Blaster Virus Worm

DAVID GAGNARD · #1 (**permalink**) 03-30-2004, 07:23 PM

Anybody know where I can get my hands around the neck of the guy that invented the Blaster Virus Worm?????????? He'd better hope the law gets him before I do.....

Yea,you guessed it,it hit me today,wiped out my computer.... Spent the afternoon trying to get it back running,slow go,lost everything,personal and business.... I had the McAffee Virus protection thingy,guess it did not do too well this time....

Luckily,I did my taxes last night before losing everything....Lost about 1200 auto estimates and related things along with my e-mail address book,phone book,and internet favorites listings........Tech guys tried their hardest to save the stuff but could not brake thru.Had to restore my computer from scratch,what fun...............

If I ever hear they caught the guy,well, you can guess,but I guess I'd be at the end of a very long line waiting to get my hands on him................

David (still rebuilding my computer)

casaleenie · #2 (**permalink**) 03-30-2004, 07:43 PM

David,

I know you've heard it before... But back-up your work...

Bill V · #3 (**permalink**) 03-30-2004, 08:05 PM

Yup. You don't have to back up your whole system (even though that's preferred) but backup your data even if it's to a CD. You can always reinstall the apps after you reload the OS. Sorry for the misfortune. I think we've all been whacked at least once.

computerworks · #4 (**permalink**) 03-30-2004, 09:12 PM

David... I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune... it's never easy to start from scratch.

I might advise you, though, to find some new 'tech guys'.

"Blaster" is non-destructive and pretty easy to remove. You should not have lost data and apps like that. Certainly, your data files could have been backed off with a simple procedure.

There might have been more than meets the eye here.

Also, Blaster was a "last-year" virus and should have been part of any AntiVirus program's defenses, as long as you kept up with the updates. If not, you can't blame the AV software.

If you did keep up... that's why I endorse Norton AV.

petek · #5 (**permalink**) 03-30-2004, 09:14 PM

I agree with Ron, you shouldn't have lost anything. Infected files can be cleaned. Get some new tech guys.

(My wife's business, thanks to one of her employees, was hit with the Blaster last year. Took me nearly 10 hours to clean four computers.)

DAVID GAGNARD · #6 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 04:23 AM

Thanks for the info guys,I thought I had kept up with all the updates,so I thought I was protected.....I was using my computer yesterday afternoon,when finished, I went in the kitchen for a coke and when I came back the screen was blue with all kinds of "stuff" on it..... Shut down and tried to re-boot,that's when it would not let my computer re-start and could not get back in.... The tech guys at E-Machines tried all kinds of things,but nothing would work,that's why I had to restore the computer....

Going to look into the Norton AV stuff today..... My daughter's computer is new (she got it for Christmas),what should I do to protect it???? Norton AV or something else????

Pain in the rear to have to install all programs and try to upload all kinds of things I need.....I still want to find the guy that started this thing anyway.........

David

mrmustang · #7 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 05:34 AM

David,

As soon as I saw "E-Machines", I understood what your going through....That companies systems are nothing but trouble...Every client that I have that has one states that they are buggy and hell...My advice is to get rid of it........

Bill S.

PS: AV software is only good if you keep it updated......I set my system to go out twice a day looking for updates..............

Ron61 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 06:14 AM

David,

I have used Norton's from day one and have never had a virus get past it and my firewalll. I have had it catch a lot of them and stop them. Another thing, if you are using Windows XP, you can do a full export of your registry which will compress it into a file and save it somewhere else. Then if you have to format the hard drive and reload, you can just let the saved registry file overwrite the new one and that will give you back most of your applications. AOL is giving away a Porsche that they got from a spammer they took to court so maybe something more like their houses would be good for the virus and worm fools. Good luck.

Easiest way is to get another hard drive and copy the working one onto it completely and then if you get a virus, just clean the "C" drive and copy everything back from the "D" drive.

Ron

STG · #9 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 06:30 AM

I'm paranoid about loosing data, so:

Besides making data backups on CD, I had my desktop computer built with three cartridge mounted slide out hard drives.

As you can see in the photo, they are all removable from the from of the case.

I use the top one as drive C: and alternately back up on to each of the other drives EVERY NIGHT.

Using Norton Ghost, I clone an image of EVERYTHING on drive C: onto D: and then REMOVE D: from the computer. The next day, I clone C: onto E: and remove.

At any given point in time, I have two complete back ups of my entire system.

The cartridge mounts are $25.00 each sand hard drives are pretty cheap these days. Was it worth it?

The last time something went wrong, I shut down the computer, removed drive C: and replaced it with D:. Took me 30 seconds!

mikiec · #10 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 10:02 AM

As Computerworks says keep your AV software up to date. Mine checks for new updates every day. Yes, I use Norton..

Another thing.. Keep your OS software fully patched. If using Windows and IE go to their update site often and check for new patches.

Mike

aeon · #11 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 04:27 PM

SLACKWARE

SCOBRAC · #12 (**permalink**) 03-31-2004, 04:36 PM

Mc Afee sucks. Use the Symantec MS Blaster removal tool, you will also likely need the Welchia B worm removal tool. Be sure to turn off system restore prior to running the tool or it will simply reload it over your repair.