How did my computer get infected?

This is a blog post for those of "us" out there who have a teenager (or even an adult) that we know who's laptop or desktop computer seems to be prone to getting virus' over and over. The part that seems to amaze these people is that in reality its their fault that their machines become infected with crud.

As a "computer nerd" I get asked a LOT to fix peoples computers, try and removed virus' etc. and so I have seen a lot of machines over the years.


How in the world did my machine get infected:
There are a lot of ways to get your computer infected, most require the user to actually install the infecting software onto your computer. Here is a small list of the best ways to screw up your computer.

• LIMEWIRE - ok, without a doubt this is the fastest, easiest, and most assured way to totally destroy your computer. If you have a Teen, i can almost 100% guarantee you that this program is loaded on some computer somewhere. This is basically a program that allows you to.. STEAL! yes, STEAL. You open the program up, type in the title of a movie, and boom there is dozens of files to click and download and you can sit and watch this great masterpiece on your computer. The main use for the average teen is music, downloading hundreds of illegal songs from all over the net. If you have been living under a rock and have not heard a single new report of the RIAA tracking down people who "get" their music this way, they are suing people left and right (AND WINNING).
• Any 'BitTorrent' Software - This includes uTorrent, BitTorrent, and tons more. BitTorrent is about the same as LIMEWIRE (as it uses bit torrent as well), but its different as you have to goto certain web sites (thepiratebay) to find people who are offering free movies, programs, and more, and all you need to do is click a link, and it downloads.
• Any TOOLBAR or ADDIN for Explorer - Just about every "free" program these days comes with some AMAZING "TOOLBAR" that you HAVE to install in order to use the software. These are ALL Spyware/malware/adware. These programs offer you something for free, but all you have to do is load a TOOLBAR. This toolbar can track EVERY SINGLE KEYSTROKE you make and transfer it to the author of the software. So imagine this.. you use your computer to access your bank account, and you login with your private info, it captures all your keystrokes, and sends that info to the person who created the sw. They now have the ability to login in AS YOU and take all your money. Ahh, isnt free software great?
  
• SEARCH S/W - let me make this really clear, you do not, nor should you EVER load anything that calls itself a "search tool" or "search ASSISTANT". The only Toolbar/Search SW you MIGHT want to install is the google toolbar, and if you have to have it, get it from http://toolbar.google.com and NO WHERE ELSE. But in this day and age of new browsers with built in search, this is not needed anymore.
  

I have tried (without any success) to teach my niece's that you cannot even load Limewire onto your computer without it causing issues. I will reload the whole machine, get everything perfect, load the latest A/V & anti-malware, have the machine protected perfectly, and within 1-2 months I'm getting calls about the machine being "slow" or "popups" coming in. When i look at the computer, low-and-behold, there it is.. Limewire, and at least 2-3 Toolbars, and 2-3 Search programs. When I ask about how these things got installed i get "i have no idea". On looking further into things i see that they have loaded some "REALLY COOL" smiley-face add-in for their email, or who knows, and it had a "search assistant" as part of it. Well when you OK the install of the virus, YOU are the Virus.

So, how do you protect your computer from this kind of thing. Lets see..

• EDUCATION: Every teen/adult that uses a computer should know about the above items, and guess what.. now you do.
  
• EDUCATION: I know you know that if you download that music without paying for it, its called Stealing, but do you really KNOW it? Would you walk into walmart and take a cd? Would you take a Movie from FYE? But downloading that movie is fine, RIGHT?
• EDUCATION: Learning how to protect yourself from these threats by knowing what a virus program "looks like" (ie: ANY Search Assistant/Toolbar). Knowing that when you install that really cool free app that only requires you to add the free (fill in the blank) to your system, you are installing the virus that could potentially cause you to lose your personal info, bank account info or more.
• EDUCATION: You as a parent have to be 100% involved in your childs computer usage. You should KNOW what s/w they have installed, or what they are downloading. Yes, they will hate it, but TUFF CRUD. Until they are 18 YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE LEGALLY for anything they download, ANYTHING. So YOU will be the one who the RIAA comes after for your childs 3000 Rap songs they "got" from Limewire.
  

