Post by Doreen on May 20, 2010 22:52:43 GMT -5
Q:
I run WindowsXP. My anti-virus and anti- spyware is CA. Have been using this for several years, recently renewing my subscription.
About two weeks after I renewed, on booting up one AM, my system was completely locked down. A small window stated my system was infected with a virus.. In the meantime, a page was running in the background that was advertising Antivirus Soft. No matter what I did, Nothing could be opened! Therefore I could not reach my CA Antivirus to scan my system. After exhausting all options, and 3 days of working with it, I finally relented and opened the "Soft" program and subscribed to it!! Immediately, everything opened up, aftr installing, and ran perfectly! I tried to send a message to CA to inform this of this problem and my e-mails have been sent to "undeliverable". At the cost of $48 for CA (two-yrs.) And $68 for "Soft" (lifetime), I feel as though I have been (snookered)!! Can you solve this problem for me, and any others who may get entangled in this trap? I am using Incredimail.
A:
You have indeed been snookered! The program you are referring to, Antivirus Soft, is just one in a long list of malware programs that have been infecting computers.
Antivirus Soft is not really an antivirus program. It has taken your computer captive and held it for ransom. Unfortunately, you paid that ransom with your credit card, and now the thieves who created and distributed this program have your credit card information. Your first step in recovering from this malware is to contact your credit card company, dispute the charges, and get a new credit card number!
The next step is to get all traces of this program off your computer. You can search google for directions on removing Antivirus Soft, and try following them, or you can bring the computer to your local repair shop and have them remove all traces of the program for you.
Some of these ransom programs are very hard to get rid of, and the only option to be completely sure it is gone is to erase your hard drive and reinstall Windows.
Once you have a clean computer, I would suggest a more robust antivirus, and anti-malware program like AVG Internet Security. In addition, it helps to install Spybot Search & Destroy at www.safer- networking.org and Spyware Blaster at www.javacoolsoftware.com
Both programs are free, and if you keep them updated, they will protect your computer from many of these malware programs.
Q:
I want to transfer itunes from my old computer to new. Have Seagate external hard drive but can't work out how to do transfer.
A:
Many people have a folder full of itunes on their computer, and are looking for an easy way to transfer the songs to a new computer.
I am not really a user of itunes yet (I will probably become a user of iTunes when I save up enough money for an iPad) but I do have a lot of experience backing up the iTunes music folder for my customers.
Since you stated that you have an external hard drive, you are already on your way to backing up your music.
The first thing you want to do is locate your iTunes music folder on your computer. There are a couple of locations to check. First is the "My Music" folder under your identity. Let me give you and example...
If you log into your computer under the user name, Robert, you would navigate to that user folder.
1. Click on "Start" and then click on "My Computer" (or just "Computer" if you are using Vista)
2. Double click on either the "Users" folder in Vista, or the "Documents And Settings" folder in XP.
3. Double click on the, "Robert" folder, or whatever your user name is. It could be anything from, "Default User", Dell Customer, to a nickname that you specified when you first set the computer up.
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If you don't know what your user name is, you can just check the contents of each user folder listed.
4. Once in your user folder, double click on the "Music" or "My Music" folder, and look for a folder named, "iTunes". Don't worry if the iTunes folder is not in the first place you look, it can be in one of several locations.
5. If you don't find the iTunes folder in your user folder, check the "My Music" folder in the other identities, and in the "All Users" or "Public" folder. I often find the iTunes folder in the "Public Music" or "All Users Music" folders.
6. Once you have located the, "iTunes" folder, keep the window open, and move it to one side of your screen.
7. Now, open a window for your external hard drive. Make sure the drive is connected to your computer, and turned on, then click on "Start" and "My Computer".
8. In the "My Computer" window, double click on the external hard drive icon to open it.
9. Move the external hard drive window to the opposite side of the screen so that you can drag the iTunes folder from one window to the other. This will create a copy on your external hard drive.
10. Once you have a copy of the iTunes folder on your external hard drive, you can use the same dragging technique to copy it to your new computer.
