Ubuntu

new user named root, how do I restore, No CD

Asked by Tynut

Daughter downloaded virus. We have a new user named Root that we can't remove. Did not get a restore CD
with purchase of Dell Mini. Where can I get a Ubuntu Restore CD?

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Thomas Krüger
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Andre Mangan (kyphi) said : 		#1

"Daughter downloaded virus" - No, not for Ubuntu.
"We have a new user named Root that we can't remove" - the root account is disabled in Ubuntu since the ordinary user account in conjunction with "sudo" accesses administrator facilities.
Although I can tell you how to disable it, first I would like to know how it affects the running of your computer and how you activated it. All Linux installations have a "root" account.
You do not say which Dell Mini you have - if it is a netbook without a CD drive then Ubuntu would have been installed via USB stick. If you think that a reinstall is necessary then ask Dell.

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Steven Danna (ssd7) said : 		#2

The "root" user is a user that is present on every system running Ubuntu and is similar to Window's "Administrator" account. You can read more about this user here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

The presence of this user does not mean you have a virus. Viruses are very rare when running Ubuntu and unless you have other symptoms that indicate that a virus may be present it is likely that you do not have a virus.

If you are worried about your system, two programs: clamav (an antivirus program) and chkrootkit (a rootkit checker) are available for installation using Synaptic Package Manager.

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Best Thomas Krüger (thkrueger) said : 		#3

At first there are VERY VERY few Linux viruses around and Windows viruses don't run on Linux system in a way that would effect the system. If they are able to run in a Windows emulator like wine it will only affect the current users account. So I doubt you have been infected.

"root" is a system user. It is always there and is the most powerful user account on the system. You must not remove it.

You can reinstall Ubuntu from any available Ubuntu installer CD. Images can be downloaded at http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

But before you decide to reinstall, create a new user account with administrator rights and delete the old one.

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Tynut (tynut) said : 		#4

Well if I don't have a virus, than something is using all my memory. I just added 2GB from the original 1GB
but all of a sudden I have no available memory.
I will try the download and create a new user this evening.
Thanks for the help, I will advise the outcome

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Steven Danna (ssd7) said : 		#5

Could you post the output of the following commands:

ps -eo %mem,user,cmd | sort -n | tail -10

free

These commands will help us see how much memory is being used by processes and which processes are using the most memory.

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Tynut (tynut) said : 		#6

Thanks Thomas Krüger, that solved my question.