Yes i know we are all busy, but i have learned (the hard way) that you cannot trust a teenager to do the "right thing" all the time. And if you lock down their Internet access (there are TONS of ways to do this), and lock down what they can/cant install on their own pc, you will find that these situations are less and less. Yes, i know its a pain for your kid to come to you when they want to load some great new sw to their pc, but you are responsible, and you need to be the final say so.

You also should limit your child's Internet access. If you know they get into things they shouldn't when you are not watching (between the time they get home from school and you get home from work), then lock them out of the Internet till you get home. I think every home should have blocking software on their router that stops their children from accessing certain types of info. For their own protection.

I could go on and on over things you need to block, things that should NEVER be on your child's machine (can you say web-cam?), and more, but ill save that for another post.

Keep in mind, I'm taking from my own experiences here, and I'm only trying to help you protect yourself, and child from the things out there that can really hurt them.

Unexpected Visitor

We all went to church today; Alex and I headed to setup HRCC, Rene came along a while after we left, and then mom headed to her church. Mom had a lunch she was going to after church, and we had a church meeting, and then went to Zaxbys for lunch (we had not gone out to lunch for about 2 months). I had dropped Alex off up the street and pulled into the driveway about 10-15 mins after mom got home.

I walked into the living room and was just walking thru when i saw some kinf of plastic or metal laying on the floor and i couldnt figure out what the heck they could have been from. Then i looked and saw the back door frame was bent in at the bottom about 2 feet pulling it away and up to the top. I looked at this like, what the heck could possibly have caused that to happen, did the house shift or something fall on the frame, since the door was closed. Then my brain actaully said (and i swear i heard a voice say to me) "SOMEONE HAS BROKEN INTO THE HOUSE!". Being a black belt and being trained for years to be on "alert" i heard Rene come in and told her to stay out of our side of the house, and i proceeded to walk thru the house looking in closets and everything for whomever had broken into the house. I looked everywhere and when i came into the bedroom i saw that the window was wide open and the screen was sitting out in the middle of the deck.

After looking around and trying to see what they had stolen, but i couldnt see anything. I did notice that my jewelry box had been opened and all the junk (and thats all that was in it is junk) was all over the dresser (seee right). The only thing of value that was in there was my wedding ring (I dont usually wear it because playing drums with it on will bend one side flat). I looked and it was still there. All that was in there (and still is) are ticket stubs and things.

I called 911 and told them someone had broken into the house, and they asked me if the person was still there, and i told them i have looked around the house and it didnt seem so. The police officer showed up in about 5 mins or so, walked around the house. I had thought that the person kicked in the back door (shocking that a Black Belt in TKD would have thought to Kick a door open!) but the officer spotted places on the door where had been pryed open with a crow-bar or something, breaking the door frame (see 1st pic). We walked around and at first it looked like they had pulled up something to the deck in the back (ie car/truck) but i was not sure about this as someone would have surly noticed a car on the back yard. Later we figured out that was from the larn mower wheels. The officer looked around to see if there was any physical evidance (fingerprints etc) that he could gather, but couldnt find anything (shocker).

We told him that if anyone in the neighborhood saw anything it would be our next door neighbor (she lives behind our house along the one road). The officer walked over to talk to her, and about 2 mins later they came walking back, we went out to talk to them and she said that she had seen this man walking from our back yard out into the road about the same time thatt we came home. She had been out walking her dog, and the man walked right by her and she had said hello to him. She was describing the man to the officer and he immediallty picked up his mic and called into the other officer to be on the lookout for this man (using his name). I looked at the officer and said "you know this man?", he goes "yep, i have arrested him 2-3 times myself for these kinds of break-ins".

The officer asked if we had access to the internet and i said "well YEAH" (lol). So we went into the house and looked up this man on the police web site, and there was his photo. We printed it out his photo and info (it took 8-9 pages to print this man's record). We showed this to our neighbor and she said "yep thats him". I belive the officer was trying to get a warrent for his arrest. Its only been a few hours at the time im writing this.

We had a friend that is doing some contracting work for us come over and get the door put together enough that we could lock it again (heck with the screws he used to hold it all together are probably stronger than the wood was!). So at least the door is locked. I plan on staying home tomorrow to get someone over to check out the alarm situation at the house, and to see what we are going to do about this door.

