(Sigh)
Luck...
Well, luck wasn't with me. It's got *something*, though the parameters generally match the blackworm virus:
- I vaguely remember the characteristic e-mail I'd received but thought I'd deleted it unread;
- I experienced the mouse/keyboard lockup when it "installs," described in a bulletin;
- It sent a characteristic e-mail to some of my corrrespondents early this week;
- I caught *something* accessing the Internet when nothing was running; and
- the anti-virus software will not run nor can it be updated/re-installed.
Several scanners failed to find it, so I suspect the primary virus downloaded a successor virus and went away so it couldn't be detected.
I am *not* going to wait until Feb 3rd to see if it deletes many of my files. I've got to back up all my non-executable files this weekend (for the executables I have to go back to an earlier save; the descriptions of how this worm hides itself on a system mean I dare not trust any executable it's had access to), and Monday morning the drive gets re-imaged (rebuilt).
The good news is that the "loaner" history of this laptop will also be totally erased. It will be mine... Mine... MINE.... ALL MINE!!!... errr...