UPDATE This virus has evolved faster than I can write a new HOWTO…The info in this article is out of date…

I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE DONE TO YOUR COMPUTER.  I AM PROVIDING THIS GUIDE AS A HELPFUL PATH TO FIX A MAJOR PROBLEM, BUT CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU DO TO YOUR COMPUTER.

Keep your Windows disc handy because there may be a point where you need to do a Repair on the computer to replace virus infected files with clean versions.  I will provide instructions on how to do a Repair at a later date and link to it from here.

The first thing is to establish what version of the damn thing you have.  I have encountered 3 different types of the virus: 1) Just starts on boot, doesn’t do much to STOP you from doing things, just is persistent and annoying. Usually rebooting into safe mode will allow you to clean it.  2) Starts on boot, and stops you from running any program with very specific exceptions, including Internet Explorer.  Rebooting into safe mode gives you a 0x7B error and must be cleaned from a normal boot into Windows. 3) The nastiest of all, this version starts on boot, places rootkits throughout the system and generally shuts down the system making it useless.

I’ll start with the first version, the easiest to clean.

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As soon as I’ve finished making my apartment presentable (and I’ll do that after I finish this post!) I’m going to start hosting Game Nights. Those who know me know I have a love of board games.  Those who know me and do NOT know I love board games, well, now you do.  Those who don’t know me are finding out right now.  But I digress.

Board games (and their slightly naughty sister, card games) have a way of bringing a group of people together to achieve a common goal.  Granted, their goal might be to beat the crap out of the other people getting there, but it’s still common to all players! It also brings out the competitive edge of most people and I find that it really doesn’t matter WHAT game you play as long as you all have fun playing it.

Monopoly is one of the few games that I refuse to play with anyone but family.  I don’t want to risk alienating people on something as stupid as such a cut throat game.  Risk also runs this risk (no pun intended).  I want to give people a fighting chance on a game.  That’s why games like Jenga,Life and Pit are at the tops of my list of games for new players.  They’re relatively simple to learn, different almost every time and a wild blast to play with a bunch of people. Given that most people never take the time to sit down and play I’m surprised that anyone remembers the rules at all!

As the days go on and get longer, I’ll probably start hosting more outdoorsy games (Ultimate Frisbee anyone?) but for now, we’ll start with the games everyone knows and can play! See you soon!