A Computer Virus Knocked Me Out For 5 Days!

I haven’t posted in a while as a computer virus knocked me out for 5 days! Well to be exact, the PC doc found 4 Trojan viruses that were rated severe. And that was in spite of having AVG anti-virus software installed!

I have been lucky previously but these computer viruses seem getting more and more sophisticated. I guess it’s a  challenge for the people who create them to be able to get past anti-virus protection.

I was converting a pdf file back to a word doc with an online converter and I think I may have downloaded it with that.  Shortly after I started to edit the document  my computer started to play up eventually seizing up altogether.

I tried to remove the HDD tool that kept popping up on my screen which according to my searches is a fake defragmenter,  a new type of malware, but was unable to get my PC running again.

I called the PC doc and he said he would have to have it 3 days. He says that people who say they can do it in 24 hours are not checking to see if they viruses have left any infections behind or done any damage.

In the end he had it for 5 days as he was running tests to see if the viruses he found had left behind other viruses or done any damage. I really don’t understand why it takes so long apart from the fact that 2 of the days were over the weekend.

Microsoft Security Essentials

At last I have a clean bill of health and am up a running again. Neil, the computer guy recommended Microsoft’s Security Essentials and installed that. It is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date.

Foxit Reader

He says that Adobe Reader has some security problems and prefers Foxit pdf reader. From what I have read it’s much faster that Adobe Reader but does not contain all the features. I have only ever used Adobe so I will have to see how this compares when I use it a bit more.

Computer Backup

Fortunately I was getting all my files backed up daily so there was no fear of losing any of my data. That would be a complete disaster.  I am lucky that my son is Technical Manager for Redstor Data Management and they have a free service for family.

If this is something you are not doing then you should. You never know when your hard disk may fail or be damaged by a pesky computer virus. Besides the convenient online storage facilities you can always back up your files to an external hard disk drive.

There were so many things I wanted to get done before Christmas for my online business that it could not have come at a worse time. But it’s rarely a good time is it? The only good that came of it was that the office got a clear out and tidy up. You would not recognise it now.

Making money online when you are offline

It was good to discover when I got up an running again that I had still been earning some affiliate commissions and adding subscribers to my lists through some Giveaway Events .  It pays to have these income streams in place.