From my diary

I’ve managed to install some malware.  Oh bother.

It’s something any of us might do.  I was accessing a site which was offering the download of a book.  The link took me to a site called “blitzdownload.com”, which downloaded an exe called “<book title>.exe”.  Naturally I presumed that the thing was an executable zip. 

So I double-clicked on it, and up popped a message asking if it was OK to allow the programme to modify my computer.   Of course a zip wouldn’t do this; but I was tired, and I see that message far too often.  So I said yes.

And gradually I realised that the thing was trying to install this, and that, and the other.  I cancelled out.  But the Windows Start Menu still showed something — some sort of downloader — had been installed.

So I deinstalled it.  But of course, who knows what else it might have done. 

I started Kaspersky and checked for boot-sector viruses, and it showed nothing.  But … if it’s really a trojan — and it clearly is bogus in some way, because why else would it hide its nature? — then it may have interfered with Kaspersky.

OK, well let’s just go back to the previous system restore point.  I fire this up, make the request and … after lots of churning, it gives an error.  I try the previous restore point — same problem.

But when I restart I find that the rollback has at least partially taken effect.  The main effect is that my Kaspersky now won’t start properly.  Nor will it fix itself.  When I try a reinstall it warns I may have a virus. 

And so on it goes.  I will spare you a blow-by-blow account.  Yet here we are, hours and hours lost, struggling, while tired, just to make sure my PC isn’t about to email my bank details to fraudsters.  I don’t dare NOT do so… and yet the recovery process is so very, very fraught.

No wonder so many PC’s are infected.  Trying to make sure that yours is not, after something commonplace like this, exhausts the soul.

Wish me luck!