Computer Bug

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Well, I have had a hell of a weekend so far!

Had a meeting at work on Friday morning as usual, no problem. By break everyone was told there was another one which resulted in us being told that this coming Tuesday Ofsted are coming in.

So you can imagine the sheer frustration that I had on Friday evening when my Net book was invaded by a computer bug.

Despite having brand new antivirus software etc on it!!!

So this post is aimed to give some information which I have spent hours, along with Hubby, trying to sort out.

Firstly, I want to point out that my email is safe and so is this blog, it got in somewhere and I have researched and found out that it is impossible to work out where it comes from exactly. It can get in when you simply log on to your computer. My new little one connects to the Internet without me actually having to click on anything.

So this is how we solved it after googling and reading some forums where other people have had this problem. I suggest that you do the same, I am not an IT expert, this is just our experience.

The bug came in calling itself SYSTEM TOOL, do not confuse this with System Tools which is found in accessories in your C drive.

So we did the following (after crying for a few minutes!)

*We had already backed up the computer last week, so this is a warning to do this regularly.

*We then restarted the computer (we did lose a few things but I can live with that).

*We restarted it back to its original settings which is what you do with your Product recovery disks or system restore disks. Due to mine being a net book this was already on my computer by pressing F4 as I turned it back on.

*I then selected system restore which started it back from the beginning.

(Some comments on a forum I read also did this by putting the computer into Safe Mode first, but look into this first.

This might sound rather drastic, but if you can not use it at all and this bug renders the computer totally useless, then it was the only thing we could do. Yes, PC World could have probably done something which would start at approx £30.00 upwards, but this happened at 11.30pm.

*We then went to the following link and downloaded Malwarebytes FREE download which seems to be able to tackle this when many other antivirus software can not (could be a marketing ploy!) We took a bit of a risk with this but the computer was knackered anyway.

You must read this site and what it can offer and make up your own mind as to what to do.

So far everything is ok and I am using the same Net book to write this.

*We then did a full scan using the Malwarebytes software.

*We then followed this with the antivirus software full scan as well.

*This did take a while but did seem to work.

Failing that take your laptop etc the someone such as PC World and get them to look at it. I am desperate due to the inspection next week as everything is in place and most of it is on memory stick (backed up as well) but I still needed the Net book to print any of it.

Do google this and read some forums I was astonished at how many people have had the same problem and are based all over the world. The Internet does have its big draw backs. Most of the problems seemed to start on 22nd December 2010! However a comment was left by someone in Canada who said that there had been a problem with this particular bug since last September. What is worrying about this is that purchased antivirus software can not detect it, and the producers of SOME products do not want to know unless you pay them. One person quoted $60.00 to help sort it out. Yet this free download seems to have helped me, but I suppose only time will tell.

It does seem to be a massive problem as I have had emails from bloggers warning me not to click on certain comments and emails etc that may have been passed on to me via sites as innocent as craft blogs and children's toy sites.

The only safeguard you really have is to back up everything on a separate hard drive regularly or even every time you use your PC.

I have had a huge fright, compounded by next weeks forth coming events but my external hard drive is now in the bag with my Net book.

So if your PC is fine do not leave it, I advise that you spend a little time today following up what I have written here so that you are aware BEFORE something happens, it might not ever happen, but we all know what life can be like.

Try googling SYSTEM TOOL BUG and do a little reading.

Well, I now need to go and cross some T's and dot some I's for next week. Normal craft posts will resume in the next few days.

I hope I have not scared anyone, just trying to pass on a warning as I was pretty upset Friday evening and it is not a nice feeling that this deliberately generated "thing" invaded my PC.

Take care

xx

P.S On a happier note what do you think of the bracelet on the last post. I think I will find 5 mins to day and change the beads, what do you think?