Shun Wah e-mailed me and said that she also got hit by the malware. She said several of her friends got it too. The really scary thing is we don't know how we got it. This is what the virus does. You go to Google search (or Bing) and you type in a search word (or phrase). It gives you links to pick (like usual). When you click on the link you get directed to a totally unrelated site.
At least Shun Wah knew how to fix it herself, but she had to go back to factory settings and start all over with her computer, reinstalling everything. I took mine to Cowabunga at around 10:00 yesterday morning. The guy said he would call me daily with updates. DAILY!! Like how many days gonna take if he's gonna call me DAILY???!!! He did call me yesterday afternoon. He said they were still working on hardware diagnostics. So that means they neva even work on the virus problem yet. What's really bothering me is that after I pay $125 to fix it, and maybe even after having to remove everything and starting from scratch again, how do I prevent from getting reinfected when I don't know how I got it in the first place? When searching online, I found that some people got infected with this misdirecting malware even though they had good protection and safeguards in place.
Right now, I'm using my old computer. I hooked it up and can't believe it still works after being idle for years, especially since I replaced it because I thought it was gonna break soon.
So peoples please be careful . . . although I can't really tell you of what.
14 minutes ago
10 comments:
Sorry to hear about your computer problems! Sometimes you'll get viruses even if you have virus protection... it happens.
A few things I do:
1) Don't click on links in emails.
2) Don't open files in emails even from people you know. If their email is compromised then it could send out bad files/links.
3) Don't click on links in websites that you are not familiar with. Sometimes they may lead you astray.
I tell my parents these things because I'm the one who has to fix their computer when something happens...
I try to keep my important stuff on an external backup drive. I have my pictures on a network drive that's run in Raid. Should probably have a backup for that, but I'm waiting for 3tb drives to come down in price. :) When I get a virus I just reformat... sometimes it's faster than taking it somewhere to get fixed.
Thanks teamtybo! I'm seriously thinking about putting my photo stuff on a separate computer to work on . . . one that's not hooked up to the internet. That's what really makes me sad about this whole thing . . . that it messes with what I love to do the most, even if it doesn't affect it directly.
Hi Jalna, sorry you had this happen to you.
I use a free software from microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
So far I haven't had the issue you had, knock on wood! I see so many friends have issues with facebook and getting links posted to their page and their friends page and so on. I have been tempted a few times to check it out, but don't and am glad because I am later told that the link was not really from them. Hope you get your computer back soon!
Thanks Kawika. Will be sure to check it out.
Thanks Mich!
Sometimes, you may get a notification from your "antivirus program" saying you need to upgrade or update and that is a fake site that then infects your machine.
Always be aware of the type of antivirus program you have, and if in doubt, cancel the notification and go directly to the website by typing it into your browser to confirm.
Hope they fix it fast!
Jos, I did get a pop-up from AVG (which is what I have) which said that a scan would start in 10 minutes. I clicked on "remind me in one hour". I wonder . . .
You should run a software firewall too, it blocks unauthorized access into your computer and blocks unauthorized stuff from being sent from your computer. Like ZoneAlarm, its free.
I Google search all the time. It's scary. Sorry you had this annoying problem.
Thanks teamtybo for great tips.
Thanks Erick. I'll look into it.
Thanks Akemi.
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