Castle Paradox

[RPGrealm5]

I have caught another computer virus, this time I had to wipe my computer's hardrive again erasing all my secret projects I was working on as well as the current progress I had in Blackened.
I hate it when that happens, I must start anew once more. Oh well, who else has shared this problem? Who hates viruses?!!! AGGGRRRGGGG!!!!!!!
The creators of viruses should be locked up and left behind forever!
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Gyu, Doh!

[Bob the Hamster]

I have not had serious problems with viruses, but that is only because I have always been a super-paranoid user. Here are some tips to save yourself in the future.

(1) Run windows update no less than once-a-week. Run Windows update Daily if you have the time. That may sound stupid to some people, but seriously sometimes even daily isn't fast enough to catch "zero-day exploits"

(2) If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, stop. Switch to another e-mail client. ANY other e-mail client. If you *must* stay with those programs, disable "Active scripting", and, as I mentioned above, keep up-to-date on Windows update.

(3) Virus-scanners are a pain, but they are also worthwhile. Although I hate McAffee, I use it on almost every single Windows computer at work. I also hate Norton Antivirus, but in many cases It is better than nothing. I have heard good things about Trend's antivrus program, but I haven't tried it myself, so I don't know. If you can't afford a virus scanner, try http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ -- it isn't as good as a scanner that runs in the background to catch everything, but it is better than nothing. You might also look at http://clamav.elektrapro.com/ which is pretty cool for Linux, but I imagine the Windows version is really hard to use.

(4) Now I am going to repeat number (1). It's important. bugs in old versions of programs are the most common method for viruses to get into your computer. That holds true not just for Windows Update. If you install a Virus scanner, it is useless if it is not kept up-to-date.

(5) If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP and you are not behind a firewall, disable the "Messenger" service (this has nothing to do with MSN Messenger) This is a stupid feature that Microsoft decided to leave enabled by default. It allows spammers to pup up spam on your screen even if you are not in -email, and yep, you better believe it, it is an entry-hole for viruses. See http://www.theeldergeek.com/messenger_service_popups.htm for an explanation of how to disable the messenger service.

(6) If you haven't got a firewall, think about getting one. Unfortunately I cannot reccomend any good firewall software. I always use router-lever firewalls, so I have never had to go "shopping" for software firewalls.

(7) If you DO get a virus, don't panic and delete everything (not right away anyway). Try to find as much info about the virus as you can. http://vil.nai.com/ is a good resource that describes exactly what each virus can do to your computer. Norton, and most other antivirus companies have similar resources. You will find that most virus infections can be cleaned without the need to wipe out everything.-- yes, for some viruses you DO need to wipe out everything, because the virus may have installed a backdoor that allows hackers to do ANYTHING they want to your system-- but at least make sure that this has really happened before you go and delete files that are important to you. (and I will mention here that backups are always a good thing. Maybe your computer can get virus-infected and/or hacked, but they won't EVER be able to hack the CD-writable you burned last friday and stored in the back of your closet.)

[Shadowiii]

As for games getting erased, I know the feeling. Magnus 19 was erased probably 7 or 8 times when my computer decided to have spazzes and erase everything randomly. Playing with the system registry doesn't help with that...
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But enough talk, have at you!

[RPGrealm5]

Thanks!
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Gyu, Doh!