It was actually during the download.........just something about it looked dodgy..........I immediately closed the whole thing down. Re-opened it next day and it was still there so I took it straight in.How long was it between you downloading and realising all was not well? Remember any memory sticks or back-up drives plugged in at the time *may* be suspect. Even things like open files in Dropbox services etc. I know it's unlikely but some of the nastier stuff can be a real pain once it's 'inside'. Make sure you've got decent, up-to-date security software installed straight away on your cleaned PC before plugging any of those storage sources in. Different folk will have different opinions on the best packages. To be honest at different times the best and worst packages seem to vary greatly and there's a lot of strongly held beliefs about which are which. I like BitDefender at the moment but I'd bet someone will come along and say it's rubbish and you should only use Avast etc.
I have been scammed.......now have to have my laptop wiped Grhhhh.
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Ahh. He is installing various protection thingymajigs etc as well as wiping & re-instaling etc. Probably expensive for what it is but I feel happy that I will get a good job.
I only realised yesterday that I didn't get any system disk with the computer. I know I did with the last one (this one)........do you still get them with modern laptops ?
And I would not even attempt to do it myself...........I can switch one on/off and go to CC---after that I am lost
Showing my inorance..........what is an SSD ?
Because I rarely use this one (my wife uses it to go on FB) and I have info on the new one that I dont have on this one.
Inertia
I feel like I could... TAKE ON THE WORLD!!
A solid state drive, like a big usb stick in your computer, no moving parts unlike a traditional hard drive so less prone to failure, and also faster...
a lot faster
Sbudge
Cyclist
- Location
- NW London & The Chilterns
jefmcg
Guru
Sounds like Ransomeware. Lucky for you there wasn't anything too valuable on the disk. They ask for thousands, and some people have to pay.
Backups are very important.
Backups are very important.
Nobody has to pay. It's better to write it off. Even if you do pay there's a good chance you'll be hit again as they'll leave code in there to activate at will.
Do not pay. Backup if you want to keep your data recoverable.
Fortunately nearly everything is backed up.
jefmcg
Guru
Well, that's an individual decision. Obviously if you do pay, you then cleanse your system (that costs fiddy bucks
), and be very careful in the future. Some people have data that they can't place a value on a single, unbacked up hard drive. Sure, a recipe for heartache, but it happens. Very good podcast about ransomware, for the interested. http://www.radiolab.org/story/darkode/
jefmcg
Guru
+1 for lastpass.
Otherwise, I'd use paper, not a spread sheet. It's really unlikely that someone breaking into your home will be a hacker, and someone breaking into your computer will be. Apparently written records of passwords a very secure.
(I once had a work system insist that I create yet another password, mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters that was not one of the last 8 passwords I had. I ran out of passwords i could remember that met their requirements, so I wrote it on a post it and put it in my top drawer. It was a sort of f*ck you to their idiotic security)
jefmcg
Guru
Lock your system, back everything up (offsite and local), make yourself safe as you can. That's the best thing to do. If someone has to choose between losing their nearly complete thesis representing 4 years work and coughing up $500, I'm not going to judge them on that choice. I will judge them for not backing up properly
