finds from a few days ago

[mistergee]

my laptop computer picked up a nasty virus a couple days ago....started out with a test that showed up looking for viruses....then an icon of a grey and white shield in my lower right hand tool bar......thats when the fun began....i discovered i had no pics or images on the internet....fixed that by switching browser to Mozilla....then my virus protection started shutting down....started with the updates switched off....fixed that ...then the email protection shut off.....then everytime i fixed one another would shut down....then a white box in lower right corner which would not shut off that read something like "attack on blah blah by blah blah"there were 2 names but can't remember right now....then a large white screen that blocked the center of the screen and couldn't be moved....then it would just lock up and i would have to power down and start over....anyway while trying to erase everything and reload all the operating systems and drivers my optical drive got stuck and had to remove some screws to repair...one screw got stuck and i flipped it over and tapped on it till the screw came out....turns out i may have tapped too hard and damaged the monitor....it's so dark i almost can't see its on....brightening does not help...its all the way up...so i'm sorry but i won't have any pics until i have the laptop repaired....maybe i can use my son's in the meantime....
so whats the deal here? i have a firewall on my wireless and virus protection on the laptop....how did this $#&% get through? it acted like it was looking for viruses and came up with a large # of them but when i scanned with my virus protection it only showed a couple....i let the virus scan run to see where it went and when it ended it wanted me to buy a program to get rid of the viruses.....but it would not tell me who it was and i couldn't find anything on my computer that i could delete to get rid of it....no identification no program...nothing....it appears this virus was sent to f--- with my computer until i bought a program to get rid of the virus it gave me....thanks all you hacker a--holes out there with nothing better to do than waste my time and money...i hope one day you get a serious illness and suffer miserably for all the innocent people you have screwed over...."OH but Mistergee you don't understand we geeks are just getting even for the years of torment you cooler people put us through"...or "it was to get even with all the girls who wouldn't date me"....or "because they fired me"....get a life loser.....
anyway sorry about the tirade....but this is the 3rd time in a year i had to reinstall everything to get rid of this crap.....my wife says its my fault for watching porn what....just because its porn does that mean my computer gets an internet STD?....anyway i hadn't looked at any in a long time and when i tracked the event log it actually started in my daughter and daughter-in-laws cabinets....yep....Utube and Myspace....those are the only 2 places they go on my computer....so beware of those sites guys
man this post got long fast....sorry
so back to finds from 2 days ago
picked up $200 in dimes on Wed.
1-1960 (hole filler)
also hit around a dozen banks looking for halfs
around $20 in rolls and another $8.50 in loose
NADA
but the last bank i was at the teller says "YIPPEE>>..finally getting rid of those things...are you interested in $2 bills?" i said well not really not unless you have any old ones....all of a sudden the other teller runs over and says "i think i have an old one"....now the 2 of them are looking through 2 large piles of $2 bills .....mostly 1976 when teller #2 pulls out a 1953 $2 dollar red seal in great condition....i said i'll take that one....they thanked me and said "come back again we'll hold all the odd stuff and halfs till you get back" why can't all tellers be like that....i'll post pics as soon as i can...HH
George

 

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[Jack_MIghtyheart]

With the virus, you said you're on a laptop. I had a virus that was almost exactly the same thing you described a couple weeks ago. Is anybody else on your wireless network? That's an easy way for them to spread between computers. I was reading about the virus, and it turns out it originated in Eastern Europe, and so far doesn't do anything to compromise security...just annoys the hell out of you. The way I got rid of it was just completely reformatting my computer. If it didn't come through the wireless network from another computer, it probably came from clicking a bad link on YouTube/MySpace/porn site. YouTube and MySpace themselves aren't bad, but people post links in comments saying it's one thing, and it's really a virus. Not hard to avoid the links, though, unless you're braindead. Porn sites, however, are notorious for having viruses/trojans/keyloggers/spyware. It's best to just avoid them all together.

As for the monitor, you gotta be real gentle with the LCD ones. I broke one of mine by accident (screen just got really dark and brightness wouldn't help) just by bumping into it a little too hard.



Don't open email attachments from people you don't know, or from people you DO know but aren't expecting
Don't click suspicious links
Stay away from untrusted websites
Make sure your anti-virus is up to date, your firewalls are turned on, etc.
Surf with Mozilla Firefox. It's a LOT better than IE.

Don't be hatin' on geeks

 

[Troy Ounce]

I don't really care for computers!!!!! Really don't like GATEWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well nice filler.

 

[mistergee]

I was reading about the virus, and it turns out it originated in Eastern Europe, and so far doesn't do anything to compromise security...just annoys the hell out of you.

i beg to differ as this virus kept turning off different level of my virus protection....each time i fixed one another would turn off...

