Back online

[wellinghall]

We are back online! The nice man delivered a clean, virus-free laptop to us today.

Now all we have to do is wade through five days' worth of LJ, FB, email, BoingBoing ...

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Welcome back!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-)

[sally_maria]

Yes, indeed, welcome back. I hope you, as well as the laptop, are feeling better.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-)

I am feeling much better, thanks, although still with the odd grumble.

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

Do you ever not have an odd grumble? :D

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thanks :-)

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

Yes, good, but still: how did you manage to get so virused up you couldn't devirus yourselves, in the first place?

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

It was (depending on your point of view) either a very sneaky virus, or our AV software (Avast) isn't very good. The virus gave us a mock AV screen, telling us that we had a virus, and asking us to download their AV software. Heaven knows what that would have done to us (quite apart from letting them have our credit card details).

It also blocked our net access, and came into play very quickly after booting up.

The chap who fixed it for us said that he had seen several infections in the last few days, and that it seemed to be a new, stronger version of an older virus. He said it often - although not always - came hidden in YouTube videos.

It may have been fixable by a user who is more tech-savvy than I am, but it defeated me. I'm just glad I was aware enough to spot it for what it was!

I got your email about a book yesterday - I'll reply this evening or tomorrow. Your email was just one of hundreds that were waiting for us!

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

Hm, sounds like a tricksy one (virus).

With all the computing power and resources they (Google) have, they can't screen videos upon upload, then? (Maybe they can, but they choose not to - that sounds about right.)

On the last line, I know, just an insignificant drop in an ocean of correspondents ;)