Thread: Very Intrusive Virus: Caution

I'm too shy of hubris to attribute it to anything but luck, but in 6+ years of running my own Windows machines, I have yet to get a virus that affected my system in any way. I just run AVG and Windows Defender, and when I was running XP I almost always went without a firewall.

I set up Ubuntu on a cheap laptop a few years ago, and after the honeymoon it struck me as much more high-maintenance than Windows, and quite hit-or-miss with hardware compatibility. I've used Mac for school and work periodically, and it was just the opposite: too idiot-proof, meaning I couldn't fix things if I didn't like them. For me, Windows is a nice middle ground where, yeah, you have to remember to change the oil, but you don't need to learn how to rebuild the engine to get a turn signal working.

All the bullshit OS debating aside, this incident has happened to me and I reformatted my computer as a result.

Let it be known that, in my life time of using Windows, this is the first time I had ever had a major security flaw.

Furthermore, it was incredibly easy to deal with.

Also, I still game with my amazing gaming computer.

I am happy to see someone putting up warnings and how to deal with things rather than bickering about "which is better than which".




+ Linux at :29

For the lulz.

~

I'm not sure if it was this virus but I got a fucking killer a couple of days ago.

It automatically downloaded itself to my laptop whilst I was in the kitchen and then kept trying to make me download some antivirus software. About 3 new infected files were being added to AVG every minute. It removed my ability to open the Task Manager, and slowly I got more and more popups and the thing hijacked my browser and started making noises.

Then it bluescreened and completely destroyed Windows, so I had to have the disc reformatted.

Wow, that sucks...

Also, for any sports fans, the Bleacher Report website has been hijacked. Be extremely cautious...the same virus tried to screw over my boss twice, both times visiting pages from the bleacher report. Tread lightly.