My laptop has a really NASTY virus on it and isn't working .

We're hoping we can restore it with the CD and not lose anything in the My Doc folders but... I don't have the CD. Am hoping my neighbor [who I bought it from] still has it or has another one.

I *did* get most of the important stuff off - including all the LtL files and the other wip that I have about 25 chapters done on. I lost a few other wips - the 'best' one that I'm excited about I emailed several people in the last couple of days so I can get it back.

All that said - I'm using DH's computer and it doesn't have Office 07 on it yet. Should soon. I can't access the files at the moment though.

That said, it's virtually done so... Hopefully by Monday I can get posting again.

Thanks for your patience!
Carol

Hope you get everything fixed soon. Viruses can be very annoying.

By any chance, do you know the name of the virus?

malu

Not a clue. Not a clue how I got it. But there were porn icons all over my desktop and just stopped working.

Haven't backed up my email in a long time . Am afraid I may have lost all those addresses . Friends and family etc.

*sigh*

Hopefully my neighbor can pull the info off the HD and restore it. They got back from vacation a little while ago but didn't want to bother them with it tonight. Will try to talk to him tomorrow.

Carol

I hate that for you Carol, what a pain. Good luck getting everything back up and running and we will be waiting for more Learning.

A few websites talk about finding the executable file(s) that is/are causing the problem, restarting your computer into Safe Mode and deleting the file(s).

Did you have anti-virus, spyware, etc. softwares installed in your computer? Also, it might be good to have a firewall software installed, to avoid outside attacks to your computer.

I hope there's a cure for your HD.

Sending good thoughts,

malu

The people at the Spybot forums have helped me out immeasurably in the past.

I downloaded an analysis program called Hijack This and posted the log at their Malware forcum (they have stickies with detailed instructions on this).

They replied within hours telling me the nature of the malware and pointing me towards tools to remove it.

I did what they asked and my PC was back in order that evening.

I have nothing but love for those people. That was a couple of months ago.

alcyone

I don't rely much on my computer, seeing the way it's prone to spywares, addwares, viruses, trojan horses...

So I usually mail any stuff I think is important to myself, so that I have a copy of it on the internet. I know it isn't safe either... but it's better than the security stuff my hubby's installed in my laptop.

I also make sure I don't leave my credit card number on the system ( bad experience )... sometimes the physical work of going to the bank to withdraw cash is better than the luxury of sitting at home and doing e-shopping.

I don't know what you have in virus and spyware protection but I can recommend Panda. It has a combination anti-virus and anti-spyware system, plus a heuristic system (that's what they call it, anyway) that spots viruses that haven't been identified. I thought I had a virus the other day but Panda apparently isolated it before it got anywhere.

A number of their software packages also include a firewall, which I can also recommend. I haven't had a serious problem with a virus or spyware since I went over to it.

Nan

Well, now it boots up and I can log on but that's it. Only my background comes up - no icons or anything.

Am going to call my neighbor tomorrow and see if he has any suggestions...

As soon as Spybot and my AV software caught it, I tried to run Spybot but it wouldn't let it open, then it stopped recognizing my C/D harddrives [though it would still let me into my docs which is how I managed to copy/paste most files to my ex hd]. Then I tried ctl-alt-del and it said my administrator had disabled it.

If I had my recovery CD, I'd have that done by now, but I can't find it. The paperwork was all in the box in the office. The paperwork for DH's [same brand] was in his box in the office. Neither one had recovery CDs so I'm wondering if my neighbor [owns the computer store] didn't keep them by accident.

*more sighing*
Carol

Sorry to hear that Carol.

On a sidenote: With the Mircosoft Office 20007 Compatibility Pack you can open and edit Office 2007 files with Office XP/2003. (Minus the special features, but for regular text documents that's not an issue.)

Michael

Have you tried restarting your computer into SAFE MODE and see if you can access any files? You can also try to run your anti-virus in that mode to see if it can remove the virus.

Which version of Windows do you have?

Accessing Windows XP Safe Mode

EDIT: Just as a quick note, my Dell laptop requires F12 (not F8, as the article mentions), to access the Boot Menu.

EDIT2: Also found information for Vista (in case that's the operating system you're using):
Safe Mode in Windows Vista

EDIT3 (last one, promise ): make sure you run a virus/malware scan on the external hard drive where you copied the files to, to make sure you didn't contaminate it.

malu

I have it running in safe mode and am transferring everything to my ExHD. I have to create my own restore CD apparently but didn't know that so that's next on the list. The transferring is going to take a while so... I do have Office to install so that's not a problem, but DH's computer is new and I don't have it installed yet.

