Anti-Virus Warning

[Vort]

I got hit with this today. It's called "Windows 7 Recovery" and I thought it was legitimate until it asked me to purchase something. Luckily, I already had Malwarebytes on my computer and it was able to delete this.

I'm sorry to hear this, Elph. The virus writers are a pox on humanity. It is difficult for me to dredge up any charity for them.

On a Windows box, esp. Windows 7, always install Microsoft's free antivirus program Microsoft Security Essentials (unless you're on a corp network that has another antivirus solution in place). This is a solid antivirus that I'm pretty sure will fix the Windows 7 Recovery virus.

[Still_Small_Voice]

Elphaba make backups at least every two weeks of data you value. I have an external hard drive, a second hard drive in my desktop computer and flash drives I make backups on to.

If you really value data make three copies of it. It can be a pain but a hard drive can fail at anytime and it will take your data with it.

[Elphaba]

There may be a way to recover your photos. Try running:

Recuva - It's on the techy side, but I've used ot to recover files from formated drives.

Undelete 360 - A bit more user friendly.

MiniTool Power Data Racovery - Even more user friendly.

Give all three a shot and see if it will recover any of your photos. I bet you my be able to get some, if not most of them back.

Well, it turns out everything is still on my computer. However, I can’t access anything via normal channels. I’m not sure how to explain it, but all of my file folders in Computer show up as empty, including those in my “Libraries.” But when I open Windows Live Photo Gallery, all of the pictures are still there. I tried to create a new folder and copied everything into it, but it still shows up as empty. So the problem is with the Computer file system. Does that make sense?

I discovered this after using the MiniTool Powder Data Recovery to recover my photo files. I opened one of them and it took me to Windows Live Photo Gallery. Imagine my delight to see everything was still there! So, thank you so much for the recovery program links. I am not sure I would have figured this out without the MiniTool.

I'm sorry to hear this, Elph. The virus writers are a pox on humanity. It is difficult for me to dredge up any charity for them.

Thank you for commiserating with me. Whoever did this is evil, and I keep thinking there ought to be a way to make them pay for what they’ve done. But then, I am at fault for not making backups.

On a Windows box, esp. Windows 7, always install Microsoft's free antivirus program Microsoft Security Essentials (unless you're on a corp network that has another antivirus solution in place). This is a solid antivirus that I'm pretty sure will fix the Windows 7 Recovery virus.

I actually had been using MSE as my virus protection. If I understand all of this correctly, Windows 7 Recovery is actually malware, not a virus. (Am I correct that there is a difference between the two?) So MSE didn’t catch this one. But I was able to remove it with Malwarebytes.

Elphaba make backups at least every two weeks of data you value. I have an external hard drive, a second hard drive in my desktop computer and flash drives I make backups on to.

You’re absolutely right, and I have learned my lesson! I had purchased some CDs to backup to that the store clerk recommended, but it always hung up on the first disk. But the truth is, I’m on a fixed income, and only have a little money allotted each month for this kind of thing, and there was always something I wanted more (read: something to play with), so I’d put it off. I assure you, that won’t happen again!

Thanks everyone. I haven’t had anything upset me like this has for a very long time, and I greatly appreciate all the help and understanding.

Elph

[estradling75]

Well, it turns out everything is still on my computer. However, I can’t access anything via normal channels. I’m not sure how to explain it, but all of my file folders in Computer show up as empty, including those in my “Libraries.” But when I open Windows Live Photo Gallery, all of the pictures are still there. I tried to create a new folder and copied everything into it, but it still shows up as empty. So the problem is with the Computer file system. Does that make sense?

I recently had virus trouble of my own... Turned out, it turn on the hidden attribute of some of my files... Made them disappear until I made it show hidden files. Could this be your problem?

[PrinceofLight2000]

I recently had virus trouble of my own... Turned out, it turn on the hidden attribute of some of my files... Made them disappear until I made it show hidden files. Could this be your problem?

Another more serious possibility is that it tinkered with your (Elphaba's) user permissions. Reading/writing files, viewing folders, modifying folders, etc.

[Elphaba]

I recently had virus trouble of my own... Turned out, it turn on the hidden attribute of some of my files... Made them disappear until I made it show hidden files. Could this be your problem?

YES! That's exactly what happened. I was able to "show" them, and everything is back!

Thank you thank you thank you! I would never have thought of that.

Elph

[estradling75]

YES! That's exactly what happened. I was able to "show" them, and everything is back!

Thank you thank you thank you! I would never have thought of that.

Elph

Welcome... Sounds like we got hit by the same virus

[Elphaba]

I just have to say, I keep opening my Computer files to make sure they're really really there, and every single time they ARE still there! Just picture a woman the size of a rhinoceros doing happy dances, and you have a good visual of my afternoon.

I just had to get that off my chest.

Elph

[miztrniceguy]

In just 30 minutes tonight I had 3 callers who got nailed by MAC Defender malware. And they say Apples don't get viruses.HAH!

[Still_Small_Voice]

Macintosh is a lot less vulnerable than Windows 7 in my opinion. I would trust Apple's operating systems over Microsoft's for Internet security.

[slamjet]

Macintosh is a lot less vulnerable than Windows 7 in my opinion. I would trust Apple's operating systems over Microsoft's for Internet security.

Yo! I have something for you:

There is no such thing as "less vulnerable." If it is a computer, it's vulnerable. If the computer is connected to a network, it's more vulnerable. If it's connected to the internet, it's massively vulnerable.

Apple's base OS is BSD. There's nothing magical about it. It's not getting hit as badly as windows by pure fact of less of them being out there and not plugged into and running high level infrastructure, such as windows. Believe me, if Apple were running the electronic grid or a nuclear station, it would get hit hard.

