As you may know, on Sunday I had one of my monthly computer
question & answer live events where I answer people's computer
questions live "on the air" during a broadcast you can listen in on
via the web or by phone during the event.
During the call (between some coughing and sniffling on my end
due to a cold) I answered a number of questions sent in by my
subscribers, including ones from new Gold Club member Tim here
on the Big Island, George from Scotland, Art in the Phillipines, and
others.
I had a number of questions sent in by email after the event was
over, one of which I'll be answering in this newsletter, and I'll be
getting to the others in coming days.
Gold Club members will also be getting a copy of the entire call on
CD along with the latest video lesson CD when they ship later in the
month. Gold Club members will find the recording in the
*permanent* archive of *all* of my computer Q & A live events
located in the Gold Club member.
On to the question:
"Dear Mr. Godwin,
I'm not sure whether or not you have time to answer personal
emails, but I'll give it a shot. Last night a disturbing event
happened as I was doing some research in FireFox. Without any
provocation, I was suddenly invaded by an antivirus program
(Internet Antivirus Pro) attempting to push their product on me (I
already use Norton). Nor only could I not get rid of it on my
computer, but it messed up FireFox as well as Microsoft Explorer.
Both were rendered useless. So, I'm ending up setting up my
computer from scratch. Was this a type of virus; if so, why didn't
Norton catch it? I'd appreciate a response when you get time.
Thanks for your kindness. - James Staudt"
Well James, I'm sorry to hear you ran into this situation.
You unfortunately fell victim to a very common threat that has infected a
huge number of computers in recent months. According to statistics
published by Microsoft 400,000 computers had this cleaned off of them
in December alone (and that's just the ones Microsoft's software
removed, and doesn't count any infections removed by different means).
What probably happened, based on what you've told me, and what I've
seen myself and read about, you probably went to a website which
offered to scan your computer, and then went ahead and scanned your
computer even when you said no, and then insisted on pushing that
malicious program on you even when you said no.
If that's not exactly what you experienced, it was probably something
similar.
This is a really big problem to a lot of people because the site you visited,
and others like it, use *very* dishonest tactics and basically set things up
so that no matter what you click, it still results in the program getting
onto your system.
As it happens, I just did a video lesson on this very topic on December's
Gold Club video lesson CD. I recorded the lesson after stumbling onto a
site like the one you ran into, to help protect my clients from sites like it.
It's really not possible for me to share everything I showed in the lesson in
an email, since a lot of it relies on you *seeing* exactly what I'm talking
about, to help recognize when you've run into one of those sites.
One thing I can tell you is this: if you ever find yourself on a site that tries
to scan your computer for problems, you should get out of there
immediately, especially if the scan happens without your permission.
The fact is, the scan is actually *fake* in the first place, and that should
be a big warning sign.
The best thing to do in a situation like that is to close the web browser
immediately, since clicking on almost anything on the web page (even a
button saying "no" or "cancel" etc.) will still put the damaging program
on your computer.
So instead of running the risk of accidentally clicking a fake close button
(the red X) what you can do is use the keyboard shortcut to close the
browser immediately.
On a Windows PC this is done by holding down the ALT key and then
pressing the F4 key (the key labeled F4 at the top of your keyboard, not
the F key and the 4 key) then releasing both.
On one of Apple's Mac computers, the same thing is done by holding
down the Command key on the keyboard (this either says Command, or
has an Apple logo, or has a "propeller" logo, or all three, depending on
your keyboard) then type the letter Q and release both.
So that's ALT-F4 on the PC, or Command-Q on the Mac.
That will get you right out of there, and minimize the risk of getting
infected.
As for your Norton Antivirus, well, the fact is, Norton is really not that
good a program. It's used a lot because Symantec (who makes Norton)
pays HP or other computer makers to include their program, and so most
people use Norton or McAfee purely because it's what's there, *not*
because it's the best program!
It's kind of like the way that the majority of people still use Microsoft's
Internet Explorer (the blue E icon) even though it is definitely not as safe
as, say, Mozilla Firefox, or even as good a program in general.
What I suggest is to use the antivirus program Kaspersky. It's what I use
on my Windows computers, and what I recommend to my clients.
For more information about using the right web browser, the right
antivirus program, and more, see my special report "5 Common & Costly
Computer Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Making Them Yourself". The
audio CD of this report is included for free with all orders of any of my
bundles of CDs.
The video lesson I mentioned above is so important for everyone to see
(including Mac users who *currently* don't need to worry about viruses),
that I am thinking about making it available for everyone to view for a
while in a special area of my website. This will likely be for a limited time
only, but I will make an announcement if I decide to do this.
It will definitely be made available to Gold Club members in the exclusive
Gold Club member area of my site.
I hope that helps make some sense of what happened, and maybe gives
you a useful tip or two to avoid problems in the future.
I will be getting to some of the other questions I got by email in the next
few days. Right now I need to run out the door to the airport to pick up a
friend visiting from the mainland.
Until next time, take care, and enjoy,
Worth Godwin
P.S. I am finally getting caught up with all of the stuff I wanted to finish
three weeks ago (between being sick and some unfortunate technical
roadblocks I ran into, I couldn't avoid it). Watch your email for some
exciting new announcements including the relaunch of the new and
improved Gold Club member area, and more.
I should also probably warn you that as soon as I'm able to get caught up,
which should be a few more days, I will finally have time to raise my prices
on my Ultimate Beginner's Bundle and the Plantinum Bundle of easy lesson
CDs available for either Windows PC or for Apple Mac.