Thanks all!
Carol

Looks like things are getting better, at least. I'm so glad to hear that, Carol!

Ann

Carol, it sounds as if you may have been hit by a ‘pornado’. Some people are sick. I hope you have a firewall up.


After my hard drive died a couple of years ago, I started using my yahoo address almost exclusively. If you use yahoo or gmail or one of the other public emails, it’s pretty difficult to lose email addresses. Something else I do with my wips is to email them to myself on a regular basis and so it is stored on yahoo. (I see coolgirl has already mentioned this.)


I wish you luck in restoring your info.


With some computers, you have to make your own recovery CD when you first get the computer. With my computer, you could only do this once. Hopefully your neighbor has what you need. (Ah, I see you’ve found this out.)

Okay - got recovery DVD from neighbor this AM. Computer is working. Office is installing as I type. Everything was backed up onto the External HD. Turns out it also backed up everything to the HD so I wouldn't have lost anything anyway [though now half my C drive is taken up with something called Windows.old and I *think* I can delete it but I want to talk to neighbor first and he's not in the office and his cell number is on my cell phone which is upstairs].

I even got a bit of writing done yesterday and like a sentence today and once I get it all uploaded and stuff I'm going to work on editing the next section of LtL and get it posted. Then work on editing the rest of it and then get it posted . And then work on other stuff. Like LtL: Lucy's Story and the rest of Martha's Letters. And then 'On The Other Hand' which I'm excited about and already has a bunch done so...

Okay - head hurts. Three more Advil coming right up...

Thanks guys!
Carol

I missed the notice that said you were working on Learning to Love: Lucy's Story. I hope that's a lengthy tale, too, because I'd bet Lucy has a totally different perspective on her life. I look forward to reading it.

P.S. I really hope you continue to back up on a timely basis.

Terry - it is definitely on my 'to do more often' list .

Yes - Lucy's Story is in process and I actually got about 4 pages written today. It's up to about 66 pages at the moment [LtL, currently posted, is 524, with another 117 or so to go - I think ]. It won't be nearly that long. Yeesh.

That said - I'm taking 'requests' if you will about what people would like to see in there. Does that mean I'll include everything? Probably not, but I certainly want to know. For instance, her relationship with Jimmy is obviously going to be explored in much greater detail so their first date is in there - that's something that's not in LtL at all; we don't hear about Jimmy until after their 5th date IIRC, though Jimmy mentions their first date in passing later and so does she. Other events from LtL are included but from her perspective - Aunt Louise's death, etc. And some we get more info on - like Sam leaving or their parents' death - than we do in LtL.

Anyway - I'll mention that again in my next post either tonight or tomorrow.

Carol

If it has an Earlier Version of Word

Open a word07 document in earlier versions of Word.

If it does not have Word at all use these two
How to view Word 07 documents without word07
Word Viewer

*hug* I hope you find everything!

Just so you know, if you go to manufacturer's website you can get the restore cd there. You just have to put in some information about your computer (Like the serial number) and maybe some other information you can get from the computer. It usually costs like 7-20 bucks for the CD but it is worth it to have around.

Hope that helps!

JOJO!!!

Yes - we got everything back. Next door neighbor got us a Restore CD/DVD/whatever so I do have it now [and if I lose it... I have him ].

Oh - and guess what?!?!? Have been working some on THAT FIC. You know the one I mean . It's about third in the queue but have been brainstorming it with a couple FoLCs and hopefully it'll be in your inbox to look at before too terribly long!

{{hugs}}

Carol

I don't know if anyone knows this or not but you can buy what I call a Flash Drive (also called Thumb Drive) to save all your stories and files.

You could still e-mail them to yourselves but you would also have a copy on this device. It's kind of like a cd or what a floppy disk used to do. I have one that can store approximately 2 giga bits of data on it.

Right now I have all my school files and about 15 Lois & clark stories saved on it and it has only taken 70 mega bites off the storage space.

It fits into your USB port like most printers now adays do. It would be alot easier. Mine only cost 20 dollars at Wal-Mart. But then again I'm in the states so I don't know how much they would be over seas.

Anyways I hope this post helps someone.

I backed all mine up on a 160 gig external HD - same thing only much bigger. I just got it but hadn't done it yet.

Though with emailing to gmail etc. you don't have a flash drive to lose . That would be my problem!
Carol

You mean in 15 minutes right? Right?

Kidding! I'm glad things are looking better for you!

~Jojo, who is suprised you actually want her to look it over after how much she picks over things. XD

Well, I don't know about 15m...

I think you've seen everything that's been written - but you were so instrumental in the beginning brainstorming phases .

Carol