The way I got rid of it was just completely reformatting my computer.

thats exactly what i was trying to do before all hell broke loose

as for the porn sites i know they are notorious and i usually get a warning from my virus protection not to click on it...this was highly suspected the last time i got a bad virus but i haven't been to a porn site since...the last 2 times i got one after that was after my daughter and my daughter in law were on it...my space and utube...i told them not to click on anything they got a warning on and told them not to download any add-ons or activex...they said they didn't....i think this one somehow got past my virus protection

As for the monitor, you gotta be real gentle with the LCD ones. I broke one of mine by accident (screen just got really dark and brightness wouldn't help) just by bumping into it a little too hard

i didn't think i tapped too hard but thats exactly what happened to mine...i guess they are a bit more sensitive than i thought
thanks for the advice....not so keen on mozilla though...no favorites and everything is on a different tab....can't backspace to previous page....i guess i'm just used to IE

sorry about the geek thing i'm just pissed that i have had to reformat 3 times in a year probably should have made it more clear by saying "hacker"....without geeks we wouldn't be having this discussion as there would be no internet....can't believe they get slighted by someone then take it out on everyone else who had nothing to do with it...or they do it just so they could sell you something....in my mind these people should be put in jail....and we know how long they'd last in there...better yet i would like to get my hands on them and save the taxpayers some money

 

[mistergee]

i got a Dell....i like it....thanks TO

 

[Jack_MIghtyheart]

Firefox is a really good browser. There is a favorites, it's just called Bookmarks. You can still hit backspace to go back to a previous page, which is really handy. Firefox is also a lot more secure than Internet Explorer. It might be hard to adjust at first, but once you get used to it, you'll be happy you switched 8)

 

[HolyDiver]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jack. Firefox is the way to go. It has so much security it's amazing. If I were you, I'd download a small program called McAfee site advisor. When you go a google search, it comes up with every entry as either red, yellow, or green based on security. Also, reformatting is the best way to go. It's so easy and you will free up so much space.

Nice hole-filler too BTW.

 

[mistergee]

thanks for the advice guys....i guess i just have to get used to it....i like the idea of extra security....i also have used the bookmark instead of favorites...well....i can't really get used to it because I CAN"T SEE ANYTHING...at least till the monitor is fixed

 

[how u do n]

Firefox is the way to go!!!!
And for the Virus Scan get Avast
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
It works Great!!!!!
Much better then Norton or McAfee
This should help tons!!!
Good Luck
Dan

 

[coinmojo]

Soooo if this virus is spread through wireless connections does that make it airborn?

Mojo

 

[HolyDiver]

Avast, Norton, McAfee should be gotten rid of. I've gotten trojans off my old computers wile using Trend Micro Housecall. Noting to install but a plugin maybe. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ As far as free virus protection, I only trust one. That's AVG Free edition. http://free.avg.com/ This has won more awards then anything and I've been running it for the past 4-5 years. I highly recommend AVG over Avast. (Sry bluefin)

 

[Scott (Mich)]

Freebies I use

This is an excellent one to clean out adware and spyware
Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html


This one to immunize your browsers – it prevents known spyware/virus software from getting in, in the first place
SpywareBlaster 4.1
http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareBlaster_d2859.html

To do an online search of your pc for viruses. If you do not own their pccillin program you can run their program online to check for viruses
Trendmicro
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

and to test your pc for problems – I once found out I had a drive going bad from their free online test – click on the “Full Test” link. One of the windows it gives you when you are done will show you all of the software that is currently running in your pc. Helpful to get rid of the junk programs that do not need to run all of the time.
http://www.pcpitstop.com/


Want to know all about your pc? Not sure if the newest version still does this, but the older versions would give you all of your software keys. It opens the info in a browser window. It is really convenient if you misplace a booklet or cd holder that has your account key number on it.
Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you think you have a virus, try to locate the name of it somehow, maybe by doing a web search on a different pc. Then type the name of the virus with the words “removal tool” after it in a search window. That should lead you to a place to help get rid of it.

I have had in the past an instance where Norton told me I had a virus, but it could not remove it. So I ended up going to Norton’s site and downloading the removal tool and that did the trick.

But watch out about Norton giving false positives. One time they were fighting with the Spybot S & D people because they erroneously (or on purpose) listed Spybot as spyware or a virus. Last I read Spybot was taking legal action. Not sure how that one ever ended up but I do know that the Spybot place I linked above has a great program for getting rid of junkware.

Oh, and beware of any popup window that states “you have a virus or spyware, click here to remove it” If you click that link you will be installing their spyware. There are a few places that put something in your pc and then try to sell you a program to remove it.

Good Luck,

Scott (MI)

 

[mistergee]

Bluefin....thanks for the link i think i'll try it when i get the monitor fixed

Holydiver....i had AVG when i got the virus

Scott thanks for all the links...good info that i will be using
i tried to locate the name of the virus but this one stays hidden.....i was unable to find anything not even a suspicious file.....