Please bear with me. I know ziltch about computers and I've taken an age explaining myself because I'm not sure how to, really. Please feel free to probe me if I haven't been specific or clear enough, which I probably haven't. Last night I lost 2k of my work because the document apparently didn't save properly. When I saved the file, I noticed a copy of it appeared on the desktop (right above the original save) and instead of Theboardinghouse, it said $eboardinghouse. I ignored it, closed my document, sent it to myself in an email, and later found out it hadn't saved the last 2k of my work. When I checked for recent files, the $eboardinghouse was there as the last "save" and I couldn't open it. Anyway, I scanned for malware and my pc was infect with FIVE trojans, which I then got rid of. Over the last couple months I've had about 3 virus attacks like this, and now it's f-cking with my documents. So I've now saved all my stuff to my external hard drive, but when I saved the documen there, the weird $boardinghouse document becomes present again. After I close the document, it disappears! So I open it and find that the new stuff I've written is still there, so it is saving, but like last time this weird looking file is turning up. So now I'm worried that it's all going wrong again and that at any minute I'm gonna lose all the work I've done. (I have emailed myself the novel in text form in the body of the email, so if worst comes to worst I can copy and paste it from there.) I really need some help. Is it some problem with my word processor, or are my files screwing up and there's nothing I can do? Has anyone experienced what I'm talking about before? I know you probably can't figure alot out because you can't see my pc, but if it helps I can provide some screen caps? My pc is a few months over two years old, and lately it's been getting very hot, very quickly, and the fan has become noisey. Not only that but, as I said before, I keep on getting trojan virsuses. Ever since the first bout of them a few months ago, I've been getting stupid windows popping up with gobbledygook whenever I open WORD, and I usually just press X and ignore them because there's nothing I can do to get rid of them. What can I do to make sure my work is safe, seeing as this weird looking document - I think it's a corrupt autosave file- has started appearing when I save my work in a different location. Would it help if I copied and pasted into a new document, deleted the other on the external hard drive, and tried saving this new one to it? Is it safe to work on this laptop at all now? I'm at a complete loss. My laptop is an ADVENT, running on Vista home premium and using Word 2007.
I just spoke to my bf about my concerns, and he says the $eboardinghouse file that pops up isn't a problem because it's an autosave file and it's supposed to be there. But I'm still really nervous because of all these trojans and the fact that last night they ruined 2k of my work. Not sure what I can do. Nopt sure if I should just carry on and wait for my laptop to eventually conk out.
I'm not much of a fan of computers; I can more accurately be described as a Luddite to be honest, and I know computer repair shops cost a freaking bomb but have you considered getting professional help. IT wise, not psychological of course.
To be honest I think they'd just advise me to get a new laptop, which I'm going to have to do soon anyway. It gets so hot nowdays I'm surprised something hasn't melted. I'm just concerned about working on this laptop (though I have no choice) when these trojan attacks keep happening. I have anti-virus software but it's not doing any good. I was OK with having to run for malware every now and then until last night when it attacked my documents and ruined my hard work. Now I'm fearing for the safety of my beloved novel! Hasn't anyone experienced this before? I know I'm just being paranoid now and there's not alot that can be done, but is it likely that Microsoft word can get infected and screw everything up for me?
Back up your novel onto a Flash drive or E-mail if you are concerned. And what system check are you using? Because if you haven't got it I recommend 'Spybot - Search and Destroy'. It is a much better system than AVG, which most people use.
It is not likely the word processor would mess up, more likely the actual computer. Just make sure back you back everything up in multiple locations and you will be fine, (e.g. usb, external hardrive, email.)
I always back up with email, but it didn't help me last night. It must have wiped the last 2k of my work the minute I closed the document, but it didn't even let me know that the file hadn't saved properly. So when I went to my email, thankful that I'd saved at 48k, I was pretty damn peeved to find it was only 46,000 words. I've decided now that I'll copy my work before closing the document, save it to email, and then paste the whole thing in the body of the email as well just incase something happens and the document isn't saved properly again. And yeah, I do have AVG, which has done decidedly nothing to stop all these trojans coming in. Does anyone know how they might be getting onto my pc? Everything has to go through admin and I never open weird emails or download anything. I can't see where they're coming from...
