Odyssey Thu Computer Hell

Well folks, I have just been lassoed and dragged through the bushes and run though computer hell and I want to tell you folks, it is not fun. My body has been abused from lack of sleep and my brain has been fried on the journey through hell.

I worked on my computer for 2 solid weeks with the help of 4 IT experts including the Geek Squad and a small independent shop by Fry Road.

If your computer has been acting funny since that day about 2 weeks ago when the Eccie site was hit with the "Attack Page" warning, you had better do something about it now because the cost and aggravation alone can rob you of your sanity, productivity, time and money.

1. Make sure that you back up your data right away. I was comparing different online backup services the very night before my computer completely crashed. This was after we thought we had at least stabilized the system. I decided on a external drive rather online, but you can decide which suits you, but decide now. Don't wait.

2. This is very important. Make sure that you have a good anti-virus protection program installed on your system. Make a mental note that all the IT experts I spoke to agreed that Norton 360 is virtually a piece of shit. Get something better and I will tell you what that is.

3. The small independent shop I went to first recommended a program called "Vyper" which they had started to install after I agreed, but they later called me and informed me that one of the specialty programs that I typically run on my computer sometimes causes a conflict with Vyper. Remember, you cannot have two anti-virus programs because they will conflict with each other so choose one and go with it.

4. The Geek Squad swears by a Russian made anti-virus program called Kaspersky and that is what I ended up using on my machine since both companies agreed it is top of the line and will not conflict with specialty programs.

5. Have you machine checked out by a small independent shop like the one I was luck enough to find. The Geek Squad is okay, but they are very expensive and trying to get through to them on in the phone is nearly impossible. The small shop I went to are friendlier and let you go back into the shop to see the status of your computer and they answer the phone when you call. The GS will let the phone ring 30 times and still not pick up!

6. A thorough professional check of your hard drive is important because the program with your computer may say that the hard drive is fine in a quick 5 minute test, but the professional test takes 4 hrs and much more meticulous and found numerous bad sectors that the quick scan missed altogether. I had to replace the hard drive and get rid of the jungle pile of viruses I picked up roaming the internet fighting viruses with only a Norton sling shot.

7. Also if you use Outlook, make sure that you keep your PST files well under 2 GB because that is about the limit. I did not know that. I thought if I had enough room on my hard drive, I could store all the emails I wanted, but Outlook sets a limit of about 2 GB so keep an eye on that.

8. Also, if you see the Google "Attack Page" warning, don't think it's something harmless that you can mess with. Just get the hell away from it immediately!

Thank you! This is really helpful.

By the way, this phrase is really clever:

"the jungle pile of viruses I picked up roaming the internet fighting viruses with only a Norton sling shot."

The "geek squad" is not qualified to change a lightbulb......

I like Zone Alarm a/v and firewall much better than any of the Norton sludgeware. It's a good idea to have an independent anti-spyware program running too. It won't compete with your a/v or even another anti-spyware program. I like Ad-Aware and there is a free version that's good as well as a more advanced one for $25-30.

Thanks for info!!!

Knocking on wood.

I have been using Webroot for three years and haven't had any problems.

I got the warning and sent it to St. Christopher.

However, I have a Mac and never suffered. They are sooooooo kewl. And I use the Firefox browser. The only Microsoft thing I use is Office, but then it's on the Mac platform.

When I had a PC, I suffered thru viruses, the Blue Screen of Death, and numerous messages of "not responding." My Mac has never crashed in the 2 years I've had it. Couldn't say that for the PC.

I know Macs are more expensive. But let me ask you: how much would you pay to avoid these hassles? How much did you pay all the IT experts?

There is one other very important piece of information that you folks need to really understand in order to extend the life of your computer.

You should understand that the hard drive on a computer even while encased in a hard shell is nevertheless, a delicate piece of machinery.

It is like your brain which is encased in a hard bone skull, but still liable to serious injury which is why you wear a helmet or safety hat in certain environments.

The vital information to remember is that the disk is spinning rapidly at 7200 rpms and the optical head that reads the information is extremely close to the surface of the disk at about only a millimeter. Those two requirements are needed for optimum functionality, but they create the scene for potential disaster.

When you have delicate disk spinning at such a high velocity paired with a reading head a scant hair away, you must be careful not to bump your computer while it is running.

I did not know that and had my computer sitting on top of the table where it was then exposed to random bumps and inviting disaster. When a computer is bumped while the hard drive disk is spinning, the reading head can damage a sector if it makes even the slightest contact with the surface and can ruin a sector. If you have data on that sector then it will be corrupted.

Now I have tucked my computer away inside the cabinet where it is supposed to go to minimize the random bumps that may damage the delicate machinery inside.

I would advise you to do the same right away before you learn the lesson the painful and expensive way I had to discover the fact!

Geek Squad are Level 1 Techs.....They are not able to upgrade store IT equipment, therefore, since I am Field Services IT Engineer, I get called to to those upgrades.

Knocking on wood.

I have been using Webroot for three years and haven't had any problems. Originally Posted by Ansley

I used WebRoot Spy Sweeper for a number of years but finally quit using it during the WIN XP period. SS seemed to get slower and slower over the years and began causing conflicts. That's why I switched to Ad-Aware.

I still use WebRoot Window Washer on my XP machines but they refuse to update it as a stand alone program for WIN7. They put it in their suites but I don't need or want the suite concept.

I also use a discontinued WebRoot program called My Personal Favorites. It was discontinued years ago and was actually a Win 98 or early XP program but it seems to be working ok on WIN7. It hides pw and urls from any who don't have the pw to the program.

" Make sure that you back up your data right away. I was comparing different online backup services the very night before my computer completely crashed. This was after we thought we had at least stabilized the system. I decided on a external drive rather online, but you can decide which suits you, but decide now. Don't wait."


A very good choice for the number 1 recommendation. Eventually, all computers get slammed. I wiped out a drive once just by fucking around with Windows 7 disk manager. I had to reinstall the operating system. Fortunately, I DO regular backups.

A Western Digital 2 Terabyte (2,000 Gb) USB external drive is advertised at $110 in today's local paper. Software like Acronis (there are many others) make automatic backups idiot proof. External drives are good because you can store them separately from your computer. If your computer gets stolen, you don't lose your data.

One caveat. If you’re going to take your computer to someone to work on, be sure to use a file shredder to wipe the free space. Never forget, if it appeared on your monitor, it’s on your hard drive. Also, deleting a file doesn’t remove the file from the disk. "Delete" only marks those disk sectors as being available in the file allocation table. You have to shred the files to physically remove them.

snip
the optical head that reads the information is extremely close to the surface of the disk at about only a millimeter.
Originally Posted by Fast Gunn

Just one correction
A hard drive is magnetic and the head to platter clearance is on the order of 100,000 times smaller than a mm. The are in the range of 10 nanometers

ESET NOD 32 Anitvirus 4 is the best.(imho) As far as the geek squad goes, I wouldnt' let them near my alienware...like most things in life, if you want something done right do it yourself.

*sigh* Alienware and solid state...

Avast (AVS) and Spybot (Tea Timer activated; updated weekly, immunizations always current). This has been my go-to for years now and I swear by it. If an ant farts in Timbuktu my system will detect it, destroy it, and laugh while awaiting the next offending code.