How I spent my weekend

aeromed202

aeromed202

SOH-CM-2014
So my kid comes up to me and says with a frown, 'Dad I think my computer got hacked. There are lots of pop up windows telling me to scan for viruses and I can't get anything to open'. I look and it is hopeless. Lots of MS look-a-like boxes saying I'm infected, an empty programs list, nothing responding to clicks. A reboot starts the cascade again and I can't access safe mode at all. She was watching a TV show episode so I'm assuming it wasn't some new cyber attack from without, but an unintentional invitation from her when she went to the site she'd been using for months to watch past TV episodes. So I spent the weekend painfully reinstalling XP from the original old disc, so old it was barely able to connect to the net to start reeducating the old girl up to 2011. This is definitely the last hurrah for that disc as it's data has been left so far behind by MS that it took 2 hours just to get the computer to be able to get the first MS update in. We still like XP so may have to splurge and get a new copy someday soon. It is depressing, however, to go to the MS site and see the question "Still using Windows XP?" like your'e some hermit on a pacific atoll.
 
First of all sorry that you had to go through this in the first place. It is never fun and the folks behind this sort of crap should be hung up by their mouse cords.

But here are a few thoughts that may help in the future...

1. Most of these pop-up events are triggered by a relatively small file that gets downloaded and executed. I have seen a few versions first hand at office PCs at work and I have gotten it once myself at home while on AOPAs main site. I don't know how exactly they do it. But usually the ones that want you to go and buy some sort of software to "clean" your PC are relatively easy to get rid of. You do need a second PC with a working internet connection and a USB stick in most cases and a quick Google search for the correct fix for the particular scam. Usually you can find those by typing in the name of the supposed virus that has supposedly infected your PC. From there instructions vary...

2. Now that you have the PC up and running again I suggest to get a backup program of your choice that allows a complete system backup and restore operation. There are a number of them out there. I use Snapshop because that is the one I need for the machines I work on at work...and it is very user friendly. You can download the software and create the backup for free and only have to actually buy the key if you do want to restore after the 30 day trial period. http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/


Cheers
Stefan
 
That's a good plan though when I tried to do something like that once before I got very confused and had to abandon it. For now there is no sound coming from the blasted thing, all the sound buttons are grayed out and there is no default device to select. I am learning that one needs to get drivers? to make the sound work, but can't find a source that has what I need.:banghead:
 
We had what sounds like a version of this virus turn up on one of the computers where I worked over the Summer. The only way we managed to get rid of it was a data backup (using UBCD4Win, good tool) and a total hard disk format. I found an issue with sound drivers too though and eventually the only way to fix it was to open the case, look at waht was written on the sound card and google drivers for that.
 
Hi,

I would also agree about having an effective backup regime, along with a reputable anti-virus package and firewall. In addition, you might like to look at this:

http://www.sandboxie.com/

For systems left unattended whilst connected to the Net it might provide an extra level of protection. I've recently started to try it out, and whilst accessing new web pages is a bit slower than without it, the idea of all web content being "constrained" within its own folder (and deleted on closure of your browser) would help in these sorts of instances.

Alastair
 
Hmmmm...

I recently read that XP still holds over 40% of the home confuter market.

When I had my new system custom built a couple months ago I seriously considered another XP machine. The guys at the tech shop who built it convinced me to move to Windows 7. I won't say that it was a mistake, but I can't say that I see how W7 is much better, and in some ways I don't like it as much. It continues the trend that each successive OS from MS offers a little less ability to customize the user interface to the user's preference. Worst, some of my favorite software won't run in W7, not even in compatibility mode. The new system is definitely faster and more powerful, but I don't think W7 has much to do with that; it's the faster, more powerful processor that makes it so, not the OS.

But I digress. What I started this post for was to mention a backup program that I really like: Macrium Reflect. Like all of those programs, it runs automatically on the schedule you set, and you can have multiple backups for different drives or partitions. That's probably typical too. What I haven't seen elsewhere is that you can look inside each compressed backup file by assigning it a drive letter, them looking inside it like you would any other drive on your system. That way you can find and copy any specific file or folder without having to run the backup for you whole computer or that whole drive. When you're finished you just un-assign the drive letter with a click and your Computer window is no longer cluttered with these temporary working drives.

Maybe other programs have that feature too, but I don't know of them.

Each time you boot up the confuter, before the Windows splash screen appears you get a screen that allows you to choose between starting normally or starting from a backup file.

I also like that it works really fast. My main internal drive and my dedicated FS partition back up in around fifteen or twenty minutes each.
 
Actually the one I mentioned above, Snapshot, pioneered the drive letter and explore capability.
This allows to pul just a handful or a single file out of a backup without having to do a full restore.

As for W7 not being faster than XP....just install it on the same machine. No contest.
Is it better or not ?? Well that really depends on perspective. I have a few things I do not like that much either but thankfully none of the programs I want or need fail to run on the OS.
Customization is of course great but is also the main reason for system instability. The main reason why Apple stuff works as reliable as it does is because you can only do very little thT Apple has not approved first.

Cheers
Stefan
 
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