Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Make Sure It Is Plugged!

Contrary to what I thought that it would never happen to an infrequent surfer of the cyberspace like me, this time last year, a virus contaminated my computer.

Of course, I felt violated and helpless as well. I cannot imagine some persons would deliberately mess up other people’s computers. This criminal activity is not unlike some uninvited strangers ransacked through our personal belongings. This incident made me feel even more vulnerable while using the computer.

Fortunately, there is anti-virus software we can install to protect us from the hackers. So in this case I was not as helpless as I thought. However, I was told before installing a new firewall in my computer, I must first get rid of the offending virus from the hard disc. If one has never had to evict intruders from his or her computer, the process to do so can be very onerous. To the credit of some smart engineers, they helped clean my desk top after my numerous calls to their far away call-center. My final call with an extremely patient techie lasted more than an hour. After at least two trying days, my computer was restored. But my task to prevent my computer from being infected again was far from over.

The protective program I installed last year expires soon. Although I was warned that installing a new anti-virus software can also be a frustrating business, I decided to do the installation myself. This time I was diligent and proactive. Before down loading a new spy ware to my computer, I asked family members as well as salespersons about the particular software I was about to purchase.

Since I had done what I could to prepare myself, I was ready for the upcoming challenge.

Before copying the new program, I removed the soon-to-expire program from the memory first. Then I made sure there was sufficient virtual space left in the hard drive. These steps seemed to be logical and easy. Therefore, the loading of the new program was a breeze except one unforseen glitch. With the new firewall, my computer could no longer get access to Internet. Certainly, it caused a havoc to me. So I had to call my ISP’s remote help-center. After nearly an hour long of probing, poking, booting and rebooting, finally, it was detected that there was a bad connection in my desk top. And you guess it! I was the trouble maker who plugged one of the ethernet cables into a wrong phone jack! - Ayee

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