First my car battery died. Then I lost Lotus Blossom. Now my (admittedly ancient) computer is trying to die.
It started Wednesday night. I visited this website and a web comic that updates on Thursdays (Australia time, so late Wednesday, here). Somewhere in there, McAfee informed me that it had blocked a change to my registry. Well, it may have blocked the registry change, but something happened. I've had obscure processes (like dsca.exe) run rogue and eat up all of the CPU process. Everytime I go on the internet, I get a message that my last session ended improperly, which isn't true. Internet searches result in me being hijacked to some other website, not the one I was trying to go to. Twice now, I've come back to the blue screen of death.
This has naturally sent me looking for what I can (maybe) afford in a new computer. Found a pretty good deal at Staples, still more than I can afford, but what isn't?
Does anyone here know if my ancient (2002) MS Office will run on Windows 7? Or am I going to be stuck buying (and re-learning) a new version of Office, too?
(BTW, I don't for a moment equate the loss of my cat to replacing a car battery. It only comes up in the context of having already spent $125 on the car battery and almost $200 to have poor Libby put to sleep.)
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited November 28, 2009).]
I really need the old bucket to keep running at least until March.
Here's hoping.
I won't be replying to e-mails until I have a good feeling that I've got this fixed. I don't want to spread it around. Nobody should have to go through what I've been through the last couple of days.
It might also be worth it to wipe your hard drive & reinstall everything. That usually clears up most virus-related issues.
I'm considering an online backup, which is cheaper than an external hard drive. But I'm reluctant to back anything up until I get a handle on this. It wouldn't do any good to reinfect the computer.
ANd battery life on a mac is loads better.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited November 29, 2009).]
For now, my system is limping, but it's not all the way back, yet. All the icons have disappeared from my desk top, but the Start Menu still works. And my hot buttons. I'm still getting occasional odd things happening in IE, but not nearly as bad as it was last night. The rogue processes seem to have stopped, though. And I haven't had the blue screen of death in a while.
I haven't tried rebooting since the last scan, yet. I'm almost afraid to.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited November 29, 2009).]
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited November 29, 2009).]
If you're still having problems, it's possible to do a repair install of Windows, which supposedly fixes errors, but doesn't always work. The one time when I had to resort to that, I ended up completely reinstalling Windows. Always make backups of anything you don't want to lose, as has been said earlier in the thread.
And shop around. Drives are cheap, and will probably be cheaper during the holiday season. Look online for the best prices.
However, if your system is old(er), you can get a very good laptop for less than $500. If you're looking at Nebooks, you also have a choice of using Linux, which means that you won't have nearly the amount of viruses that would attack a Windows PC. I don't have any experience with Netbooks, but I've heard good things about them for low-power users. You're not going to be doing any MMORPGs with it, but it may suit your purposes.
My first three restore points failed. I don't know whether the restore points were corrupted or whether some of the malware blocked it.
I run McAffee. You couldn't pay me to put Norton on another computer. In general, other than that it didn't catch this, I like McAffee well enough. At least it gives me the option to put the firewall on lockdown when I'm not actively online. That way, things can't get worse until I get through this. It seems like once you get one of these nasties, they're like teenagers left home alone for the weekend. They call all their friends to come over and throw a wild party.
I still have that message at the start up of IE that my last session ended unexpectedly (which isn't true). I still occasionally get another browser window opened for an ad for Dish Network. (I'm going to write them an e-mail about all of this.) And every once in a while, voices for a Target ad will just come over my speakers. (I'm going to write Target an e-mail, too.)
It seems like this all started with what must have been a rollover ad I didn't even pay any attention to which led to a very bad site called clicksor.net.
I know that I can run this way for the time being. And I really believe the computer is safe, now. Very little if anything of what was found was the sort of thing that could spread by e-mail.
I'm going to run Malware Bytes one more time on Friday (when I have to be away from the computer for several hours anyway), to see if it turns up anything on a second pass. If not, I'm going to consider it safe to start e-mailing again. Like I said, none of the scans turned up the kind of thing that spreads by e-mail.
There's another list on Major Geek's that I'll probably start working my way through trying to get rid of the remnants next week.
If anybody knows how to interpret a HijackThis log (or knows a good forum to go to with it) I'd like to hear about it. Castlecops isn't there anymore. Unless the little bugs are keeping me from getting to it.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited December 02, 2009).]
