Virus

OMG - I accidentally downloaded a virus!

I was working on something on my laptop when all the sudden a pop-up window notified me that my computer had been infected with a virus and several trojans. I was instructed to 'click here' to scan my system and remove the virus and trojans, so I did. As soon as I did it I knew it was a mistake. But I'd been working on something and didn't really pay full attention to the notification.

Next thing I knew my system was overtaken by the "Security Guard" virus. Every time I clicked on anything I got a pop-up window telling me that a particular file was infected and I was prompted to scan my system, only the scan costs $79.95 or something. I couldn't open any photos or documents stored on my hard drive, and the pop-up notification windows wouldn't stop.

I tried my best to locate the Security Guard file on my computer so I could uninstall it, but of course as with most viruses, the files can not be found, uninstalled or deleted. So I put out an S.O.S. on facebook and Googled "Security Guard virus" to try and get some help. Unfortunately none of the advice worked.

My friend Steven offered to take a look at my laptop so I met him at a local lunch spot. He also tried several things, but each one was blocked or aborted by the virus. I felt an equal amount of frustration at myself for falling for that fake virus scam and frustration that my laptop appeared to be unfixable.

So I took my laptop to a local computer place where a friend of mine works. I explained to her what had happened and the name of the virus. Fortunately she was well aware of it and said she knew how to remove the virus so I left my laptop in her care.

She'll call me tomorrow when the virus has been eradicated.