Monday, January 30, 2012

Hijinks with Hijacking

Plugging in...

What do you do when ALL programs (files that end in .EXE) won't run on your computer, except the Internet Explorer?? This is what appeared each time an icon was double clicked, OR a program was chosen from the menu:




You might initially wonder, how could that happen? It's called hijacking and it's done by some nasty malware that usually can't be traced to its origin. No matter what program was chosen from the list above, NOTHING would run. Nada.

This perplexing problem had a two-step solution. The Tutor downloaded a free malware scanning program via the only thing that worked on the computer, the Internet Explorer. When prompted to RUN or SAVE, the Tutor chose SAVE. Instead of accepting the original name of the program being save with an ending of .EXE, the Tutor changed the ending to .COM (.COM files are also executables). After double clicking on the .COM file to install it, the Tutor scanned the computer for malware - it found 9 ugly infections which it handily identified and removed. Once the computer was restarted, ALL the programs ran just fine.

Thankfully, it only affected .EXE files. If it were written to affect both .EXE and .COM files, the paddle and the creek would be forthcoming!

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, is it infected with malware, and is it turned on?

Unplugged

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