The price of these CDs, while still being a bargain, will go up substantially
in a few days. I am also going to eliminate my standalone free trial Gold
Club membership entirely.
question & answer live events where I answer people's computer
questions live "on the air" during a broadcast you can listen in on
via the web or by phone during the event.
During the call (between some coughing and sniffling on my end
due to a cold) I answered a number of questions sent in by my
subscribers, including ones from new Gold Club member Tim here
on the Big Island, George from Scotland, Art in the Phillipines, and
others.
I had a number of questions sent in by email after the event was
over, one of which I'll be answering in this newsletter, and I'll be
getting to the others in coming days.
Gold Club members will also be getting a copy of the entire call on
CD along with the latest video lesson CD when they ship later in the
month. Gold Club members will find the recording in the
*permanent* archive of *all* of my computer Q & A live events
located in the Gold Club member.
On to the question:
"Dear Mr. Godwin,
I'm not sure whether or not you have time to answer personal
emails, but I'll give it a shot. Last night a disturbing event
happened as I was doing some research in FireFox. Without any
provocation, I was suddenly invaded by an antivirus program
(Internet Antivirus Pro) attempting to push their product on me (I
already use Norton). Nor only could I not get rid of it on my
computer, but it messed up FireFox as well as Microsoft Explorer.
Both were rendered useless. So, I'm ending up setting up my
computer from scratch. Was this a type of virus; if so, why didn't
Norton catch it? I'd appreciate a response when you get time.
Thanks for your kindness. - James Staudt"
Well James, I'm sorry to hear you ran into this situation.
You unfortunately fell victim to a very common threat that has infected a
huge number of computers in recent months. According to statistics
published by Microsoft 400,000 computers had this cleaned off of them
in December alone (and that's just the ones Microsoft's software
removed, and doesn't count any infections removed by different means).
What probably happened, based on what you've told me, and what I've
seen myself and read about, you probably went to a website which
offered to scan your computer, and then went ahead and scanned your
computer even when you said no, and then insisted on pushing that
malicious program on you even when you said no.
If that's not exactly what you experienced, it was probably something
similar.
This is a really big problem to a lot of people because the site you visited,
and others like it, use *very* dishonest tactics and basically set things up
so that no matter what you click, it still results in the program getting
onto your system.
As it happens, I just did a video lesson on this very topic on December's
Gold Club video lesson CD. I recorded the lesson after stumbling onto a
site like the one you ran into, to help protect my clients from sites like it.
It's really not possible for me to share everything I showed in the lesson in
an email, since a lot of it relies on you *seeing* exactly what I'm talking
about, to help recognize when you've run into one of those sites.
One thing I can tell you is this: if you ever find yourself on a site that tries
to scan your computer for problems, you should get out of there
immediately, especially if the scan happens without your permission.
The fact is, the scan is actually *fake* in the first place, and that should
be a big warning sign.
The best thing to do in a situation like that is to close the web browser
immediately, since clicking on almost anything on the web page (even a
button saying "no" or "cancel" etc.) will still put the damaging program
on your computer.
So instead of running the risk of accidentally clicking a fake close button
(the red X) what you can do is use the keyboard shortcut to close the
browser immediately.
On a Windows PC this is done by holding down the ALT key and then
pressing the F4 key (the key labeled F4 at the top of your keyboard, not
the F key and the 4 key) then releasing both.
On one of Apple's Mac computers, the same thing is done by holding
down the Command key on the keyboard (this either says Command, or
has an Apple logo, or has a "propeller" logo, or all three, depending on
your keyboard) then type the letter Q and release both.
So that's ALT-F4 on the PC, or Command-Q on the Mac.
That will get you right out of there, and minimize the risk of getting
infected.
As for your Norton Antivirus, well, the fact is, Norton is really not that
good a program. It's used a lot because Symantec (who makes Norton)
pays HP or other computer makers to include their program, and so most
people use Norton or McAfee purely because it's what's there, *not*
because it's the best program!
It's kind of like the way that the majority of people still use Microsoft's
Internet Explorer (the blue E icon) even though it is definitely not as safe
as, say, Mozilla Firefox, or even as good a program in general.
What I suggest is to use the antivirus program Kaspersky. It's what I use
on my Windows computers, and what I recommend to my clients.
For more information about using the right web browser, the right
antivirus program, and more, see my special report "5 Common & Costly
Computer Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Making Them Yourself". The
audio CD of this report is included for free with all orders of any of my
bundles of CDs.
The video lesson I mentioned above is so important for everyone to see
(including Mac users who *currently* don't need to worry about viruses),
that I am thinking about making it available for everyone to view for a
while in a special area of my website. This will likely be for a limited time
only, but I will make an announcement if I decide to do this.
It will definitely be made available to Gold Club members in the exclusive
Gold Club member area of my site.
I hope that helps make some sense of what happened, and maybe gives
you a useful tip or two to avoid problems in the future.
I will be getting to some of the other questions I got by email in the next
few days. Right now I need to run out the door to the airport to pick up a
friend visiting from the mainland.
Until next time, take care, and enjoy,
Worth Godwin
P.S. I am finally getting caught up with all of the stuff I wanted to finish
three weeks ago (between being sick and some unfortunate technical
roadblocks I ran into, I couldn't avoid it). Watch your email for some
exciting new announcements including the relaunch of the new and
improved Gold Club member area, and more.
I should also probably warn you that as soon as I'm able to get caught up,
which should be a few more days, I will finally have time to raise my prices
on my Ultimate Beginner's Bundle and the Plantinum Bundle of easy lesson
CDs available for either Windows PC or for Apple Mac.
The price of these CDs, while still being a bargain, will go up substantially
in a few days. I am also going to eliminate my standalone free trial Gold
Club membership entirely.
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