The stress of the day has been really high. This has been a really bad few months for us financially, and this really could have been horrendously bad for us. My first thought was Why is God so unhappy with us, but then Rene said to me "maybe its satan and he is upset because for the first time we are all involved with a church together, and we are trying to make changes in our lives to get closer to where we should be." It could very well be, its just been so hard.

Please pray for this man (he is just a 24 year old kid), that he could find a purpose for his life. He has a very long history of drug abuse, breaking into people's houses, and more, and maybe we would be the last people who has to endure his problems.

A really tough few months

--- there is some graphic text below - not bad words, just talking about body issues ---

As you know its been a tough few months, health wise for me. Well you may not know that its also been a tough few months for a my family as well. My niece and nephew have been fighting illness (nothing major). My mom's back has been in VERY bad shape for the past month, it seems to have been muscle spasms and problems in her lower back. After a week of not really being able to stand up from a chair she went to the doctor and got on some meds to help her. Its about 50% better now, but its not great. She really needs to get better, she is headed to my sisters in NY where the weather is a lot colder, and could make her feel a lot worse. I'm praying the meds work better.

Well this is a lot but its just the beginning. Last Thursday and my mom was sitting there (she lives with us) watching tv with us when the phone rang. My mom couldnt tell who was on the phone. She got up to walk up to her room, and stopped dead in her tracks, and went white. This freaked me out, and after a few mins she went and sat back down, and i was trying to hear what was going on. After a while (10-15 mins) she got off the phone to tell us it was my other sister (in OH) calling from the hospital. My sister had come home from work (she lives alone) and she was not feeling well and she started to bleed from her body, and she called 911 and in the process of trying to get help she vommited blood into the phone. She then went into the hallway of her condo yelling for help, someone finally got her an ambulance, and she made it to the hospital. It seems she had a gastric ulcer that broke blood out into her body, and caused all the problems. But she also had some other issues and her white count was/is very low.

Life has also been slamming me financially. The bills from the previous medical issues as well as some vehicel issues were bad enough, but we found out that our master bedroom's bathroom toilet had been leaking under it for a while (who knows how long) and has ruined the floor. It will all have to be pulled up, and replaced, and possiblly even a joist or two replaced. And my part time job has not been bringing in a whole lot.

So if you could please take a few minutes to pray for my family's health and my financial issues. Prayers work, and yours would be more than welcome.

Thanks for listening.

Gallbladder Labor Day

This past Thursday 8/28/08 I went in to have my Gallbladder Removed. The surgery was setup be 1:10pm, and I was supposed to go in around 11am. I got a phone call around 10am from the hospital, and I was thinking they would be telling me that the surgeon was running late, but it was just the opposite, they asked me to come in “right away”. We got to the hospital around 10:15, and spent until around 11:15 getting “prepped”. Mom’s Pastor stopped by and spent a little time talking and praying with us. It was nice. They cam and got me around 11:50 or 12. I remember being rolled down the hall to the operating room, and that’s all I remember till around 1:20 or so. It was 2-3 times harder to “wake up” this time than it was last week. I really never woke up all the way, at the hospital, I was just groggy. I think we got home around 2:15-2:30. I kind of floated up to the bed, and crashed till 4:30 or so. Got up and was hungry (hadn’t eaten since 9pm last night). It's been a rough afternoon with the meds making me feel like crud, but the Dr said everything went well, no complications, or problems. Just have to be very careful of what I eat and do for the next 4 weeks. Not allowed to lift anything more that’s 15lbs, lol that means my laptop bag is out.. it's about 30 HAHAH.

Its been a tough few days, trying to sleep has been next to impossible. I do not sleep well on my back, I'm used to being on my side (both sides actually, i move around a LOT at night) and so I think i have ended up with about 2-3 hrs of sleep each night. Last night I managed to get about 4hrs and it feels great. Been taking my pain meds when i should, but they don't seem to do a lot for me, except make me light headed (yeah i know I'm already pretty light headed now.. lol). The holes hurt a lot when i try and stand up, so i end up walking like the hunchback of romanda.

