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James D. Macdonald
Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 4,809
Over on the PA boards, there's this thread:
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU OPEN!!!!!
Please tell this person NOT TO TRASH HIS HARD DRIVE JUST YET!
If you are this person's friend, please tell him to do the following:
Turn off System Restore.
Then:
Run TrendMicro Housecall http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Download and install:
ZoneAlarm Firewall http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.html
Download and run:
AVG AntiVirus http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Download and run:
AdAware SE: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Download and run:
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org/
Download and run:
Spyware Blaster: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Download and run:
Windows Defender Beta 2: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/sec...re/default.mspx
Download and install:
All Windows Updates.
All of the above programs are FREE. Yes, this can be time-consuming. Cheaper and faster than trashing your computer and everything on your hard drive, though.
Add to this:
Tuneup Utilities 2006: http://www.tune-up.com/
This is 30-day trialware. Use it to clean up your disk and your registry after you've cleaned out the viruses/trojans/spyware.
I do not have any personal stake in any of those programs.
There's one more that I recommend. My personal interest in this is that I know the guy who wrote it. This is shareware (I don't make a dime on it, though):
Greyware Registry Rearguard (GRR): http://www.greyware.com/software/grr/
Shareware, like I said, but it doesn't expire even if you don't pay for it.
IF YOU'RE RUNNING A WINDOWS MACHINE, DO ALL OF THIS STUFF NOW, BEFORE YOUR COMPUTER DIES. DO NOT RUN A MACHINE ON THE INTERNET THAT DOESN'T HAVE SERIOUS ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-SPYWARE/FIREWALL PROTECTION.
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 4,809
Over on the PA boards, there's this thread:
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU OPEN!!!!!
UNFORTUNATELY MY WIFE OPENED E-MAILS FROM THE SCAM ARTISTS CLAIMING YOU HAVE WON A MAJOR LOTTERY. WE WON SOMETHING FOR SURE. A WORM THAT IS EMBEDDED ON MY COMPUTERS HARD DRIVE THAT DEVOURS FILES. THE ONLY FIX IS TO REPLACE THE HARD DRIVE OR TRASH THE COMPUTER. I'M THANKFUL I HAD BACK UP DISCS IN PLACE FOR MY SECOND BOOK WHICH IS A LITTLE OVER HALF COMPLETE. BE CAREFUL GUYS AND GALS ONLY OPEN MAIL FROM SENDERS YOU KNOW YOU CAN TRUST.
If you are this person's friend, please tell him to do the following:
Turn off System Restore.
Then:
Run TrendMicro Housecall http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Download and install:
ZoneAlarm Firewall http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.html
Download and run:
AVG AntiVirus http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Download and run:
AdAware SE: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Download and run:
Spybot S&D: http://www.safer-networking.org/
Download and run:
Spyware Blaster: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Download and run:
Windows Defender Beta 2: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/sec...re/default.mspx
Download and install:
All Windows Updates.
All of the above programs are FREE. Yes, this can be time-consuming. Cheaper and faster than trashing your computer and everything on your hard drive, though.
Add to this:
Tuneup Utilities 2006: http://www.tune-up.com/
This is 30-day trialware. Use it to clean up your disk and your registry after you've cleaned out the viruses/trojans/spyware.
I do not have any personal stake in any of those programs.
There's one more that I recommend. My personal interest in this is that I know the guy who wrote it. This is shareware (I don't make a dime on it, though):
Greyware Registry Rearguard (GRR): http://www.greyware.com/software/grr/
Shareware, like I said, but it doesn't expire even if you don't pay for it.
IF YOU'RE RUNNING A WINDOWS MACHINE, DO ALL OF THIS STUFF NOW, BEFORE YOUR COMPUTER DIES. DO NOT RUN A MACHINE ON THE INTERNET THAT DOESN'T HAVE SERIOUS ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-SPYWARE/FIREWALL PROTECTION.
__________________
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Send a private message to James D. Macdonald
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