FIRST LEVEL SUPPORT

An ounce of prevention...

Some of our club members have experienced Malicious Ware that tells them their computer is infected, "but for $79.99 it can be fixed and your computer will be safe". Until you pay, the MalWare will protect itself. No downloading, no restore, no editing will get your computer back. You can still do limited things, but... Once you pay, it clears up, but you are now a "sucker" and they have one of your credit card numbers.

If you experienced this problem, you know the frustration it has caused you. Unfortunately, First Level Support can not fix this problem, but you can. Here is how!

Today, before you forget, download a program called MalWareBytes. Even if you don't use it regularly (and you should), it has successfully cleaned up this infection. However, it only works if you already have it installed on your machine before the infection. If not, then a second level support person (a paid professional) can clean it up. Make sure your data is always backed up. Then you will have to take your computer to the person fixing it.

To load MalWareBytes, go to the website http://www.malwarebytes.org and follow the directions to download it to your computer and then to install it. Install it with a short cut to the desktop. Allow two hours to run your first scan. After that, you should update the software frequently and then let it do a quick scan every week or two unless you are on the Internet surfing a lot, in which case you should scan weekly. The free version of MalWareBytes is not a shield (real-time protection). You must manually perform scans with the free version. If you buy the Pro version, then it will provide a shield.