[Mahone]

Yo! I have something for you:

There is no such thing as "less vulnerable." If it is a computer, it's vulnerable. If the computer is connected to a network, it's more vulnerable. If it's connected to the internet, it's massively vulnerable.

Apple's base OS is BSD. There's nothing magical about it. It's not getting hit as badly as windows by pure fact of less of them being out there and not plugged into and running high level infrastructure, such as windows. Believe me, if Apple were running the electronic grid or a nuclear station, it would get hit hard.

This is true, but (whether we like it or not) they are slowly encroaching on corporate networks. You can look at almost any reasonably large network now and find a mac (or several macs) connected somewhere, at least in my experience.

Having said that, apple seem incredibly disinterested in making any friends in the corporate sector.

We have an xserve at work, I had a bit of a dilemma earlier this year because we needed a second osx server, yet apple no longer run the xserve line and there is no replacement, other than a mac pro (or mac mini) server.

How to rack mount the xserver:

(there are about 28 there)

How to rack mount the mac pro:

What a stupid amount of space wasted...

And using the mac mini as a server looks silly next to all the other servers.

So yeah, macs are infiltrating on corporate networks, though apple seem happy for this not to continue, preferring to focus on the domestic user, perhaps because they are more gullible and willing to spend thousands on a machine that isn't any better than an equivalent PC? Maybe the corporate users didn't so easily take in their twoddle about their equipment not being at fault in any way, like with the mac defender software mentioned earlier: Apple to support reps: Don't confirm Mac infections ? The Register and An AppleCare support rep talks: Mac malware is "getting worse" | ZDNet

Edited May 22, 2011 by Mahone

[Elphaba]

There may be a way to recover your photos. Try running:

Recuva - It's on the techy side, but I've used ot to recover files from formated drives.

Undelete 360 - A bit more user friendly.

MiniTool Power Data Racovery - Even more user friendly.

Give all three a shot and see if it will recover any of your photos. I bet you my be able to get some, if not most of them back.

Slam,

We don't know why, but my mother's computer crashed last night. I was able to do a System Restore and it seems to be working fine. But I wanted to let you know that I was able to retrieve most of her files using "MiniTool Power Data Recovery."

So, once again, I thank you!

Elph

[slamjet]

Slam,

We don't know why, but my mother's computer crashed last night. I was able to do a System Restore and it seems to be working fine. But I wanted to let you know that I was able to retrieve most of her files using "MiniTool Power Data Recovery."

So, once again, I thank you!

Elph

YAY! And thanks for letting me know I had another moment of brilliance! Don't expect much more from me because I just used up my quota for the year.

[Still_Small_Voice]

I will probably never buy Macintosh because I get everything I want with Linux Ubuntu Version 10.04 and Windows. Macintosh personal computers are overpriced in my opinion.

I like building my own desktops and upgrading them as I see fit. Original Equipment Manufacturers like Dell, Hewlett Packard and E-Machines put junk power supply units in their desktops. It ticks me off how they get away with this continually and the end consumer doesn't notice until it is too late. These companies usually only cover their personal computers with a pathetic one year warranty unless you pay them more money.

I buy my own parts and get a three year manufacturer warranty on almost everything I purchase. There really is not much advantage purchasing a pre built desktop if you know how to build your own.

[miztrniceguy]

I need to run OSX on my pc. I either need to set up a dual boot system with OSX on a separate hdd or in a VM environment. I am looking for someone who can help me do it, or a shop to set it up for me. I only need to use it one in a while. Apple does not allow uploading to the iBook store except from an Intel based mac. I don't want to spend $1000 for something to use a few times a month.

[slamjet]

Use your BIOS. You can choose which HD to boot from. Unplug your windows drive and plug in the drive you'll use with your OSX. Install it then plug your windows drive back in. Go into your BIOS and in the boot menu, switch which hard drive to boot from. That's a guess on my part having not used OSX, but I've used this method to boot from two different Window drives when I'm installing a new OS7 on a new drive. But I heard that there is a way to dual-boot with it, if you install them in a certain sequence.

[Mahone]

Bear in mind that, unlike windows, OSX has never been designed to run on much hardware other than what apple themselves sell and officially support (not all that much). While many people have claimed to get it working, I can imagine you may get some very weird issues, even if not straight away. It's not something I personally would want to do other than for testing purposes only and a bit of fun. I'd never consider it being something to rely on. And after you get it working, don't update the OS either, as chances are it'll break something.

Also bear in mind that it's very much against the terms and conditions, if that bothers you, although not illegal. If you still want to do it, there are loads of guides out there if you use google, although for potential legal issues I won't link to any here (apple are quite protective of their OS).

I cannot vouch for their accuracy though, as I've never tried it and every time apple releases a new version of OSX, they won't be taking into account all the guides online that explain how to hack it, and therefore the guide will most likely no longer be applicable.

With my work on OSX over the last couple of years, I've noticed one thing in common with most the problems I have - third party hardware or software. Even if said hardware/software is officially supported, such as integration with a windows domain, you can expect issues and lots of them. If you use 100% apple purchased hardware/software, problems will be minimal. Admittedly integration with a windows domain is no small project, but then neither is installing OSX on hardware that it wasn't designed to run on. So if you have lots of time to iron them out, and your hair is already grey, go for it. Let us know how you get on :)

Edited May 28, 2011 by Mahone

[miztrniceguy]

Thanks for the words of wisdom (he he)> I know it isn't simple. It's the different software and instructions I have had trouble understanding. Hardware I understand better, and can completely gut my computer and replace everything without much trouble. And so many gray areas. People say "x" software will do it, or "y" software will do it "this" and "that", yet those software companies don't support it and won't publicly "say" it will, for fear of being sued.