Oh man, did I fuck up yesterday morning!!
I have a MySpace account. (I won't bother linking it, as I barely go there, barely understand how to navigate it, and only have the account in the first place to keep up with some people I know in RL anyway)
Some people there made friend requests to me. So I click on one of them to check them out and see who they are. A window pops up wanting me to d/l a directX file or something, in order to see the video. (This is something I'd done before, btw, with no trouble)
All of a sudden I'm d/l'ing Spycrush!!
For those of you not in the know, (and don't worry, I was'nt in the know untill I was attacked by it) Spycrush is MALWARE!! (Short for "Malicious Software"...another term I am now newly familiar with)
It's like super-spyware. It d/l'ed itself to my Brother's computer (which was the worst thing about this whole mess btw) and I could'nt get rid of it!!!
It changed our homepage, and would'nt let us change it back!! It kept popping up warnings every 15 seconds that the comp had a virus or spyware or a worm, and that we should d/l their software to get rid of it!!
Did I forget to mention that Spycrush bills itself as internet virus and spyware protection?? They're the ones who put those viruses and spyware on the comp in the first place!! Talk about Internet Extortion!!!
I uninstalled it! I deleted every file I could find connected to it!! I even ended up going through the registry keys manually looking for keys that Norton had on their list as being theris....
...and it was still on the computer!!!
Man I was so Fucked-Up-Upset about it!! I thought I had ruined my brother's computer to the point where we'd have to F-Disk the hard drive.
Fortunately, my Brother was a little more calm about it. We looked up everything we could on Spycrush, and found a process and tool to get rid of it....but it was a damn long process, where we had to turn off System Restore, d/l a special tool (but not run it, yet) d/l a trial version of a spyware remover (and not run it yet, eithere) reboot in safe mode, then run the tool and spyware program.
And now...hope-against-hope, wish-against-wish...we finally got it all removed!!
I'm still a little wary about using the computer though. Well, if it turns out it's still on here, I'll pay for any repairs or damages...I owe my Little Bro that much at least.
Anyway, I still have a job for those of you who actually read my journal.
I don't think the boss ever even found out! He was on Vacation that week, and I got the materials and the repairs done before the co-manager even showed up, and fortunately, everyone who knew about the incident has kept it to themselves!
But on all fronts, please keep your fingers crossed for me! Ok?
Later my Friends.
I have a MySpace account. (I won't bother linking it, as I barely go there, barely understand how to navigate it, and only have the account in the first place to keep up with some people I know in RL anyway)
Some people there made friend requests to me. So I click on one of them to check them out and see who they are. A window pops up wanting me to d/l a directX file or something, in order to see the video. (This is something I'd done before, btw, with no trouble)
All of a sudden I'm d/l'ing Spycrush!!
For those of you not in the know, (and don't worry, I was'nt in the know untill I was attacked by it) Spycrush is MALWARE!! (Short for "Malicious Software"...another term I am now newly familiar with)
It's like super-spyware. It d/l'ed itself to my Brother's computer (which was the worst thing about this whole mess btw) and I could'nt get rid of it!!!
It changed our homepage, and would'nt let us change it back!! It kept popping up warnings every 15 seconds that the comp had a virus or spyware or a worm, and that we should d/l their software to get rid of it!!
Did I forget to mention that Spycrush bills itself as internet virus and spyware protection?? They're the ones who put those viruses and spyware on the comp in the first place!! Talk about Internet Extortion!!!
I uninstalled it! I deleted every file I could find connected to it!! I even ended up going through the registry keys manually looking for keys that Norton had on their list as being theris....
...and it was still on the computer!!!
Man I was so Fucked-Up-Upset about it!! I thought I had ruined my brother's computer to the point where we'd have to F-Disk the hard drive.
Fortunately, my Brother was a little more calm about it. We looked up everything we could on Spycrush, and found a process and tool to get rid of it....but it was a damn long process, where we had to turn off System Restore, d/l a special tool (but not run it, yet) d/l a trial version of a spyware remover (and not run it yet, eithere) reboot in safe mode, then run the tool and spyware program.
And now...hope-against-hope, wish-against-wish...we finally got it all removed!!
I'm still a little wary about using the computer though. Well, if it turns out it's still on here, I'll pay for any repairs or damages...I owe my Little Bro that much at least.
Anyway, I still have a job for those of you who actually read my journal.
I don't think the boss ever even found out! He was on Vacation that week, and I got the materials and the repairs done before the co-manager even showed up, and fortunately, everyone who knew about the incident has kept it to themselves!
But on all fronts, please keep your fingers crossed for me! Ok?
Later my Friends.
tez:
Not together as yet.. but I have a plan. And a plan makes me feel much better
lynx:
Thank you for your comment...xxx