For a general rule is that we should keep an eye on what is running, and a primary free prog. for that is the well known Win Patrol , which is will alert you to changes made in start up apps, and home pages, etc. as well as many other things. Look for it in your system tray (by the clock).
Also, System Tray Meter , a very basic meter with a small footprint, which can show you cpu and memory load in your system tray. Download here.
Once downloaded, unzip it (r. clk and extract all) and then place it in your startup folder. To find that, look in your Start menu for the Startup folder, and right clk and hit Properties and copy (ctrl+c) the location).
Then, after you launch it, then right clk on the Taskbar, hit Properties, and then Customize, and choose to Show icon and notifications. Then you can always see it on your system tray,
Of course, if you have W/8, then use the free Classic Shell to gain easier access.
Also one should have Process Explorer which gives details on what is running, cpu and ram usage, and easy ability to restart, kill, resume programs. Familarize thyself with what normally runs.
While you are at technet.microsoft.com, get Autoruns , which provides a comprehensive list of everything that is set to start with Windows.
Depending on your cpu and program load, the cpu cycles should not be above 12% consistently.
Also worth mentioning is System Explorer (download ) as it gives Internet activity.
It does take time for CryptoLocker to do its encryption. Further reading on CryptoLocker:
BleepingComputer discussion thread.
Malwarebytes: Cryptolocker Ransomware: What you need to know.
Naked Security (Sophos): Destructive malware Cryptolocker on the loose.
http://www.symantec.com/connect/forums/cryptolocker-and-adc-policies
Reddit thread: Proper care and feeding of your Cryptolocker
Makeuseof.com: Cryptolocker is the nastiest malware ever and here’s what you can do
Ars Technica: You’re infected — if you want to see your data again, pay us $300 in Bitcoins
They seem to imply that it would work on "any Windows OS" i.e., that the program can create the security policy even if it's not "displayed" (I assume that means that it can create hive and the entries in the registry, which can be easily checked by examining the registry after it runs) but that "any Win OS" will nonetheless act on it. I have no way to test it at the moment, since I run Ultimate on my machines.
For a general rule is that we should keep an eye on what is running, and a primary free prog. for that is the well known Win Patrol
Check out AnVir Task Manager - does practically everything that WinPatrol ("Scotty"!) does, plus just about everything that System Explorer does, including event logging and other functions. It's a "freemium" model program, most people will be happy with the free package, but for even more features Pro version is available.
Besides Process Explorer, SysInternals (now owned by Microsoft) has an amazing collection of small utils that are very useful, especially in "silent" batch/non-interactive and scheduled modes. Similarly, some tiny free utils from NirSoft, by Nir Sofer, can be great time savers (and he checks his emails for suggestions or bug reports, too).
CCE (Comodo Cleaning Essentials) from Comodo Group contains excellent Autoruns, KillSwitch process monitor/manager and antivirus scanner.
Comodo (a security specialist and world's second largest Certification Authority, behind Symantec) also provides (free for personal use) firewall, antivirus, integrated Internet Security package, VPN, rescue disk, secure/encrypted email, secure DNS service, and "fortified" Web browsers Comodo Dragon (based on Chromium open source) and Comodo IceDragon (based on Firefox/Mozilla open source)
Or you can use get a USB 2.0 to IDE SATA 2.5 3.5 Hard Drive Converter Cable for about $3.35 for old drives. ... For a little more you can find ones with a power adapter
IDE/SATA-to-USB adapters are pretty cheap and are great for reusing older end-of-life IDE/SATA drives as a removable backup/archive solution - larger and slower than "native" USB 3.0 drives (such as WDC Passport), but excellent use for off-hours backup to portable media, especially for laptops.