One nice Spring day you are surfing the
Internet and all of a sudden a Virus Warning
pops up on your monitor and your top-notch
anti-virus suggests a total scan. WOO HOO!.
So you click the start button for the scan
but a window pops
up saying "Your computer
will restart in 30
seconds" and the
countdown begins.
When your computer reboots, your desktop
is gone, replaced by a big blue screen that
says "you are infected - click here
to clean". You change your desktop wall-paper
back to your fav picture but in less than
2 minutes, that annoying blue screen comes
back. You run a scan with your anti-virus and it
finds an infection but it tells you it cannot
clean it because it is in use. You hit alt-crt-delete
to see what is running on your task panel
but the Task Panel button does not work.
Your computer slows down and you come to
the awful realization that you have been
INFECTED! Now
what?
This happened to
me just last month.
I have
a great firewall
and anti-virus program
through
System Suite by VCom,
and run Ad-Aware
and
updates for the new
patterns of infections
each evening. But
still, I got an infection.
This happened by my listening to a MP3 file
on Projectplaylist.com that auto loaded a
codec at the beginning of the song. Once
the Trojan entered my system, it began downloading
Webhancer, 180Solutions, VirusHeat, and several
other nasty things.
It can happen to
you too, no matter
where
you get your music
or videos or how
good
your firewall and
anti-virus program
claim
to be, everyone is
at risk.
As Avatars who live
in Moove, a computer
virus can wipe out
your whole world
and maybe
even kill you. So
what can we do to
protect
ourselves? As a service
to our friends and
neighbors in Moove,
we have included
these
tips and links to
help keep you clean
as
a whistle. Viruses, Trojans, Spyware and Worms are
spread by email and dirty (Infected Web Sites).
They are a serious threat to your email,
your computer and even to parts of the Internet
and of course to us as Avatars. It is important to first understand that
no computer is truly secure. Every day, mean
people are coming up with new viruses and
worms, and figuring out ways to get into
your computer. While anti-virus software
companies try to keep up, sometimes a virus
may get you before they can catch it. Just
remember: you can usually fix your computer
(or get it fixed). If you are hacked or infected
with a virus, it doesn't have to destroy
everything. But you have to act carefully
and fast.
Keep your operating system and software up-to-date! A lot of people do not do this, but you
simply just have to!
Windows has Windows Update, and do not just
look at what needs
to be updated and think,
"pffffft, that's
too much trouble."
You need to download
and INSTALL these updates. Keep your system updated all the time!
Keep backups of your important stuff! I back up the magazine and my Moove folders
once a week. I would just die if I lost of
all my fav outfits. On a regular schedule
back up and save all of your important documents,
papers, Moove files, emails, images, or music--
whatever you would hate to lose if you got
an infection. I back up mine on a external hard drive I
bought at Wal-Mart for less than $80.00,
but you can also back up on a CD, or a flash
drive, etc, and then put it in a safe place.
Don't buy anything that is by email!. Unless you have asked to be spammed by an
advertisement list, don't buy anything offered
by SPAM email.
While there are some
safe email advertisers,
you should never
trust anything that you
cannot buy on a HTTPS
secure server.
I go buy the rule that I NEVER click on anything
in any email. If I have to I will copy the
link shortcut and paste it in a browser window.
That lets me see if the link is a real one
or wierd looking.
Be smart when shopping online. Use a Visa Gift Card with a limited amount
on it or get an online Debit Card from a
reputable dealer to use when you shop online.
A lot of debit cards will allow you to move
money into it by telephone. Just move the
amount you plan on spending on that shopping
spree. it is also a good way to budget your
online buying. Never use your regular credit
card or a debit card from your regular account. Don't open email attachments without doing
a virus scan on it.! I have my email sent to Hotmail which has
an attachment virus scan built in. After
I download the scanned attachment (and only
from those people I know), I scan it again
with my anti-virus program.
It used to be that you could open attachments
if you knew who they were from. NOT ANYMORE!
Viruses and worms will forge addresses of
people you know. Always be alert and suspicious.
The Internet is a dangerous place and you
cannot peek into the eyes of the person you
are dealing with to make sure they are honest.
Use anti-virus software and KEEP IT UP-TO-DATE! A lot of people do not realize that they
must update their anti-virus software constantly
to keep ahead of new viruses. Anti-virus
companies are constantly releasing updates,
but if you do not install them, it does you
no good. Even if you have an auto-update
on your anti-virus, YOU MUST INSTALL THE UPDATES!. Clean your system if you get infected! This can be a difficult task and if not done
correctly can destroy your system software
or cause some programs not to work. Many
viruses and trojans hide in several places
and just removing a suspicious file may do
more damage than good. I start with disconnecting my Internet connection. I then run a quick scan with VCOM anti-virus. I do not let VCOM clean the viruses, but
I write down what
each infection is.
I then TRY to get online and see if cleaning
the infection might
erase or corrupt any
DLL files. If, for
example, cleaning it will
erase my LSP.Dll
file which is needed to
get online, I locate
the download fix and
save it on a CD. I then reboot my computer and press F8 while
it is starting to
get into Safe Mode.
Do
not worry if the
monitor looks wierd,
this
is often normal. I then run a deep system scan with my VCOM
anti-virus program
with auto clean checked
and when it is done,
I check the log to see
if the found infections
were cleaned. Even if VCOM says it cleaned it all, I then
run a scan with SuperAntiSpyware
before rebooting
my computer in normal
mode. After both of these show my computer clean,
I reboot in normal mode and run both again.
I have found that even after cleaning the
computer, the virus or trojan has left a
little something for
Top Email Spamming Content
me in the restore folders. I clean these
manually. Good free software to keep on hand. SuperAntiSpyware: I love this program. It finds and cleans
and protects you in real time. It almost
acts as a secondary firewall and it does
not interfere with your current firewall.
I would have paid for this one, even if it
does have a funky name. LOL AVG: The most popular free solution for home
users and one of the few that makes it worth
actually paying for an upgrade. Hijack This: This program will not help clean your computer,
but I have found that most Tech Forums where
people WILL help you with the infection,
trojan, virus or repair will request this
log first. Ad-Aware: This is a great free program to find and
clean ad (spyware).
Easy to use and I
use
it about five times
a week. LSP Fix: This fix does only one thing and it does
it very well. It repairs your LSP (Layered
Service Provider) so you can get back on
the Internet if a virus has deleted the file. Spyware Doctor: I use the free version that does not clean
infections. The free version has an amazing
number of "Guardians" that you
can personalize to protect you. I use it
when I am visiting places I am not familiar
with. It is my third firewall protection. Of course, new threats are being created
almost daily, so
I would suggest bookmarking
Viruslist.com and visit them regularly. Stay safe, stay
clean and have fun.
Just be careful.
Screenshots of the programs we use here at
the Crystal
Angel
Copyright 2007/2008 - TorLa Inc
This Site is an independent affiliate of
Morning Glory Industries
All Coding except where noted is owned by
TorLa or is used by permission
Telluride, Colorado 81435
Contact Us: CrystalAngelFashion@earthlink.net
One nice Spring day you are surfing the
Internet and all of a sudden a Virus Warning
pops up on your monitor and your top-notch
anti-virus suggests a total scan. WOO HOO!.
A lot of people do not do this, but you
