...and then I killed them all with my brain.
On November 11 at 1:15AM, my 'puter picked up a particularly insidious computer virus/malware/trojan-fucking-horse/rootkit/A.I. scurvy*/whatever the kids are calling computer cooties these days. I wish I'd realized it right off -- I could have used Firefox's History to see where I picked it up! Unfortunately, by the time I figured it out (I noted that the computer created a "restore point" in response to the influx of software), I'd already done a (completely useless) System Restore and it was too late. The problem first presented itself as the Thinkpoint virus, but once I got rid of that, I didn't have time to cheer because Thinkpoint had brought along some friends. Lots and lots of friends.
So I've been slaving over a hot computer for a week and have certainly demonstrably killed a lot of malware in that time, but I cannot seem to get all of it. The thing that's entrenched in there now spontaneously opens tabs in both IE and Firefox to malware sites, and if I open up a search in Google or Yahoo, clicking on a URL invariably causes an automatic redirect to various malware sites -- sometimes fake "Walmart" sites with a "YOU'VE WON A PRIZE!" popup, or to one of those sites you cannot ever, ever close down as it keeps on throwing up a blocking-popup that says, "Are you sure you want to close this site down?" over and over when you try. I've figured out a clever way around that, though. I take my little victories where I can.
I've used every malware-killing software imaginable and have gotten lots of help from the kindly folks at SUPERAntiSpyware, but I'm going to draw the line at getting involved with the crazy IT people at bleepingcomputer.com. That is just too rich for my blood. Seriously, if you want to break out in a cold sweat, read some of the How-To instructions on their "Malware, Trojan Horse, Virus" forums. The prep they expect you to do *before* a tech starts telling you what to do made my hands shake.
In the past week, I've learned a lot of stuff I didn't want to know -- for instance, what Safe Mode is. If you don't know, I hope you never need to know. I learned that NOD32 is a really good antivirus software that I wish I'd had before this happened, as it would have stopped it before it started. It's bundled with a good firewall in ESET Smart Security, and I plan to purchase the bundle after I get my computer back from the shop.
I'm very lucky in that I had only just backed *everything* up a couple of days before my computer was stricken. Plus I now know how to back up my bookmarks and tabs, which I didn't know how to do before. Losing my bookmarks and gazillion open tabs really messed me up the last two times I had a computer meltdown.
Tomorrow I will take my baby to be put down... I mean, to have the (irreparably corrupted) harddrive reformatted at either Staples or a local computer repair shop, if they'll do it quicker than Staples will. I love the professionalism of the IT guys at Staples, but they put your computer on the shelf for a week or more before they get around to it, as they invariably have a long waiting list.
Wanna tell me a computer war story of your own to cheer me up? Or suggest a good antivirus software that might be even better than ESET? Please feel free, but I may not be able to read it for a while! ::weeps at thought of not having an online presence::
*I made that one up.
So I've been slaving over a hot computer for a week and have certainly demonstrably killed a lot of malware in that time, but I cannot seem to get all of it. The thing that's entrenched in there now spontaneously opens tabs in both IE and Firefox to malware sites, and if I open up a search in Google or Yahoo, clicking on a URL invariably causes an automatic redirect to various malware sites -- sometimes fake "Walmart" sites with a "YOU'VE WON A PRIZE!" popup, or to one of those sites you cannot ever, ever close down as it keeps on throwing up a blocking-popup that says, "Are you sure you want to close this site down?" over and over when you try. I've figured out a clever way around that, though. I take my little victories where I can.
I've used every malware-killing software imaginable and have gotten lots of help from the kindly folks at SUPERAntiSpyware, but I'm going to draw the line at getting involved with the crazy IT people at bleepingcomputer.com. That is just too rich for my blood. Seriously, if you want to break out in a cold sweat, read some of the How-To instructions on their "Malware, Trojan Horse, Virus" forums. The prep they expect you to do *before* a tech starts telling you what to do made my hands shake.
In the past week, I've learned a lot of stuff I didn't want to know -- for instance, what Safe Mode is. If you don't know, I hope you never need to know. I learned that NOD32 is a really good antivirus software that I wish I'd had before this happened, as it would have stopped it before it started. It's bundled with a good firewall in ESET Smart Security, and I plan to purchase the bundle after I get my computer back from the shop.
I'm very lucky in that I had only just backed *everything* up a couple of days before my computer was stricken. Plus I now know how to back up my bookmarks and tabs, which I didn't know how to do before. Losing my bookmarks and gazillion open tabs really messed me up the last two times I had a computer meltdown.
Tomorrow I will take my baby to be put down... I mean, to have the (irreparably corrupted) harddrive reformatted at either Staples or a local computer repair shop, if they'll do it quicker than Staples will. I love the professionalism of the IT guys at Staples, but they put your computer on the shelf for a week or more before they get around to it, as they invariably have a long waiting list.
Wanna tell me a computer war story of your own to cheer me up? Or suggest a good antivirus software that might be even better than ESET? Please feel free, but I may not be able to read it for a while! ::weeps at thought of not having an online presence::
*I made that one up.