So mad at myself!! stupid computer

I have a virus that got thru on my home computer this afternoon. I have over 500 photos on file, over 100 that I don't have saved to disk or hard copy. The only way I know how to get rid of the problem is to do a total recovery. I can still access the photos, but don't know if saving them to disk will also save the virus to reintroduce it. Anyone with any suggestions on saving photos? I can't afford to print even half of them! I'm doing all other work in my office now!

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

I have a virus that got thru on my home computer this afternoon. I have over 500 photos on file, over 100 that I don't have saved to disk or hard copy. The only way I know how to get rid of the problem is to do a total recovery. I can still access the photos, but don't know if saving them to disk will also save the virus to reintroduce it. Anyone with any suggestions on saving photos? I can't afford to print even half of them! I'm doing all other work in my office now!

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Yes...burn all the photo files to CD (as individual files). Then once you recover the PC you can run an antivirus scan on the CD to identify which (if any) have the virus.

Also, when you do recover make sure you shut off the autorun for the CD so that it doesn't try and read the disk before you are ready or it might just re-infect the computer.

Good Luck.

I'm just wondering why you can't clean the virus?

500 photos? That's nothing. I have over 4000 :D

Good luck fixing it.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

I'm just wondering why you can't clean the virus?

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I agree many virus's can be "cleaned" and if you don't have a anti-virus there are plenty of free ones out there that work great. AVG, Avast, etc. While it doesn't hurt to do a clean OS install every once and while it doesn't have to be the way to get rid of some viruses. If you already have AV protection but it is not up to date because it costs money than remove/uninstall it before adding a new free one. Multiple AV programs running will decrease the system's performance. Do a google search on the virus name and you should be able to find info on how to clean it.

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Yes...burn all the photo files to CD (as individual files). Then once you recover the PC you can run an antivirus scan on the CD to identify which (if any) have the virus.

Also, when you do recover make sure you shut off the autorun for the CD so that it doesn't try and read the disk before you are ready or it might just re-infect the computer.

Good Luck.

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Thanks,
I saved everything that I needed and will do a complete recovery when I get home tonight. Actually printed out all my favorite photos which was about 50 of them. Any tips help, I'm not to good with computers.

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

I agree many virus's can be "cleaned" and if you don't have a anti-virus there are plenty of free ones out there that work great. AVG, Avast, etc. While it doesn't hurt to do a clean OS install every once and while it doesn't have to be the way to get rid of some viruses. If you already have AV protection but it is not up to date because it costs money than remove/uninstall it before adding a new free one. Multiple AV programs running will decrease the system's performance. Do a google search on the virus name and you should be able to find info on how to clean it.

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I didn't know about cleaning a "virus". But since I already dumped and saved everything I figure a total recovery will be even more effective. I'll eventually learn more as I go along I guess.:)

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

I didn't know about cleaning a "virus". But since I already dumped and saved everything I figure a total recovery will be even more effective. I'll eventually learn more as I go along I guess.:)

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That's not necessarily true. Some viruses reside in the boot sector, and all the rebuilds in the world won't get rid of them.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

That's not necessarily true. Some viruses reside in the boot sector, and all the rebuilds in the world won't get rid of them.

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Good Point...:)

Do you remember the name of the virus that you have? We could look it up and see what type of damage it does which might help offer some other ideas in how to fix it.

Ohh no.. I can relate to that. We had a virus not too long ago.. I lost a lot of photos. But luckily, many were on my Photobucket account, so I just re-saved the ones that I wanted.. heck, it helped "clean house" and get rid of many I didn't need.. but now I make backup photo disks periodically so if this thing does get infected, I can at least salvage something.
I am glad that you were able to save the pics.. I know that some are priceless..

UGH! Sorry you gotta deal with all that..... :rolleye2:

There were a few I quarantined, I believe one was called trojan horse. I may be wrong

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

There were a few I quarantined, I believe one was called trojan horse. I may be wrong

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If they were quarantined what made you think you needed to reload your computer? Typically quarantined means that the virus software has found the virus and lock it up...so it cannot do any more damage.

Just FYI - Trojan horses are a type of virus (meaning they come hidden in a good file...hence the name) this is just a descriptor we would need the actual virus name to be able to find any info on it. :(

My computer is slower than dial up and I never got pop ups before, now I have several while working online

Defrag! I can't tell you how often a simple defrag takes a dog slow computer and gives it back some pep!

Yup, defrag and run Spybot and Adaware. Housecall is a good link, too.

Get Linux!! and get Opera or Fire Fox... I prefer Opera.. less spy wear that way. over 80% of spywear programs and viruses are made for windows, netscape AOL and expoler (sp?)

I was a die hard windows fan untill I got a PacMan Virus. Not fun.

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Originally Posted by TekWarren

Defrag! I can't tell you how often a simple defrag takes a dog slow computer and gives it back some pep!

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Where do I find it?
Thanks everyone for the help. It probably wouldn't hurt to get some classes on computer maint. if they have such a thing!

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

Where do I find it?
Thanks everyone for the help. It probably wouldn't hurt to get some classes on computer maint. if they have such a thing!

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I'm assuming that your running Windows XP.

This is the way I prefer to run a defrag.

Start->Run->type in "cmd" and hit enter->at command prompt type "defrag c:\" without the quotes.

The above is assuming that your hardrive is named C.

GUI version(probably easier)

Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter->select your drive(most probably C) and click on Defragment

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Originally Posted by iceman25

I'm assuming that your running Windows XP.

This is the way I prefer to run a defrag.

Start->Run->type in "cmd" and hit enter->at command prompt type "defrag c:\" without the quotes.

The above is assuming that your hardrive is named C.

GUI version(probably easier)

Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter->select your drive(most probably C) and click on Defragment

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That sounds easy enough!! Thank you. I'll try that as soon as I get home!!:sunny:

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Originally Posted by Blu Mongoose

That sounds easy enough!! Thank you. I'll try that as soon as I get home!!:sunny:

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Your welcome! :D

Little warning though. It's a processor intensive program, so you may wanna close down all other programs and let it run overnight by itself if you have never defragmented you hardrive before.

If you haven't done it in some time it could take hours so let it go overnight if your impatient :P

Oh another method to get to defrag (as if you needed another way) is to simply open up My Computer - RIGHT click on your main drive (C:\) - choose properties from the menu - window with tabs open - Tools tab - defrag

In that same box you get by right clicking on your C drive and going to properties you can find Disk Clean up on the general tab. This is also useful to purge junk files that are not needed (before doing the defrag!). You can feel pretty safe about checking everything besides the very last option which should be something about compressing files. If you have microsoft office installed it would probably also be a good idea to NOT check to remove those files from the list.

*hugs iMac and quietly leaves the room* :hug:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

*hugs iMac and quietly leaves the room* :hug:

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Even our macs can benefit from some general maintenance! However most if not all of that is "built-in" to run automatically so if your machine is kept on most of the time you don't have much to worry about.

Can't thank you guys enough! I didn't have to do a full recovery. The defrag seemed to even knock out what pop ups that were getting thru too.It's running like a dream. The book that comes with these things tends to confuse me more than help.

Thanks again!:sunny: