palsgraf_polka: (Middle Finger)
palsgraf_polka ([personal profile] palsgraf_polka) wrote2010-03-24 08:40 am
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Fucking internet

I got hit with a massive computer virus this morning on reboot of my computer, and my computer is fuxored.

And you know, I'm so safe and I'm so good about not going to any websites that are questionable and I don't do anything weird on my computer at all. I am so pissed that this happened, and apparently, after doing research, this is a nasty trojan that slips in under ALL the antivirus/antispyware programs and hits you. You can pay a $70 ransom to get it to go away, or you can do battle like a true IT Warlord.

Well, I'm not fucking paying. And the worst part is that I was going to back up my hard drive tonight and burn my Windows XP disc tonight in preparation for my reformat on Friday, but now I have 45 pages of instructions on how to get rid of this thing and everything on my computer could be infected with this shit. I don't even know if I want to use the Windows XP file I got that I needed to burn to disc.

For you out there that are more tech savvy then I am, if I go through all the manual removal rigmarole to get rid of this piece of shit trojan, can I go back to using my files as I did? Would you trust the Windows XP ISO I have on my hard drive or should I go out and buy one to have a fresh disc for the reformat on Friday? Also, I have pretty much everything backed up from a month or so ago on my external drive, which has not been connected to the computer. Should I just say FUCK IT to everything and just reformat my drives without removing this thing, or should I remove it first, then reformat my drives? I don't think I'll lose anything major - any pictures I've posted since I did my big backup a month ago can be recovered from photobucket.

Advice please? I've not really dealt with something like this on my own computer. Travis had a similar virus on his computer but I just reformatted it and it was gone. But I'd kind of like to do one final backup of my documents folder before I reformat. Also, without that Windows XP ISO that's on my hard drive burned to a disc, I can't reformat without going and buying Windows XP again because my disc disappeared.

So, please let me know. Hopefully some of you tech peeps are reading this.

[identity profile] palsgraf-polka.livejournal.com 2010-03-24 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
It is one of those fake antivirus programs - it's called "Antivirus Soft". I googled it and got instructions on how to remove it manually because it has disabled all downloading and running of files. (You can't do anything because of the popups anyway) I'll have to go through the registry and everything to get rid of it, but I have the instructions how.

I am using Anti-Vir free antivirus, but the comments on the sites with removal instructions said it got around Norton and McAfee too, so it's not just the free antivirus software that failed.

If you want to send me a Norton, that'd be sweet. How much would I owe you?

And I'm glad that I'll be able to use the computer normally once I get that stupid trojan out of there. I'll unplug it from the internet when I get home. The machine is off right now. I'm actually going to use that internet connection in my laptop until I get my desktop fixed.

You're so awesome!

[identity profile] skywhisperer.livejournal.com 2010-03-24 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
It looks like you can't burn CDs in safe mode, but you could probably back them up to one of those little USB key drives - I got a 2 gig one the other day for $5.

I put the order - it usually takes a few days to ship. I gave them your email address, so you'll get the tracking number - but that means I won't get any error messages, so let me know if there's a problem.

If you want me to throw the ISO up again, I can - maybe you could burn it from another machine?

[identity profile] palsgraf-polka.livejournal.com 2010-03-24 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Fucking LJ ate my comment.

Why don't you throw that ISO back up? I'll see if I can go over to [livejournal.com profile] kittylitter1's house and burn it.

You're so good to me. You're like the perfect wife. :)

[identity profile] skywhisperer.livejournal.com 2010-03-24 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
*grin* It's back up, in the same place.

[identity profile] palsgraf-polka.livejournal.com 2010-03-24 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. [livejournal.com profile] kittylitter1 is going to snag it tonight, so I'll e-mail you tomorrow when you can take it down.

<3 <3 <3
Edited 2010-03-24 19:15 (UTC)