I have no photos to post today due to the following story of 48 hours without my computer. (photos must be opitimized/compressed or blog is slow to open, and I have not installed software yet because I am nearly bald from yanking on my head getting this infernal machine back like it was BEFORE the virus.)
I will send you to one of my favorite blogs that I did in my first month and it only had 1 comment CLICK HERE
1. Wed 1 PM: log on to blog/email, recieve POP UP from IP (internet provider) stating "our server has detected massive email malicious malware emanating from your modem to our server. click on link provided"
NOPE, may not be my IP, someone could be fooling me
2. Dial 611 ( ER number on my IP phone) to verify message. Push 1 for English (i will not go there) THEN it is voice activated. the female voice gives me choices, evidently her hearing is NOT southern accent related. 30 minutes later I hang up, because YES it is true. He says it could be coming through your wireless from a neighbor, we can't tell, check your security on your wireless (Linksy) and you really should get a new one, yours is not as secure as the new ones. GREAT!
3. Since I have no idea how to check it I dial Linksy next, push buttons, this time it is numbers. Rep says, sorry we can't talk to you, your router is 4 years old and out of warranty, it will cost you 29.00 to ask questions. "we have a new router called Valet that is super easy for 99.99 and I can have it there in 3 days."
I say "if i buy the Valet will you be able to answer questions about the one I have?" supervisor says NO. i say good bye.
4. I call Webroot my anti virus provider, push buttons, ask if he can help since it was their antivirus that let the virus in and I am paying for a subscription. He states. " 129.99 will get you a diasnotic run and virus removed, but that might not fix your problem. I suggest you have a local tech (geek) look at it. thank you, I will
4. by this time it is 3:30 pm and unplug a gazillion wires/plug ins get bob to put the desk top in the car, run down to Staples to the EASY Drop off desk (HA) I left the store at 4:30.
my options were 129.99 (sound familar) to diagnose remove OR 99.99 to wipe it back to 2006 condition when I bought it) I choose this option because I have had problems for over a year and was told repeatedly to do this. He says "did you bring the operating disk?" NO, who would have? not me, it has a VIRUS for pete's sake.
Promised with in 72 hours and Guess What? Calls at hour number 28 and says your computer is ready for pickup. we close in 5 minutes.
tomorrow will be the Rest Of The story and I should have ONE photo Maybe to go with it.
MadSnapper, AKA Bloviator: "bloviate: to speak or write verbosely, typically not about anything important. Quote in header by Emery Austin
9 comments:
You may have actually saved yourself another hike in blood pressure and sheer aggravation by not talking to anyone at Linksys. They all seem to be in Egypt and are only vaguely familiar with the English language, which is useless since their accents are so strong they are virtually unintelligible. One time I had one of them tell me a problem could not be fixed. I hung up, called back, got another one, who fixed it in about 30 seconds. Always get a second opinion from Linksys. Also, I have no Southern accent and those voice recognition automated responses can NEVER understand what I am saying. I find if you repeatedly respond with "Operator" over and over, eventually they will give you to a human.
At any rate, you have my sympathies. Will be waiting for the Rest of the Story....
Oh, my! I did not even know that Staples did anything other than kind of cleaning and tune ups. Didn't know they REPAIRED computers. Our I.P. has a 611 number, as well. But this is what happened to me last week. And you need to know this, so does everyone else. I got an e-mail from my I.P. provider. It said that due to overload, they had to cancel some e-mail accounts, and mine was one that had been picked. If I use my e-mail and don't want it cancelled, reply to this within 48 hours to confirm my log in name and password, which I actually DID, because it was very official looking. But then I worried that they would still cancel my e-mail, so called them right away. Of course the e-mail was a scam. I.P. provider said that scammers will use my info to send out spam from my address. He also said my I.P will never e-mail me, they will only call or snail mail. I had to change my password IMMEDIATLY, and since it had to be so fast, of course I didn't have a good password in mind. About the pictures, I don't have to do anything to mine before I post them. I wouldn't even know how to compress them, or whatever that is. Webroot was not fair!!! If they are a current program that you paid for, why couldn't they help? What was their reason? That makes me mad. I used them for one year, now we have McAffee on one computer and Trend Micro on the other. This post doesn't NEED any pictures. It's intreguiong and scary enough all on it's own! I can't imagine tomorrows!!
Sympathies to you.
Oooh, that sounds complicated... Although I'm quite impressed really that you could actually find a 'local geek' to look at it that quickly... ;)
This was so funny..just classic! I'm sure so many of us can relate! Hilarious (true- many can hardly speak English). I told you..I really sympathize- 100 percent! Don't worry..everything will be ok soon! Hope you have a stress free afternoon friend!
Regina-
Isn't technology and related assistance great - aargh?!? Like my car, I like my computer when it's working. (I don't even like to stop to put gas in the car, but I know that's a necessity.) Sincere condolences re all you've been through - very frustrating - I had a crash a couple years ago & had other computer problems recently, so I can relate.
Well Sandra, I only have one word ---and you know what it is... MACINTOSH. We don't ever have the viruses or problems that the Windows world has... And--it's so user-friendly... I would NEVER EVER go back to a Windows machine now.
But--I truly think you'd be better off to pay the extra money and get a new computer with all of the updated systems and software. IF you start over with a 2006 operating system, I can only imagine what all you will have to do to get it back to where you want it.
IF you buy a new one, they can take all of the info from the old one and load it on there for you. Seems like it would be much easier....
I know it's MONEY---but as much as you love the computer, I think it would be worth every dime. JUST MY OPINION HERE ---for what it's worth....
Hugs,
Betsy
Hearing all the problems you and others have had with customer service I am glad we are our own tech support. What a hassle.
I use Norton 360, it stores my info in case of a crash which has never happened since I installed it. I still do my own backups just cause I can.
Sandra,
I would recommend getting a new computer with Windows 7. The Internet Explorer will be version 8 and both are stronger against viruses. If you use Comcast or Road Runner for DSL connection, you may get Norton Security Suite for free. Also make sure you have an external hard drive or 2 to back up your pictures. Count on complete failure and backup to many sources. If you had a really bad virus, it could have affected your computer registry and will still be in there. Wiping the hard drive may not have completely rid you of the virus. Also you can use restore points to go back in time yourself. Which may or may not have worked in this situation. Did you try virus scanning with Webroot to get rid of the virus?
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