wrong end of the stick when it came to disinfecting a drive. Apparently, tech support got a box through the post containing a DVD drive and a note. The note read: “Dear Sirs: I am a client of yours. Given that I cannot disinfect my computer’s DVD drive, I have enclosed it for you to clean it and send it back to me."

The Panda support team cleaned the drive with some swabs and alcohol and returned it to the customer with a note saying: "Here is your disinfected DVD drive. We have cleaned it with alcohol and cotton wool. You will have no more problems. Kind regards”.

Dani AI

Generated

Nice roundup, . Strange support reports are more than comic relief — they expose weak points in triage, telemetry and user expectations. Treat each report as genuine until evidence disproves it, and use the case to tighten processes so the next oddball call becomes teachable rather than time-consuming.

A compact troubleshooting workflow that cuts repeat work:

  • Capture evidence first: exact timestamps, OS/build, power setup (UPS/surge protector), recent software installs and any audio/video/photos of the symptom. Ask for logs rather than hardware wherever possible.
  • Reproduce and isolate: attempt reproduction via remote session or a recorded clip; disconnect nonessential peripherals; boot safe mode or a clean rescue USB to separate OS/software from hardware.
  • Inspect logs: System/Application event logs, Task Scheduler history, AV/update logs, router or UPS logs and UEFI/BIOS event records. Timestamps often reveal scheduled tasks or wake events.
  • Check update/wake mechanisms: scheduled updates, automatic AV checks, Wake-on-LAN, power-plan timers and firmware wake timers are common culprits when activity appears to happen “unexpectedly.”
  • Scan safely and preserve data: image the drive or back up important data before running aggressive remediation; use offline rescue media for hard-to-detect persistence.
  • Follow shipping and RMA policy: if a user insists on sending hardware, require formal RMA, clear chain-of-custody and documented lab procedures — avoid ad-hoc handling.

Support best practices to reduce these incidents: build short KB articles that explain what common services actually do (auto-update behavior, scheduled tasks, what an AV does and does not do), keep a template checklist for “weird” reports, and log each resolved odd case so the team learns from it. Simple evidence-based triage saves time, prevents unsafe handling of equipment, and turns amusing anecdotes into reliable process improvements.

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