To Steal a Line From Greg Gutfeld

I Hate These People!

The hackers and whatever bastards write malware. I spent 2 hrs cleaning Georgia's lap top today.

Since my desktop is in the computer hospital getting a heart hard disc transplant, I used  hers last night for a while. Flash kept crashing in Chrome, which is annoying but not damaging, and I set off to upgrade flash, thinking I was doing a public service. Unfortunately, in my rush, I ignored good sense (and perhaps aided by malware already present) and got to a malware site instead, which promptly installed four malware programs, including one which took over the Chrome browser, and directed all searches through it's own search engine, which strongly favors ads, adware and malware.

First, I installed Spy Bot Search and Destroy, which took care of a couple, but not the browser issue. We shut the damn thing down for the night while I figured out what to do, using the IPad. I finally found a solution that did not involve downloading new and questionable software.

This afternoon, after we got back from the gym, I sat down with the instructions, and set to work. After uninstalling the offending programs, I had to manually close any related processes, edit the registry to remove lingering code (a scary procedure, which can go badly wrong), and then remove redirects in the browser, and reset Chrome to its default settings. But, knocking on wood, and crossing my fingers, it seems to have worked.

All in all, it was a pain in the ass, and a needless time suck.

And that's why I hate these people