Sunday This and That

My computer's infection this week with the dastardly System Care Antivirus, which itself is a virus, was only the beginning of a long quest that has not ended. I am on the hunt for every kind of malware, spyware, trojan, and every other kind of malicious software on my computer - and I've found more.

The original virus, which took over my computer, is gone, as verified by two programs, but I had to finish the removal job myself. I was annoyed beyond belief when I went to the "computer doctor" get my computer at 4:00 Friday and was told it would be Monday before he could finish. All he was doing was running a free Malware program - the very program that I had in the instructions for removing System Care Antivirus that I had downloaded and printed online. He had removed the virus, and he started a quick scan for others while I waited. One came up, and I asked him to delete it. I told him I was taking my computer as soon as he could shut it down.

He didn't want the computer to leave potentially "dirty." However, I told him I was just as capable of running the malicious software removal program as he was, and then my computer wouldn't have to sit there until Monday afternoon. I brought my computer home and ran scans by multiple programs until it reported "clean." I thought the drama was over.

On Saturday morning, I clicked on a Google search result for "Print USPS Postage," so that I could finally send out Erin B's prize. I was re-directed to a car site. At that moment, I knew I had another problem. I posted a question on the Firefox support site, and two gentlemen promptly provided assistance. One gave me links to about 10 free scanning programs and told me to run all of them because some pick up one bad actor, but not another, and so on. It made sense to me, so I have been downloading, installing, and running anti-malware programs all weekend. That has left me unable to blog.

One made me pretty angry. I wasted Friday night on Kaspersky, advertised as free. When it found and identified dirty files, it wanted me to buy a license before it would fix them. It was advertised as free, but was hardly free. I uninstalled it from my computer. By then, I was ready to kill a hacker.

Today, I think Microsoft Security Scanner found the redirect culprit: Win32/Medfos.B. It is malicious JavaScript that redirects search queries when you use search engines. It is installed as a malicious Mozilla Firefox extension. How did I get it? Who knows? It's gone now.

My Facebook friends have suggested some other cleaners, so I'll be running them tonight. I'm going to run these detectives until my system comes up clean to all of them. Meanwhile, I'm losing valuable blogging time. I'm sorry I've appeared missing in action, but it's important that I get this right.

I saw The Conjuring this past Tuesday night. You know what Klout is, right? It's a social media site that "rates" your influence. The higher your influence, the more perks you can earn. Perks are freebies. Clearly, my influence isn't all that good because the perks I have received have included cat food my cats wouldn't eat and sugar-free ice cream coupons, which would be nice if the brand were available in the stores I frequent. Anyhow, Monday, Klout offered me free tickets to an advance showing of The Conjuring, and I accepted for myself and my friend Paul.

The movie ran from 7:30 to 9:30 (way past my bedtime). Even though I do not like horror films, I have to tell you it was very well done. The film stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators who come to the assistance of the Perron family (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events in the Rhode Island farmhouse they just bought. From the start of the movie, it is evident that the house is possessed, and the suspense builds from start to finish.

What is seriously amazing about this film is that it's based on a true story. The Warrens were real, and Mrs. Warren is still alive. You can read more at this link. The movie was called by Variety "one of the most viscerally effective thrillers in history." I must agree with the use of the word "visceral." During the whole movie, I realized that my stomach was in knots. I wish I had known to pop a Valium before I went.

The acting was first class, and the sound effects were extraordinary. As I said, this isn't my kind of movie (I'm a The Devil Wears Prada kind of gal), but if you like terrifying movies, you must see it. It opens on July 19. Caution though...if you think your house is haunted, do not go. I'm now wondering, though, if evil spirits infected my computer.

I must go select a winner for this past week's giveaway contest. Then, I am going to try to write a feature for this evening. There's a new fragrance I want to describe before Saks has its gift card event Thursday.

If you want to know the names of the anti-malware programs I have found most effective, just leave a comment. Thanks for bearing with me!

Update: I need to point out something. You have no exposure from this blog. My blog is hosted by Google, not my computer. Google is pretty bullet-proof.

Update #2: I am so exhausted, I'm going to bed at 7:00. I will approve comments at 4:30 am tomorrow, and I promise I will write tomorrow when I get home from work. There are no options I can summon. I just need to sleep. I'm tired of getting up in the middle of the night to instruct one program and launch another to scan my computer.

Photos courtesy of thenorth.com, amt.com, and The Conjuring