PSA

[JaceSan]

Lavasoft has better scanning programs than Spybot, or Microsoft's Beta AntiSpyware program.

Bad news: My PC's infected.

Worse news: I'm still trying to get back my primary email address.

Good news: I don't think it's jacked all my passwords and address lists, and Yahoo is doing a good job of getting it back for me.

The sad thing is I watched the virus download and start to infect my PC before I could react quick enough to stop it. Effin' programs that run quicker than humans can think!#@%

Disregard any email that's come from me in the last week. :P

[AsIs]

You mean we arn't supposed to do that all the time? [img]wink.gif[/img]

Seriously *hugs* bud, that sucks.

[JaceSan]

I thought it kinda stupid to put this up on a message board. The whole point of message boards is to communicate with people without having to send emails, but I figured everyone on my mailing list should get a heads up.

Even though Yahoo screens each and every email. God bless them and their anal retentiveness. That's what's making it hard to get back my primary account. On one hand it's a pain in the ass. On the other, I'm glad they scrutinize stuff to the extreme.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ March 31, 2005 11:08 AM: Message edited by: JaceSan ]</font>

[JaceSan]

Geez! I hope you can get that stuff back 3p. I'm sure you can somehow. I need to start saving some of my schoolwork and stuff from this PC before I have the hard drive wiped.

I did get back into my Yahoo account.

[5Cats]

3P - A computer savy friend should be able to put your HD on another computer, no adapters needed, and then get the info off.
Yes the occasional virus scan is a good idea [img]smile.gif[/img]

[AsIs]

Jace,

I am sorry, I was just teasing you. I don't think it was stupid to put it here at all. It's always good to get a head's up when nasty virus stuff is going around. For one thing it clued me in to run Wincleaner and clean up my disk.

*hugs*

[3peanuts]

well, about myself, my pc died, probably of a bad virus I couldn't detect. Basically, if I don't get somebody smart enough to find its memory back, four years of work and life will be gone forever...

[AsIs]

3P, you can buy a adapter that can let your hard disk be read on another computer. I think they are around $60. I have one for laptop hard drives and it was $40 I believe.

I wouldn't read it on a computer without good virus protection tho.

[5Cats]

Everyone I know has had troubles with all Norton products [img]frown.gif[/img] I avoid them personally.

Avast! is available online, is free, & legal! and seems to do the job without much trouble.
Google for their homepage.

[Branflakes]

Virus software is VITAL. Norton and McAfee are the better products. TrendMicro has a nifty online scanner that's good when you suspect you have one. I haven't used their regular product, but it gets good reviews.

Spyware: causes as much, if not more, damage as viruses. Has really become a problem in the last couple of years. I can't tell you how many computers I have had to rescue from spyware that has shut them down. Best bet is to use Ad-Aware (from Lavasoft) AND SpyBot. Both are free and the combination works well to catch most spyware. They also release updates often. Ad-Aware has a paid version which actively blocks known spyware.

It's best to scan your machine for viruses and spyware at least once a week (after checking for recent updates). Keeping the software updated can save a lot of headaches (and money).