Trojan. Trojan horse. It seems friendly to a computer with bad anti-virus software so it is allowed in. That's why AVG can go suck a duck.
You use Facebook? Alot of viruses are contracted from there. Hackers target it due to the massive amount of users.
It certainly can! Facebook you say? I haven't used or opened anything on there but I suppose it doesn't matter. Things just get leaked through. Hell if I'd ever know when something was making its nasty little way through my computer. I'll definitely look into some better anti-virus software. I suppose I should be thankful that I didn't lose more than 2k, right? Oh, and is the life-expectancy of a laptop about 2 years? Nowdays mine seems to start coughing up blood after about half an hour, and gets extremely hot even though I keep it wedged up to allow air to it. I can't afford to get a new one right now so if anything else happens I'm screwed. =/
I have a virus protection called 'Trend Micro Titanium,' and it works great. RRP$99 im not sure if this is too much?
I've had my current Laptop for two years now and it still works fine. Sure it runs a little slower than it did and is a little out of shape, but considering the amount of games I have on the thing that's understandable. The laptop heating up could just be because it, including the fan, needs a cleaning. I wouldn't do this by yourself though. Laptops are like the working classes. Treat them well and they are faithful and obedient, treat them with disregard or disrespect and they will plot to overthrow you. Skelo is right. Facebook can be a big open gateway for viruses and Malwere.
I had an Advent laptop which lasted me for about three? four? years. I think the hard drive just stopped working but I'm still wary of it dying because of a virus. Anyway, the heat thing is probably just the fan not working as well as it used to. Also, do you have to keep it on constant charge because otherwise it'll only run like two minutes on the battery? Might be another reason. I don't know much (I really should, I get bombarded with clever computer stuff all the time), but maybe you should use a new email address. The virus could be getting through you opening your email, even if you're not opening them. I think the best bet would be just to get a new laptop.
The drive can be removed and hooked up to a harness at a computer repair shop. All your documents can then be copied to a USB drive or burned to DVDs so you can perform whatever recovery you desire on a safe PC. You risk further damage to your files by trying to "beat the battery", i.e. trying to recoiver or transfer files before the power runs out.
If the computer will boot from CD, you can also get a Linux LiveCD, boot it, and retrieve all of the files yourself, assuming the hard drive is not damaged. Getting a Dropbox account for backup isn't a bad idea either.
I use Norton Antivirus anti-malware, and it seems to work. As for it getting hot, I will tell you that when it shuts down on you when it becomes too warm, do not get angry with it and try to turn it back on immediately. I learned recently that it's a safety mechanism that is activated when the computer gets too warm that the hardware is at risk to catch fire. So if it gets hot, let it chill for a while. It's good that you browse the Internet safely, but, yeah, viruses can come and infect your computer through seemingly harmless, very popular web sites. It's good to have an anti-malware program that you can rely on. Like I said, I've used Norton AntiVirus for years, and it's kept me safe. I don't know what else to tell you --good luck! PS: That two years thing is crap... I finally got rid of my old computer two days ago, and it lasted me 5.5 years. I purchased a very high end computer as its replacement, and I'm aiming for this one to last me even longer. You can get add-ons or repairs if things break down. (Although when there are too many to count, you may want to invest in a brand new laptop.)
I build my own desktops and use good parts. I gave away one I built in 2002/2003 that is still running very well. my current desktop is one I built in 2006, leaving plenty of room to upgrade, and that one is still working great as well (I can even play the most recent games on it). I use the free version of Avast! anti-virus, which seems to work well and has a small footprint on system resources. I can't remember the last time I had a virus. 2001 or 2002 maybe?
