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So my laptop, which I've done all my writing on for the past five years, has been infected with a nasty little SOB of a Trojan Horse. The wrathful demon? -- virtumonde (wikipedia link). Over the course of the day, it:
* Hijacked my browser whenever I tried to use it.
* Killed the Search feature when I tried to look it up.
* Wouldn't let me open my anti-virus software.
* Crashed Windows whenever SpyBot or my other anti-spyware software tried to remove it.
* Shut down Windows (in Safe Mode no less!) whenever the software specially designed to remove it tried to remove it. Emphasis on 'tried'.
* Called my mother a whore.
So I was left with no choice but to nuke my hard drive and start from scratch.
I've backed up my most recent writings but it remains to be seen if the flash drive that carries them has been likewise infected by this nightmare of a trojan horse. If it has and I can't remove it, that's two new writing projects and 6000 words of Taking Sights gone forever (since my last general drive back up).
* Hijacked my browser whenever I tried to use it.
* Killed the Search feature when I tried to look it up.
* Wouldn't let me open my anti-virus software.
* Crashed Windows whenever SpyBot or my other anti-spyware software tried to remove it.
* Shut down Windows (in Safe Mode no less!) whenever the software specially designed to remove it tried to remove it. Emphasis on 'tried'.
* Called my mother a whore.
So I was left with no choice but to nuke my hard drive and start from scratch.
I've backed up my most recent writings but it remains to be seen if the flash drive that carries them has been likewise infected by this nightmare of a trojan horse. If it has and I can't remove it, that's two new writing projects and 6000 words of Taking Sights gone forever (since my last general drive back up).
