[s-cars] WARNING!!! HELP!! VIRUS???!!!

[Steve Marinello]

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This is not a "Watch Out for this Virus!" message.  I don't know what hit m=
e,l but here goes.

Sometime late yesterday, my computer, running W2000, suddenly asked for a p=
assword with the user Administrator.  There is/was no password.  I didn't s=
et it up that way.  Suddenly, I was denied access to Windows, although I'd =
been running it and getting email, etc. all day.  NOTE!  I had updated and =
run AVG Friday.  It's running a scan as I type this.  I'm on the laptop rig=
ht now, which, literally, I was about to update with all the desktop files =
at the time this happened.

After multiple restarts without success in getting past the password reques=
t, I loaded the W2000 disc and went for a system repair.  Unfortunately, I =
was informed that all system files/data would be erased/rewritten,even with=
 the repair option, so I cancelled that.  At this point, I was going to gra=
b my Ontrack disk and try to get around it again when I acquiesced and trie=
d the wife's suggestion to try any password I had used before with the Admi=
nistrator request.  First time, my email password, worked and I was in....t=
o find devastation.

There are no email files, messages, addresses, etc.  At first, it seemed vi=
rtually all files were lost, but it turned out that another set of folders =
had been created that appeared to hold most of them, but no email files.   =
Then it got worse.  It appears that most files or program that had been acc=
essed recently is gone.  The Office 2000 shell appears to be there, but ask=
s for the install disc to do anything...and then doesn't go through any ins=
tall.

After running AVG (no database updates available, so I doubt it will find a=
nything), I'll try to recover something with Ontrack.  I have no idea what =
happened, but it hit me right when I didn't need it, working on two reports=
 to clients that have to be submitted in the next few days.  At least I was=
 running the computer simulations on the laptop, so I haven't lost them.

Utterly deflating to open up and find nearly everything gone.  I'd almost p=
refer a hard drive crash.

I've got to learn to back up daily, although I still would have been hit pr=
etty hard this time if I had with the reports, just not everything else.

Any advice as I move forward to try and recover something will be appreciat=
ed.  Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to spend on this, so I'll tr=
y to get the reports done on the laptop for now.

Thanks,

Steve
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