My computer completely crashed Friday 1-24-03. All information on the computer, including programs, etc. were erased by the Malicious script, except for a dynamic link that was calling for MSCORE.DLL which prevented my Hard Disk from being reformatted. Called Compaq support and was sent a 2 disk rescue set that restored my computer to original condition, after removing everything off of the disk. Back on line now but need to reload a ton of programs. Thanks for your help. Heard that a lot of computers went down Friday. Wally
The Good News is that my computer is now recovered! Sooner or later, everyone will go through a computer crash due to a Virus, Hardware Failure, etc. This time I was more prepared and found out a few things I didn't know before. I'll share some information on "How To Recover After A Crash" here:
1. I didn't know that the rescue disk that you get with a new computer won't work if you pick up a Virus or have to change your Hard Drive. It is programed to detect your original settings and equipment, and if anything is changed, you get the message, "Contact Customer Support". I did contact Customer Support at Compaq, and paid about $35 (Including Overnight Shipping) to get a 2 Disk Rescue Set. The first disk clears everything off of your Hard Drive and Reformats and Partitions it. The second disk restores your computer back to Original Factory Condition. You re-register your computer as new. I would advise anyone who has a newer computer to order a rescue disk set.
2. As I have an RW Drive, I had previously saved all of my Pictures, Music Files and Documents to RW Disks which quickly loaded back up after the System Restore. Some programs that I had saved could not be loaded back up as they did not have the Original Installer included with the program, and had to be downloaded off of the internet. The programs that I had downloaded to a special folder in Documents I named "INSTALL", rather than a Temporary Folder, could be reloaded from a RW disk. For all persons that have an RW Disk Drive, I would strongly recommend saving what you can to Disk. You can also download your entire "INSTALL" folder to disk and reinstall your favorite programs without having to redownload them.
3. I had about 200MB of information saved on the Internet. I have a private family website at MyFamily.com where I have about 150MB and over 90MB on MSN by paying for Extra Storage. I also have 60MB of storage on AT&T, which is my backup ISP. Fortunately, when your computer crashes, the stuff on the internet doesn't crash with it. Visit MyFamily.com
4. You can also make an exact copy of you Hard Drive to another Hard Drive by using a handy little tool called HDCopy, without losing any information on your current drive. The information is only copied to your new drive. I originally transferred all the information on my Main Drive to System_Sav to keep my computer going for awhile until that also got corrupted by the Malicious Script and Converted to Arabic by a command ScrScript.exe(Scramble Script). If you have an extra Hard Drive, this is a great way to save information. You can Download HDCopy for free by clicking HDCopy.
5. In my next article I will have some helpful tips and links to software that will make exploring the net safer.
Free On-Line Computer Help
On the net, no one should be without an Anti-Virus Program and Firewall. I run Norton System Works with constant updates to Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Internet Security with Firewall. Some of these programs can be expensive. If you can't afford it right now, you can download FREE Antivirus and Firewalls here:
I just ordered Norton Internet Security 2004 on -line today at $27.95 plus shipping. At the Norton Site, the price for the same software is $189.95 for Norton Clients. I don't ask any questions.