I run WindowsXP. My anti-virus and anti- spyware is CA. Have been using this for several years, recently renewing my subscription.
About two weeks after I renewed, on booting up one AM, my system was completely locked down. A small window stated my system was infected with a virus.. In the meantime, a page was running in the background that was advertising Antivirus Soft. No matter what I did, Nothing could be opened! Therefore I could not reach my CA Antivirus to scan my system. After exhausting all options, and 3 days of working with it, I finally relented and opened the "Soft" program and subscribed to it!! Immediately, everything opened up, aftr installing, and ran perfectly! I tried to send a message to CA to inform this of this problem and my e-mails have been sent to "undeliverable". At the cost of $48 for CA (two-yrs.) And $68 for "Soft" (lifetime), I feel as though I have been (snookered)!! Can you solve this problem for me, and any others who may get entangled in this trap? I am using Incredimail.
A:
You have indeed been snookered! The program you are referring to, Antivirus Soft, is just one in a long list of malware programs that have been infecting computers.
Antivirus Soft is not really an antivirus program. It has taken your computer captive and held it for ransom. Unfortunately, you paid that ransom with your credit card, and now the thieves who created and distributed this program have your credit card information. Your first step in recovering from this malware is to contact your credit card company, dispute the charges, and get a new credit card number!
The next step is to get all traces of this program off your computer. You can search google for directions on removing Antivirus Soft, and try following them, or you can bring the computer to your local repair shop and have them remove all traces of the program for you.
Some of these ransom programs are very hard to get rid of, and the only option to be completely sure it is gone is to erase your hard drive and reinstall Windows.
Once you have a clean computer, I would suggest a more robust antivirus, and anti-malware program like AVG Internet Security. In addition, it helps to install Spybot Search & Destroy at www.safer- networking.org and Spyware Blaster at www.javacoolsoftware.com
Both programs are free, and if you keep them updated, they will protect your computer from many of these malware programs.
Q:
I want to transfer itunes from my old computer to new. Have Seagate external hard drive but can't work out how to do transfer.
A:
Many people have a folder full of itunes on their computer, and are looking for an easy way to transfer the songs to a new computer.
I am not really a user of itunes yet (I will probably become a user of iTunes when I save up enough money for an iPad) but I do have a lot of experience backing up the iTunes music folder for my customers.
Since you stated that you have an external hard drive, you are already on your way to backing up your music.
The first thing you want to do is locate your iTunes music folder on your computer. There are a couple of locations to check. First is the "My Music" folder under your identity. Let me give you and example...
If you log into your computer under the user name, Robert, you would navigate to that user folder.
1. Click on "Start" and then click on "My Computer" (or just "Computer" if you are using Vista)
2. Double click on either the "Users" folder in Vista, or the "Documents And Settings" folder in XP.
3. Double click on the, "Robert" folder, or whatever your user name is. It could be anything from, "Default User", Dell Customer, to a nickname that you specified when you first set the computer up.
[ad#ad-3]
If you don't know what your user name is, you can just check the contents of each user folder listed.
4. Once in your user folder, double click on the "Music" or "My Music" folder, and look for a folder named, "iTunes". Don't worry if the iTunes folder is not in the first place you look, it can be in one of several locations.
5. If you don't find the iTunes folder in your user folder, check the "My Music" folder in the other identities, and in the "All Users" or "Public" folder. I often find the iTunes folder in the "Public Music" or "All Users Music" folders.
6. Once you have located the, "iTunes" folder, keep the window open, and move it to one side of your screen.
7. Now, open a window for your external hard drive. Make sure the drive is connected to your computer, and turned on, then click on "Start" and "My Computer".
8. In the "My Computer" window, double click on the external hard drive icon to open it.
9. Move the external hard drive window to the opposite side of the screen so that you can drag the iTunes folder from one window to the other. This will create a copy on your external hard drive.
10. Once you have a copy of the iTunes folder on your external hard drive, you can use the same dragging technique to copy it to your new computer.
