It has been a mess. I noticed the computer acting strangely (running slowly, firewall shutting down on its own - at which point I unplugged the network cable), and tried to run a full scan with the Trend Micro antivirus program, but the computer would crash every time I tried to do that. Once I got the dreaded "blue screen of death," and I also got notices that Windows had recovered from a serious error. Finally, when I tried to reconnect to the internet, Qwest brought up a page stating that the computer was infected with a virus (a "bot") that was sending out malicious traffic. Qwest halted our internet access and gave us links to helpful programs to try to fix the problem. Scans with two versions of a McAfee product didn't help, but a scan with a Microsoft product finally did catch something and eliminate it. After all that, both my Trend Micro and my Internet Explorer were corrupted. I have done a full disk check and defrag, and uninstalled and reinstalled Trend Micro. I did a full scan with Trend Micro (the original unupdated install version, not yet connected to the internet), and it didn't find anything, and then I reconnected to the internet and updated to a current version, and did another full scan, and again it reports all is clean. So I seem to have fixed the problem, after two days of scans and so forth.
Next I need to uninstall IE, download a current version, and reinstall it. And probably run another Windows Update.
Sheesh.
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That sounds like a nightmare. I'm glad you got it fixed, though, as much trouble as you had to go through to do it. You didn't have to purchase TrendMicro over again did you? Get the newest IE, if it's free.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's ugly, sorry to hear you had to go through all that. I've heard there are some nasty new malware/adware/bot viruses out there that can really take over your computer but haven't had first hand experience with one yet thank heavens.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend installing a 30-trial of Norton Internet Security 2010 too as another check. That is what we use as it came pre-installed on our HP laptop and new desktop. Here is the link: http://www.symantec.com/norton/downloads/trialsoftware/offer.jsp?pvid=nis2010
We have had a couple of smaller virus attacks that it has blocked, so we have been happy with it so far. You have to subscribe to their updates on an annual basis, but I found a 2-year 3-PC license for $16 which was a great deal. You can't be without anti-virus software anymore.
Not to be a squeaky wheel, but the wireless router I sent your way has a firewall built into it and that should help provide another layer of protection. So when you are done with all of your other big projects, fires, etc, give me a call so we can get it set up. Of course Peter is eager to race Ralph & Teddy at Mario Kart too ;)