Computer help, please....

[BigPoppa]

So recently, a virus (I'm guessing) attacked my computer, and I lost everything - wallpaper, desktop icons, photos, documents, everything. No, I didn't have anything backed up .

I ran a system restore, and got some functionality back, including my wallpaper photo, and the desktop icons I had pre-crash. What I needed most, I didn't get back - pictures and documents.

Are these gone forever? Is there anything I can do (or a computer guru if need be) to get these back?

I appreciate any help, but as you frame your answers, bear in mind that I am about a 4 on 1-10 scale of computer smartness, so reply accordingly...........

[JeffL]

Most likely they aren't gone, only hidden, depending on what kind of System Restore you did. Open your My Documents folder. Click on Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> Show Hidden Files and Folders. That should show you if they are still there. If you don't see Tools at the top, tap Alt on your keyboard and it should show up.

Now do a Select all (Ctrl+A) and right click, then click Properties. Take the checkmark icon off of Hidden.

[Guest pfries]

PM sent

[BigPoppa]

Attention all TGO'ers, please be advised that JeffL is THE MAN. Thanks guy......I owe you a beer.

Thank you as well, pfries.

[JeffL]

Glad to help. Make sure to download and run Malwarebytes and make sure your antivirus software is running and up to date. There's a possibility you could still be infected. Highly probably if you ask me.

[Pain103]

Glad to help. Make sure to download and run Malwarebytes and make sure your antivirus software is running and up to date. There's a possibility you could still be infected. Highly probably if you ask me.

+1

Also always helps to get a computer savvy friend.

[D3vo]

Mozy online backup has saved my bacon at least once. You might want to look into it.

Glad you got your memories back.

[jonlisha]

I recently got a security protection rouge, its an odd one for sure, I can't get into safe mode anymore.

[analog_kidd]

Most Malware can be avoided by doing a couple of simple things on your PC:

1. Don't run as Administrator. Make sure that the account you normally use to log into Windows is not in the Administrators group. Create a new account and use this one for daily use. Log in as Administrator when you are installing a new program or making system changes. An account with just "User" rights cannot install anything. Malware runs with whatever rights you are logged in as, so if you are an administrator, the malware has unlimited access, if you are logged in as a user the malware has very little ability to install itself. This is especially true if you are running an O/S prior to Windows 7. Win7 is architected a little different and will pop up a message asking for permission to install. Unfortunately, most people just click OK to the permission and give the malware access.

2. Get a good antivirus. If you are running Windows but are limited on funds there are plenty of free ones. Microsoft's Security Essentials is free, and I think works great. It is very bare-bones and does not have all the extra crap to bog down your system that goes along with some of the bigger brand names. Also, keep the Antivirus up to date. Set it to automatically update at least daily.

3. Use a firewall. Windows XP and above all come with one built in. Turn it on and use it.

4. Stay away from questionable web sites. Be skeptical of everything that pops up. For me, if a web site asks my permission for something, I cancel and move away. Just play it safe and stay on TGO. Do you really need to go anywhere else?

[Jonnin]

Viruses are pretty smart these days. The rapid way to fix the machine is to remove the hard drive, install it in another machine, boot the other machine, and scan the new hard drive with a good virus scanner (we use viper). Delete the page file (assuming windows machine). It is rare to have to reload a system or restore it to fix a virus, that is the last resort approach. Most can be removed with the above approach. You can also avoid removal of the disk and headaches by booting your PC off a pen drive and scanning the disk that way, or boot from a CD/dvd or whatever. The point is that booting off the infected disk allows the virus to execute, which allows it to play hide and seek with the software. When you boot from another source, it cannot hide!

[JeffL]

Here's an easy way to create a bootable AV thumb drive: Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Beta | Microsoft Connect

[Guest db99wj]

I had an issue where a virus got on my laptop, and it hid all my files, all my desktop icons, etc. I used bleepingcomputer .com and got rid of them. They are big on malaware bites and I used a downloadable file on that site called, unhide.exe that un hid ALL of my files, including my desktop icons. I had to use a flash drive to install the malware bites and unhide file from a different computer.

[analog_kidd]

A freiend of mine got a virus I had to clean up, where the malware was actually a program that ran on top of the desktop. It has a fake start button, background and icons. Every time you tried to run something a pop-up came up and said something about the system needing reapir. It was pretty clever and had me stumped for a few minutes before I figured out what it was doing. If it had been by own PC, I would have noticed the overlay did not look like my own desktop.

I cleaned it up with Malware Bytes. Had to download Malware Bytes from a different PC, put it on a thumbdrive, reboot the PC into safemode, install Malware Bytes and run the scan in safemode. It took a while to run the scan, but it fixed it right up.

[ted]

Get a Mac and you want go back

[wcsc12]

Get a Mac and you want go back

I had a Mac...I went back...then sold the Mac for $200 more than I paid for it because people believe brand marketing over common sense....

I bought a new PC Laptop that runs circles (quite literally doubles the performance I was getting out of the Mac) and the best part was that it cost less than the Mac...imagine that...more performance and cheaper

Back on topic though...glad your issues are resolved. Another good way of cleaning your system is to run "combofix.exe" just search google for it and ONLY download it from bleepingcomputer.com. It's fantastic at cleaning through other's machines for me. Backups are very important as well. If you don't have one, grab yourself a 1TB external hard drive and just backup your good stuff once every week or so and that will literally help out tons.

[Jonnin]

Another good maintence program is ccleaner. If you use it to kill off the junk that is nice, but what makes it priceless is the additional ability to easily (this can be done other ways, like msconfig) kill off TSR style junkware from the auto startup locations, to fix the registry, and so on. I have killed a number of junkware (not harmful but slows down the PC, stuff like quicktime or adobe auto loaders or other total junk) programs, some computer users have 50 or more of these kinds of programs and wonder why the computer is sluggish.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Another good maintence program is ccleaner. If you use it to kill off the junk that is nice, but what makes it priceless is the additional ability to easily (this can be done other ways, like msconfig) kill off TSR style junkware from the auto startup locations, to fix the registry, and so on. I have killed a number of junkware (not harmful but slows down the PC, stuff like quicktime or adobe auto loaders or other total junk) programs, some computer users have 50 or more of these kinds of programs and wonder why the computer is sluggish.

The company I write for has a bunch of long-time customers that hang out on the company forum for years. Nice guys. Some of the long-timers do our beta-testing every year. One nice fellow who is always having computer trouble and rebuilding his PC's and reinstalling the OS and complaining about programs running slow or buggy-- He's a great beta tester because he could break an anvil. The best bugs are from user actions that a normal person would never perform.

Anyway one time he sent a screen shot of a bug which was a full-screen image showing the full desktop in addition to our program's bug. His IE window looked like it had every third-party toolbar known to man, plus custom cursors, custom window appearance, and a desktop full of floating widgets. That gave some insight as to why his computer is always sluggish and he is constantly repairing his computer.