Don't attack people!
Don't respond to the Anti-Apple Thread Trolls!
PLEASE IGNORE THEM!!!
Mac purv Chase advice Ping!
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Posted on 05/29/2011 5:09:43 AM PDT by Daisyjane69
I'm typing fast. My computer is restarting itself every 20 minutes or so.
While finishing my news site browsing before bed, I got a pop up claiming Adobe. I tried to ignore it. Since I had an Adobe file open, I finally relented and agreed to install. BIG MISTAKE. It was a Trojan virus and is in the process of destroying my computer.
Trojan.Win32.Generic.paklacobra
I heard that Macs are better as far as viruses. Is there a reputable dealer that sells Macs? I don't imagine I can afford a brand new Mac.
Failing that, would there be another browser other than IE that would be less hospitable to viruses? This tower is only two years old. And I'm getting messages telling me:
Damaged hard drive clusters RAM usage is critically high RAM memory failure Hard drive failure
This virus is attempting to wipe out my AdAware & AVG as we speak.
I store NOTHING of value on this computer. No photos, movies, passwords, account numbers. I do NO online banking.
I was able, after several tries, to finagle one measly operational window, and it's what I'm using to post this to the people who know everything important...FReepers.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm a plant chick, not a computer chick! LOL
Also, please forgive me if you post a suggestion and I don't reply right away. I have no idea if this window is going to work 5 minutes from now, let alone 5 hours from now. If TSHTF on this thing I won't be able to check replies until Tuesday at the library (as we are in a holiday weekend). Naturally....
I should have been in bed 4 hours ago, and I've been playing around with this box of wires ever since, and I'm exhausted.
This was scary as hell. I never saw anything gobble up things as fast as this miscreant. I knew something was dreadfully wrong within 10 minutes.
Thanks for any help & ideas you have.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
I had the same thing on Drudge yesterday, did a force quit immediately. Haven’t been back to Drudge since. Is the site ok now?
I run Timemachine on my Mac. At least if I do ever get something I have a backup right here.
It seems to me (and I would put myself into the long time but not very savvy computer user) that there has been a HUGE uptick in virus/trojan/malware in the past two or so years. I never had problems until pretty recently and now...sheesh its been nuts.
Maybe that’s what I had. Ate my hard drive and I ended up having to get a new one (altho I did retrieve all of my data). Ended up ok in the long run because I now have a nice Macbook that I love, but it was frustrating as all get out.
According to the stats I’ve seen its been pretty flat. I think the difference is the attack vectors have changed. Before if you avoided certain sites you could avoid malware.
Now the people making these things are compromising legitimate sites and using those to infect users.
Stealing data, and I’ve also heard they use your computer to launch denial of service attacks (which I think are for taking down systems —maybe govt things?) I’m talking like I have a clue, which I don’t! Im just repeating what I have been told.
I have often wondered that too.
“Same here. “
I like free Linux way better than my Mac. It runs on pretty much anything, costs nothing and I purposely click on stuff that would destroy my Windows OS just to see what will happen.
The Mac costs twice as much, is not at all intuitive as claimed, doesn’t have much free software and is impossible to upgrade without very high expense.
I love my iPhone and iPad, but the Macs have not impressed me. I keep one around for when my students give me proprietary files, but that is becoming less and less frequent. I probably will replace my iMac with some wild looking Lexan Ubuntu box when the iMac dies or becomes obsolete. (or perhaps this 100 watt Shuttle Linux box I’m running here in my living room)
Actually, I recently asked my personal geek why popup blocker doesn’t work for viruses/trojan popups. He had an explanation (and I can’t explain it to you because I can’t recall what it was—but there is a reason). But they DO have a way around them. Pop up blocker is not a perfect solution, apparently.
Maybe that’s the difference. I’ve never been to porn sites or gaming sites. So, it’s likely just that they now target the kind of places I go. Damn them! I do wish there was a way to track them down and make them watch Rosie O’Donnell reruns all day!
A Virus does not rely on social engineering.
back up your documents. Re-install operating system and after reformatting hard-drive. If you are running XP, upgrade to Windows 7.
Exactly. It's the ads embedded on a website, Drudge among many others. The ads run a JavaScript program. It the program is not sandboxed, it gets control of your browser and redirects to a new page that has the malware download from that new page. It's a big problem with ads on websites. The ad companies really need to do a better job, but they are lazy.
Laziness and an unwillingness to spend money on people who know enough about code to detect the problems.
That’s why I shut down my browser when I am done.
This is all bs.
We are just pawns. (i=i’M DONE) /S
hardly
Yes/ shutdown..rep an go.
Then the solution's easy: wipe it. Stick your Windows install disk in and tell it you want to format before installing.
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