Nasty Virus Trojan Horse Cure

Within the last couple weeks, I have taken no less than eight calls from friends and clients who have been infected with a nasty computer “bug” that severs their online connection and causes Windows to shut down.

Check Your Anti-Virus Software Now

All of them have had varying degrees of anti-virus protection, but it didn’t catch this nasty germ.  In a couple cases, it could have been because their subscription to the update service expired.  In one case, it was because their Anti-Virus protection was turned off.

Virtually every anti-virus software that I know of places a small icon in the lower right corner of your screen (in a typical Windows environment) next to the place where the time and date are displayed.  FIND YOURS.

1. Open up the Control Panel for your particular Anti-Virus solution.
   You can generally open up the control panel for your anti-virus solution by double-clicking that icon.
2. Make sure that it is Active and that your Anti-Virus definition files are up to date.
   Here’s what it looks like for my favorite tool, AVG:

If your Anti_Virus solution has expired, is horribly out of date,  or is turned off, go ahead and take the steps to fix it! If it’s off – turn it back on.  If it is out of date, perform a manual update (most have a button on the Control Panel to do so. Find yours).  If it has expired, you can renew it.  Or, if finances are tight,  see my other posts on FREE Anti-Virus solutions (do a search or just browse the Tech Tips Category).

In most cases, the most efficient cure for this particular infection was to:

1. Save the important files off to an external drive
   I use a proprietary method I have which eliminates the chance that an especially nasty bug will transfer over to the external hard drive.  This technique is available to members of my Priority Club.
2. Wipe the system clean
3. Re-install Windows

A Better Cure

After a LOT of searching and trial and error, one of my more persistent friends found a cure for this very nasty malady which worked for her and I wanted to pass it along to you.  It is at another online forum. Follow the link below and begin looking at Post #2.

What The Tech Forum Solution