I spent several hours today in a computer nightmare.<\/p>\n
to continue, click more<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My first mistake was being online with a Windows computer. I usually check emails with a Mac. It is less risky since most viruses and malware are written for Windows machines. I don’t open emails that are obviously spam. I opened an email that I thought was from a person that I know but it turned out to be spam. I deleted it and moved on. I never clink on links in spam, but sometimes just opening the email is enough.<\/p>\n After logging out I tried to close the browser window but every time I did, two or more windows opened. I tried to close them and more windows opened. I finally right clicked the icons in the task bar to close the windows.<\/p>\n I disconnected my computer from the internet. If a trojan was at work, it could track my key strokes and potentially acquire passwords that I used online.<\/p>\n I double clicked a folder on my hard drive and several folders opened. If I clicked on a file inside a folder, several other files were selected. Nothing worked quite right, like my mouse was on a secret mission and was opening folders, files, and programs on its own.<\/p>\n Thinking my wireless mouse was the problem, I changed mice but no dice (sorry). I went to Folders in the Control Panel and reset everything to the defaults but that didn’t help either. I tired resetting individual folders but that didn’t help either. Things continued to open without clicking on them.<\/p>\n Fortunately, I had recently downloaded AVG Anti-Spyware<\/a> so I installed and ran the software. It found several tracking cookies and two files that AVG marked as “high risk”. AVG Anti-Spyware removed everything but the file “Not-A-Virus.Exploit.ByteVerify”. Clicking on files and folders still caused havoc. I rebooted from a Knoppix<\/a> CD but I wasn’t able to delete the offending file.<\/p>\n FYI: Knoppix is very handy to have if Windows is acting up or dies. Knoppix will run your computer so you can at least get to the internet, do some essential computer functions with Open Office (and open source office suite), and access critical files on your hard drive and save them to a CD or DVD. You can download the English ISO file<\/a> and burn it to a CD.<\/p>\n When all else fails, I call my son Jared who is my computer guru. A few suggestions from him and I went to work.<\/p>\n This link<\/a> and this link<\/a> were a huge help.<\/p>\n