Last week my computer was temporarily incapacitated by a combination of a Windows automatic update and a nasty atapi.sys rootkit. Hence, the relative lack of blog posts. I really thought this time I was done for, and I gleefully looked at new computers. Then, I stumbled upon a fix, so now things are back up and running.
How did I get into this mess? I have chosen to forego investing in a McAfee Antivirus subscription on my 4.5 year old computer, figuring it is due for a replacement. As a result, I have been relying on the wonderful and free Malwarebytes program to keep my computer clean. Because it is free, it is more reactive than proactive, and I have spent more time becoming intimately aware with file types such as .sys and .dll. Sometimes I longingly look at Mark's virus- free Mac, but I also am enjoying the problem solving and learning related to keeping my computer clean. I also have switched to Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, because it supposedly is more secure (i.e., lets fewer malware/adware programs inadvertently attack your computer).
More importantly, I now have everything I value backed up and a boot disk created. I suggest others with Windows-based operating systems (XP, Vista, 7) do the same.
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