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[APML] Virus Woes- (was - A (humble) Beginning :-)
Chris, Rob, list...
Thanks Chris and Rob for your suggestions and
encouragement...my apologies for such a delayed response
to your kind words...but there was a reason.
Even though I ran Norton's AV Auto-Protect *and*
got the latest definitions Monday morning, Monday
afternoon an undefined variant of the
W32.Magistr.39921@mm entered my system,apparently
through an e-mail. I know the time because it rewrote
the time signature on one of the files it infected.It
began with erratic page loads and general instability in
operations I was attempting...but I scanned twice with
Norton's and once with PCillin...no virus was found.It
attacked the Norton's AV, first shutting down the Auto-
Protect and then disabling it from scanning...all the
program would do was check online for updates...which
would of course be useless,since it was unable to scan.
After uninstalling/reinstalling the Norton's app with
the latest definitions,the virus was finally ID'ed.
This piece of ba$+ard code attached itself to
one component of a compressed file, C:\PQSC\CPS\XXX- DAT
which is a shared file and could not be deleted.The file
was shared with my D:\ drive...which was my backup...so
most of you see where this is going.
In an effort to freeze the virus and stop it
from spreading, I carefully followed printed
instructions from Symantec's web site and edited out one
critical line of corrupted code from the registry with
the MS DOS editor, following instructions to the
letter.When I next restarted my machine I was horrified
to find the thing had rewritten the offending code...but
with one key difference...it had omitted a space.Not a
letter, not a number, just a space. I was never able to
get past an error box 'Must Load Windows' after
that...the problem code was shown in the error
box...that's how I know it was just a space that had
been omitted.
The hard drive had become so unstable at this
point,I thought I might have to replace it...the
recovery disk would not load properly and I was getting
error messages and/or crashes one right after the other.
Finally, after the FDISK/MBR erasure (twice) and some
hoop jumping in CMOS-BIOS I was able to *manually* load
all the drivers and attempt an internet connection.I
then spent about a day and a half downloading
programs,updates,patches etc...and now with a firewall,
Norton's AV, Pop-Up Killer and Ad-Aware in combination
with IE 6 security...I'm 'ready' to fend off the next
one.
Now granted, gentlemen, I'm not the sharpest
tool in the digital shed. Most of the above I've learned
since Monday...but I never intended to try hacking (un-
hacking?) in the first place! Oh well...the computer is
working again and soon I'll have it operating as
before...but still I've lost *all* my data and my
digital images,too. :-(
The best advice I could give from this
miserable experience: DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!
There's also something to be said for CD/floppy file
storage...internal back ups are obviously risky.
ANYWHO...enough of the virus stuff.Astrophotography
is the main reason I got such a powerful computer in the
first place!
Rob, your point about linking the images themselves to
click on is well taken...this seems to be the rule
rather than the exception...but I can't seem to do it
with the web builder I'm using. Since your ISP is also
AT&T,you could check out the app I've been using, if
you're interested or even curious...I would certainly
appreciate it.It's password protected for AT&T users
only, I think you just enter your e-mail ID after you
click on the link ------------->
http://publish.att.net/cgi-bin/jsedit?flavor=wizard
Chris, a friend who has been watching my progress
(or lack there of) with the web site independently came
to the same conclusion as yours...the grey could be
distracting. With the monitor adjustment grid on my home
page, I'll leave it gray for now...I might make a
separate page for the monitor adj and link it from
home...but for now I can make the image pages
blackground...here's how that will look:
http://home.att.net/~astropix/M8_M20.html
I also added a link to the home page at the
bottom of the image page.It seemed like a good idea if
someone unknown links to one of my pages...besides, it's
what everyone does. ;-)
Any input from anyone will certainly be
appreciated,the previous posts from Chris and Rob
reflect positive change...and after the weeks events
it's going to take me a while to start over...scanning
and processing my images from scratch...so anything I
can do with what's already there is a plus.
At least all my images are on glorious FILM...
which finds computer viruses totally benign.
Keep Looking Up :O)
Geoff Powers http://home.att.net/~astropix/
>Geoff, nice images, you might try a bit darker
background color for your web
>pages, the light grey tends to overpower the images.
>Chris Schur
>Astrophotography:
http://www.psiaz.com/schur/astro/index.html
> Geoff,
> Thats a very good start. We all started this hobby
> at some point. Your images and web presentation
> are fine at your early stage. One thing I might add is
to
> make the thumbnails link to the image as well.
> Rob Gendler
> Email: robgendler@att.net
> Web site: http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <astropix@att.net>
> To: <astro-photo@seds.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 1:40 AM
> Subject: [APML] A (humble) Beginning :-)
>
>
> > Yes...just as I threatened in a previous post
> > (which nobody read <g> )...I now have constructed
> > (destructed?) my initial web site.It's slim...it's
> > meager...it's *not* impressive...but it's mine and
it's
> > a start.Now that you've been warned,and if you're
still
> > reading...here's the link ---------------------
>
> >
http://home.att.net/~astropix/
> > Any insight not only of the images but the layout of
the
> > site would be greatly appreciated...if you look over
the
> > stuff I've done it's bound to make most of you feel
> > better about your own work .
<g>
> > Thanks for Laughing...err Looking :O)
> > Geoff Powers
> >
> > -- APML Archives at
<http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/> ---
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>
>
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