Well, the simplest option is to get professional help from an expert.
One of my neighbours called out one of these people who spent a
whole afternoon sorting out his laptop, and charged him £200. When
you think of what it would cost to buy a new one, it's probably only
one third to one fifth of the cost... but then could you fix it all by
yourself?
And then you ask yourself, where did this virus come from, and how
did it got past my anti-virus software, for which I pay £xx every
year?
This all happened to us a week or so ago. My wife Sue switched on her
laptop one morning, and noticed that it was all wonky and very slow to
get going.
Interestingly, we could still get access to MSN and Hotmail, and also to
Yahoo, but we couldn't access Google (whereby we could have down-
loaded some extra software to combat the virus). I thought later that
the crafty sod who created this virus wanted us to carry on emailing
all our friends on Yahoo and Hotmail, thereby spreading the virus.
These viruses tend to replicate themselves anyway, and take over the
victim's email address book, and then spew out infected email to
everyone on the address list. So if you see a dodgy looking email, don't
open it, but delete it straightaway (or phone the person who sent it
to see if it's legit). Downloading an attachment from such a dodgy email
is asking for trouble.
I don't like using Outlook Express as it tends to open up a new email
for you, as soon as you click on "Read Mail". I know there is supposed
to be an option to disable this feature, (via "Tools"), but this didn't
work for me. Also if your computer completely crashes with a virus
infection, then you'll lose all your emails and addresses at a stroke,
-- it happened to us -- very annoying.
So I think it's a good idea to use alternative email sites such as
Googlemail, Yahoo or Hotmail, which will carry on working when you
get your computer up and running again.
I spent an entire day trying to get Sue's laptop going again, using
the "Recovery CD-Rom", supplied by the laptop manufacturer. I
tried a Windows XP repair first of all, as I wasn't too sure how to go
about replacing Windows XP fully. I went as far as putting back on
some of the original software that came with the machine, and
re-instating Sue's address list on Outlook Express. I then did a full
virus clean-up with the Norton anti-virus software that was already
on the machine (and fully updated). Norton gave the computer a
clean bill of health. I then switched the laptop off, and back on
again -- no change at all -- all my hard work was a complete waste
of time.
At this point I felt like pulling out the rest of my hair. I went off
to bed.
The next day ....
When I phoned my good friend Barry, who has had similar problems
in recent years, he recommended replacing Windows XP fully. It is a
very time-consuming, but if a virus has completely knackered your
system, then it’s the best thing to do.
A few days earlier, Graham Godfrey had downloaded AVG anti-virus
software onto my flashdrive, with view to installing it onto the U3A
laptop. So I was lucky to have this to hand to try it out on Sue’s
laptop. The AVG loaded up OK and I did a full anti-virus sweep with it.
Lo and Behold! A Trojan virus was found and was quarantined by
the AVG -- the virus had been missed by the Norton (which I had
to disable before putting on the AVG). I was then able to find a few
files that Sue particularly wanted to save on the laptop (I put these
files onto my flashdrive for storage, as the Nero CD-Rom Burning
software wasn’t working at all).
I then popped in the Windows XP Recovery CD, and started up
the XP installation. One thing that I missed a few times was the
very first screen that pops up when the laptop is switched on.
This screen only lasts 3-4 seconds, and if you need to select
the Bios-Setup (by hitting the F2 key on our laptop) you have
to do so very quickly. There were some good instructions on
the cover of the Recovery CD on what to do, but basically I had
to select “Boot” from the top toolbar on Bios Setup, and then
re-arrange the order of what’s booted up in sequence – putting
the CD-Rom drive to the top of the list.
Often I find onscreen instructions very difficult to follow – OK
for someone with a degree in computer programming, but not
for simpletons like me. I got stuck a few times at the section
describing options as regards “partitions”, with dire warnings
if I were to chose any one option. Which one should I choose?
Fortunately, I was able to do a Google search on our main
computer upstairs, to get some more info on what to do.
I found a very helpful website, giving illustrated and step-by-step
guidelines on what to do … it’s written by Tim Fisher ..
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1.htm
This took me through the rest of the installation procedure.
I had anticipated having to put in the long Windows XP identity
code that came with the laptop, but I didn’t have to do so (which
was odd).
amended blog (6 March 07)... As regards anti-virus software, I've read
in the April 07 issue of "Computer Shopper", an article written by Simon
Edwards who has carried out extensive tests on various programs you
can buy or download for free. Of the 2 free ones tested, AVG was
found to be better that Avast, and of the commercial ones, he thought
the best buy was Steganos Antivirus 2007 (which performed better than
AVG). I installed Avast on Sue's computer, but now I'm thinking about
using AVG/Steganos.
Here are the links to the AVG and Steganos sites ...
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5
http://www.steganos.com/en/products/sav2007/
Windows XP has its own firewall, which you should enable, if you're
not using Norton’s or something similar.
I spent a whole day doing all this and putting back on various bits of
software, Sue’s email address list, etc..
So Sue’s laptop is now working even better than before – much more
quickly.
That was thrilling, wasn't it? :)
