This week I had a scary thing happen to me. My computer avoided a worm--by the skin of my chinny, chin, chin, so to speak. I was in my email program when my computer was suddenly taken over by this screen that started listing 5, 6, then 7, then 8+ programs affected by a worm. Down at the bottom appeared a question from my computer asking me if I wanted to give the program access to my computer and a warning that it could harm my computer.
I paused and my heart was seized with fear. This all happened in a matter of seconds.
Then I had the thought that I needed to check my virus program. Just as I began to minimize the screen and go to that icon, my antivirus program showed an icon in the corner that said it had just blocked a worm. I immediately closed the web browser that had been opened and began a full system scan to get rid of any remains.
The whole scene reminded me of the movie inception. There's a scene in the movie where Leonardo di Caprio's character explains to the soon to be new dream designer that you can't incorporate real elements because then the dreamer has a greater likelihood of realizing that the dream is a dream and is not reality. The creator wants the dreamer to believe that the dream is reality!
This worm wanted me to believe that it was in fact protecting me from a worm!
I wanted to share this story in case you ever encounter such a threat on your computer. Computers simply aren't as safe as we want to believe they are.
Showing posts with label Computer problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Computer problems. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, May 10, 2010
Internet Security Programs
Last fall, I requested two internet security programs from Amazon for reviewing from the program I'm a part of. I thought, "Hey! They're free. I'll try them." I discovered that what's free is not always free in the end--it may come with a price.
I discovered this: IF you switch internet security programs, make sure you completely uninstall the other program.
I discovered that if you use Norton--there are always little pieces left behind. If you don't find these pieces, they will stay and your new program will think that they are viruses--problems to be attacked. This can and often does freeze up your computer. I discovered all of this the hard way. I broke the new laptop we had bought 45 days earlier from Costco. Thankfully, I was able to return it since they had a 90 day return window. I did do a restore and erase the hard drive, but that's a several hour long process. And by the time I was done with that, I no longer trusted the computer. Broken computers for me are like broken used cars. If it's a little break that gets fixed quickly, my trust is restored quickly. If it's a big break, I will forever feel insecure about the car--and in this place the computer.
I wrote a review about this on Amazon and someone commented to the effect that I was a dodo bird for not knowing I had to completely uninstall the program and know about these little pieces left behind. I don't think I was a dodo bird. I've talked to several friends who didn't know about this glitch either. It is comforting to know that I'm not alone. But, that's also why I wanted to post this story this morning. It's one of those random pieces of information that might help someone someday avert the disaster that crashing their hard drive might be for them someday in the future. =)
Last note, if this has happened to you, or if your computer isn't booting up, call the tech support for your computer manufacturer. They should be able to walk you through doing a restore on your computer which will bring the computer back to the state it was in at a point in the past. You'll lose the information that was saved after that date, but you'll get your computer back--and that's a good thing =)
I discovered this: IF you switch internet security programs, make sure you completely uninstall the other program.
I discovered that if you use Norton--there are always little pieces left behind. If you don't find these pieces, they will stay and your new program will think that they are viruses--problems to be attacked. This can and often does freeze up your computer. I discovered all of this the hard way. I broke the new laptop we had bought 45 days earlier from Costco. Thankfully, I was able to return it since they had a 90 day return window. I did do a restore and erase the hard drive, but that's a several hour long process. And by the time I was done with that, I no longer trusted the computer. Broken computers for me are like broken used cars. If it's a little break that gets fixed quickly, my trust is restored quickly. If it's a big break, I will forever feel insecure about the car--and in this place the computer.
I wrote a review about this on Amazon and someone commented to the effect that I was a dodo bird for not knowing I had to completely uninstall the program and know about these little pieces left behind. I don't think I was a dodo bird. I've talked to several friends who didn't know about this glitch either. It is comforting to know that I'm not alone. But, that's also why I wanted to post this story this morning. It's one of those random pieces of information that might help someone someday avert the disaster that crashing their hard drive might be for them someday in the future. =)
Last note, if this has happened to you, or if your computer isn't booting up, call the tech support for your computer manufacturer. They should be able to walk you through doing a restore on your computer which will bring the computer back to the state it was in at a point in the past. You'll lose the information that was saved after that date, but you'll get your computer back--and that's a good thing =)
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