I would save what you need externally--documents etc, not programs and re-install windows--a fresh install. Then install antivirus and malware straightway before accessing anything else from the internet. I assume you are working form behind a router....not just a modem. If not, get one.
I don't have a router, just a cable modem and a firewall.
I may have to resort to a reinstall of windows. I've been trying to avoid it, but it may come down to that. The last time I had to reinstall the operating system, the computer ended up buggier than before--not because of infection, but because of operating system glitches. I did that reinstall to correct a corrupted file, not an infection. That computer was never able to access the internet again. Before I go to that length, I'll get on the phone with McAfee, though. They owe me some support over this.
And no, there was no Cyber Monday from this house.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited December 02, 2009).]
I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. I will have to go ahead with the online backup. I'll probably rerun some of the scans first, to try to make sure the files I back up are clean. Then I'll either have to try wiping the hard drive myself or get somebody to do it for me. I'll probably call McAfee first to see what they have to say.
quote:
Buy a second hand mac rather than a new pc laptop. Viruses become even less of an issue and you can still use word--or abbi word or neo office.
I'm resisting the urge to break out into my Linux fan-boy mindset...
I got one reply to my post on McAfee's forum. So I'm going to try that first. Turn the computer off. Physically disconnect it from the internet. Restart in safe mode. Rerun the scan which can be run from my computer without accessing the internet. MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware for sure. I'll have to see what else I can run. That's probably pretty much all day today and possibly into tomorrow.
If that doesn't work, I'm going to try to over-install the operating system. I appreciate the suggestion to wipe the hard drive and start over, but I just know in my bones that's a disaster on this computer. It's seven years old. There are going to be some disks I can't find or that have become corrupted in some way. Probably a key driver or something. Even CD's don't last forever. And, in seven years, they can go astray, too. I think I know where everything is. But I've thought that before and been proven wrong.
But, before I start that, I'm going to order a cheap manufacturer refurb, by phone, of course, so I know I've got a backup. I can get a tower as cheap as $100 that way. I might do better if I could get in the auction. They start as low as $0.99 (though they don't usually finish that low). But, of course, that's out for now.
Wish me luck.
I suspect that this computer is toast.
I can't order the refurb until Monday, since I have to do it by phone. I hope the one I want is still there by then.
Meanwhile, I'm going to spend a fortune in printer ink and print out some of the shorter files, anyway. That's a copy I know can't be corrupted.
I have most everything backed up on CDs, except the latest revisions to BLOOD WILL TELL and THE IGNORED PROPHECY and my start at SEVEN STARS. (But I already have that printed out. It's only fifty pages.) I don't trust that backup since it was too close in time to all of this happening. But there are print outs of those two, currently with a reader, so I can just re-enter the changes to backups of older versions. Since it's virtually complete, I should print out THE SHAMAN'S CURSE, too. I really hate to use the ink to print out a first draft, but I may decide to print out Dreamer's Rose, too.
It feels good to know that at least there's an end to this in sight. BoredCrow, Unwritten, Kitti, and Merlion, get ready to start sending me stuff in about a week. I need to get back in the swing of things.
Meanwhile, I'm furiously printing out files to be sure I have a clean copy. I've got most of them backed up on CD, too. But this is a known clean copy.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited December 07, 2009).]
when the computer sinds the message to Windows website it told me to up date my system, when i did so the problome got worse
i have the Problem signature: saved if anyone can interpited it for me...
RFW2nd
quote:
Thanks for the thought. No, I'm still working on a very limited basis on the old computer and will continue for a while, printing out files, etc., even after the new one comes. One of the reasons I broke down and got a replacement--even a cheap one--and also the reason I've been doing monthly backups before this happened is that frankly this old monster has been trying to die for a while, now. They just don't expect computers to last seven years these days.
When you're done, then. Email me and I'll walk you through it. My current SONY laptop dual-boots Linux and WinXP. It is 8 years old. We have a home desktop that is 10 years old that runs Linux.
And yes, I am a Linux advocate. But that's okay; some of us have to be rational...
One is Malware Bytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
The other is Avast Antivirus - http://www.avast.com/index.html
These are the only security programs we use and they work quite well.
Hope this helps.
my computers internet copasity has started acting up now. i am unable to conect to any network now. for i keep having a runtime error.
i am now forced to use my buddies computer.
RFW2nd