I am on a VERY strict 20 grams of Fat a day diet, I'm not allowed to eat a whole lot of things, and to be honest i don't want anything more than a few bites of anything.
Because of this, i have managed to drop about 5 more pounds in the past week. I'm now down almost 15 lbs since the beginning of July. Again, not the diet i would suggest to anyone. I have been hurting non-stop across my "bare" no longer BEAR chest.. lol Thats another thing thats taking me time to adjust to, have not seen my clean shaven (or hairless) stomach since i was about 16.

I appreciate everyone's prayers, emails, phone calls, and comments. Its great to know i have so many people who love me.. or at least pretend to.. LOL

I was tempted to post a photo of the hairless gorilla but i figured i didn't want to make everyone sick. i thought this one gave you the idea:

A Not-So-Great Way to lose weight.

Ok, So in the past month I have lost a little over 13 lbs. YEAH ME, or not. Since the way I have lost weight is not a way I would recommend to anyone.

Lets start the way-back machine to July 10, I was working in TN with my good buddy Jack. We had a pretty good week, got as much work done as we could and it was after a very small dinner. Got back to the hotel and felt really bad, had not felt that great all day, but this was something really bad. I tried to sleep but my body was having none of this, and around 9pm it hit me pretty hard, spent from 9pm - 9am in the bathroom, i couldnt leave the room, I was either sitting or praying (lol). I am not one that "allows" myself to throw up. I just hate it, for me its not like you see in the movies and tv were people just lean over and all this crud comes out; for me its a battle, my body doesnt want to do it, and my mind hates it, so its about a 4 min battle each time. So by the time it all stopped and i was able to drive home i hurt like i had been in a major fight.
The next week i felt bad, didnt want to eat, and when i did my body hurt, especially my lower right back. I thought maybe it was gas bubbles or something, no idea. So, like everything else i just ignored it. A little over a week later i had another bout with the same type stomach thing, it wasnt as bad but it was still not good.
I had to go to Houston for work the week of July 28th. It was so hot, and i was working in a place that was outside in the heat. I felt cruddy most of the week, just not THAT bad. Went to dinner with my friend Zubaz (not his REAL name lol) and his wonderful wife. I think the calzone that i had set off the stomach issue again, because that whole night (again back in another hotel room) I was fighting the same crud, stomach fighting me big time. I had to get up EARLY to fly home, and i was not feeling well at all, cold sweats, nausea, etc. Flying when your sick SUCKS.
I got home, and my wife, and mom told me i had to go to the doctor to see whats causing this. The pain in my back was really getting worse, and when i ate anything i would feel like garbage for hours. The doctor didnt know what was going on, but he wanted me to give them a urine sample, and so i did, and he was concerned when it showed a "large amount" of blood. This kind of freaked me out a little. So, they scheduled me for a CT Scan (thinking it was a kidney stone). Had that on Friday the 8th. Didnt get the results from that till Monday. They said i didnt have a kidney stone or gallstones, but they did see a small cyst on my liver. The blood was still an issue so they scheduled me for a apt with a Urologist to see if they can find anything. They did the normal checkup, bend over elbows on the table.. lol all that GOOD stuff. Didnt seem to find anything, but he did tell me they wanted to do a cystoscopy. He also made a comment on a Cyst on one of my testicles. It was about 1/2" in diameter, and about the same in height. It had been growing for a very long time, and had not really bothered me, just a slight itch now and then.

The procedure was set for Monday the 18th. Went in at 7am, they knocked me out, stuck the camrea up my.. and then cut off the cyst, and stitched it up, the cut was about 3/4" long. not something you want to have cut EVER!
They didnt find anything in my bladder or kidneys, so we still dont know where the blood is coming from. I have been recovering from this this week. My throat was killing me from the tube the put down it to help me breath, and the other end hurt like made from the camera being inserted in it. Burned like crazy when i had to go to the bathroom. My arms and one leg hurt as well, i assume it was from the way they had me laying on the operating room table, or maybe from the anesthesia. The stitches didnt help the pain, or the discomfort.

--UPDATE 8/21/08 --
Well met with the surgeon today, my gallbladder is inflamed, and I do have a large number of stones. Of course the suggestion is to remove it. The surgery is scheduled for this coming Thursday (8/28/08) Not sure of a time. They will go in thru my belly button, with 4 small incisions.

Will see how this goes, they will have me on VERY limited duty for a week then LIGHT duty for a month.

Keep you posted.
Thanks for reading