Karaoke Forums

McAfee has a free application called "Stinger" that will kiil a bunch of virii.

Just search McAfee or google it.

Firefox by mozilla replaces Internet Explorer quite well, and stops pop-ups.

Try download dot com. (Free too)

Ad Aware, and Spybot of course. Both free. @ download dot com again.

Data recovery can be done, just google it or accept the kindness of strangers.

(The best data recovery is pricey, so if you know someone that has access....)

Several data recovery programs can be bought at the store, but most are marginal.

Thanks for the Mozilla tip JD, installed it and pop ups vanished!

KKid, I share your feelings, but the picture you attached is sick. Please keep in mind that this is a family oriented site, and I don't think our kids need to see the picture you posted.

There is enough violence around as it is; we do not need to take it any further, especially not in a graphical way.

Thank you.

edited by AllStar:
Thank you for removing that submission!

Just so you know, both Opera and the Mozilla line of browsers will block pop ups. You can add the google toolbar (google dot com - click more) will stop pop ups under IE. If you're running Windows XP, Service Pack 2 has a pop up blocker that works with IE.

SP2 also checks for anti virus software that's up to date. If you don't want to pay for an Anti-Virus solution you can check out AVG anti-virus. It's in widespread use throughout Europe but Symantec (Norton), Network Associates (McAffee) and Comptuer Associates (InnoculateIT) have the market share here. AVG has a free personal version that I've used for some time with excellent results.

If at all possible avoid doing a system restore from the original disks. This will wipe out everything on your computer. If you're interested in data recovery I can do some searching on some tools I had to use recently and let you know what worked best. It recovered close to 130GB out of the 160GB I was trying to recover.

I stand corrected....Sorry

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[glow=blue]Tequila & A Song
KKid[/glow]

the link I posted works just fine for removal.

www . sarc . com / avcenter / venc / data / w32 . sobig.f @ mm . removal . too l.html

Matt

True, the Symantic stuff is good, however, the "Stinger.exe" file kills many, not just the one. Kinda handy, eh?

I too have data recovery software, and it's mostly crapola.
It only finds the easy stuff.

The good recovery suites link to a web site that requests a LOT on $$$ to finish recovering what it found with the "Free Data Recovery" check.

Many off site "Labs" want big $$s too.

I think it's a plot.

It's OK, Jimmy.. The pain will pass...

Running a system restore from the original discs that came with the system typically formats the hard drive and puts the system back the way it was when it came out of the box.

Setting a system restore point after the system has been infected can cause the infection to remain on the system. I've seen virii become part of the system restore point and the AV software couldn't clean it. We had to turn off system restore to fully clean the system. We typically clean the system, verify operability, turn off system restore, clean the restore point, turn system restore back on, and double check the entire drive for infection.

Big Jimmy C: I may not be clear on what you're referring to and the terms we're using may be the same term for different things.

I think of restoration discs as the discs that came with the computer. These typically contain the operating system and other applications that are installed on the machine when you first pull it out of the box.

A restore point is a software repository in Widows XP that allows you to return the system to some point in the past. It can remove software, drivers and other things if you keep careful track of the restore points. Keep in mind that it removes everything application related back to that point in time (but not normally data files). This means that if you install application A and then application B and then use the restore point before Application A, application B will also be removed.

If you're using different definitions for those terms let me know. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just want to help to insure data intregrity and prevent a common mistake.

A friend of mine got hit with the Chernobyl virus a couple of years back... he lost everything. Since then, all of my family and friends have been really careful with their antivirus stuff...

I personally run NAV 2004, ZoneAlarmPro, Adaware 6 and SpyBot.

Just remember tho, with some applications you can get, you have to run a regular scan for them to be effective - mine are set to automatically run weekly.

BT, I was going to add some thoughts after reading your first post, however after reading all the replies I can see that you have already received some excellent advice.

Big Jimmy C is correct if in fact you have already lost the files.

Good luck and I hope that it works out for you.

If not you could contact me. Not to advertise but if you are in need of technical assistance with your computer, I offer telephone tech support for only $75 per hour. If you need on-site repair it is $150 per hour plus expenses (transportation & lodging)

advice,
Buy norton Ghost 2003 and make a backup image of the "c" drive once you have it fixed, and loaded the way you want it. I usually backup the c drive to on of my other hard drives. and it only takes about 10-15 minutes to restore it if you have this happen again. also if you ever have a crash it will let you inage the new hard drive with data from the old one.

Every so often just do a reimage just to make sure you have a current backup. I lost a machine about a year ago and it took almost 8 hours to rebuild. it's a lot easier on you to use ghost.

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I'm Not Dead yet...... But every day Im getting Closer !

the good news is...IMMM BACKKKKK the bad news is.....im on a week of nights at work this week...bummer....i hate doing nights....driving my truck on these Dark Lonely Cold winter nights, with nothing but a warm flask of coffee and a Beatles tape to keep me company....anyway....thankyou all for all the help and advice...it is much appreciated by you all....thankyou