Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: ‘Virus-Alert!’ 9/7/08 So there I was- my screen embellished in a virus-ridden hotbed. A devillish figure that had comandeered my desktop, stared back at me emblazed with 'Privacy warning, scan now!', the clock had even had 'Warning, Virus Alert!' added to it. Not to worry- the Panda security has stopped an 'unauthorized program from changing the default browser start page'... panic over then. This particular nasty piece of work had also gone straight to System Restore and seemingly infected that as well- offering no real escape route, it had even disabled the control panel. So how did you contract this monster is surely the first question I will be asked. Well... It is absolutely astounding the depths some sites will go to ruin your PC. This particular one was offering 'crack files' (as opposed to paying for the license) for popular pieces of software. Now I'd be lying if I said that alarm bells weren't already ringing but I couldn't help be embodied by a sense of danger and curiosity. The program I was obtaining this illegal file for is a modest driver recruitment program, surely the hacks wouldn't bother with that, would they? Viruses are so easy to Oh yes they would and indeed so- a link to the file had a mock-up of an find these days obviously generic download page with the laughable commendment- '100% virus-free, fully scanned'. You do still get another chance after that as the Windows Download Manager points out that it doesn't have a security certificate for this file (when does it ever?). And then it's too late. Now I'm sure there may have been a way to fight this beast but as I had just reloaded XP that very afternoon I figured another one wouldn't do any harm. The moral of the story? Virus checkers are pretty useless once the bug is in and should this happen to you I know of a fantastic driver restoring program which will scan every device on your computer and obediently download the new components- just don't download a crack for it off a random website... CM Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me