Hey, me down with computer problems!

[Lance]

Ah, after a visit to Florida, and I come home to a computer that would not recognize a keyboard of any kind, apparently accessed/hacked through my Smart Phone. Off to Geek Squad who could not make a keyboard work, with cord or wireless! I had to have Windows 10 reinstalled meaning I lost all programs; however, I got them to back up all files (yeah!) to a Seagate external hard drive. Many things were backed up but nothing I do with Microsoft's Publisher, nor special covers I have made for CDs and other work. This is a big loss for me. Now I find I cannot connect through Microsoft's Edge, but I found a way to use the old Internet Explorer to get to some programs, including CMG. In the meantime, I also lost all my 500+ fonts and am doing my best to retrieve some things and programs. It's a great Dell computer that apparently was hacked while in Florida. Some people called me to say they got messages they know I would not send; definitely a hack job. Besides, I don't particularly like the way Windows 10 works. I find it is NOT easier. Wish I had XP back. So bear with me if you don't see me very much lately.

[josé echenique]

Sorry this happened to you Lance. May you recover all your data.

[John F]

What a nightmare! I wonder how the hacker got into your system, presumably when your home computer was turned off, and why you in particular were picked on, if it wasn't purely by chance. This is important since unless you've blocked the hacker's access, whether through your cell phone or whatever, he can do it again and again if he likes. You need expert advice about securing your system, certainly beyond anything I can offer.

[Holden Fourth]

I'm not sure how they accessed your PC via your smart phone unless you use a remote access to share files via your android phone. Please let us all now how it happened so we can avoid a similar fate.

[maestrob]

Lance. what a tragedy! So much for Windows 10's security bragging. So sorry to hear this.

I just went through a major almost disaster: I was reading the NYT and Microsoft suddenlt seized control of my computer and literally installed Windows 10 without my permission! So far, after a two hour wait (this also happened last week), all seems to be working OK except I now can't use IE, only Chrome. I also had to choose an inferior CD playing program that inserts glitches at track breaks.

I had been rejecting Windows 10 because I anticipated the CD problem, but they outfoxed me anyway! Should be illegal.

Good luck, Lance: do keep us posted.

[mikealdren]

Hi Lance,
very sorry to hear of your problems but a good IT shop should be able to recover most things unless the disk is really scrambled.

Maestrob, there are plenty of good options for playing CDs, what did you use before, won;t it work with windows 10. Chrome is miles better than IE so look upon that as a positive, the new MS Edge is also supposed to be good. My frustration with Win 10 is that it is much slower to start up than Win 7 which I liked but I have found just about everything works ok on it once it's up and running and it's a huge improvement on Win 8.

Mike

[John F]

Hey, guys, ever hear of a browser called Firefox? Edge and Chrome are not the only options, or even necessarily the best options.

[Holden Fourth]

Hello Lance

I have a question. Apart from the keyboard problem, I'm assuming your mouse was affected as well, was there anything else wrong?

[Lance]

Oddly, while no keyboard would be recognized, even with Geek Squad's methods (!), the mouse still worked. Geek Squad recommended to reinstall Windows 10 (it never worked right from the get-go when Microsoft offered the free download ... how I wish I had retained XP!). In that process, it was recommended for them to transfer my files to an alternate drive (Seagate), which I thought would embrace ALL the files I prepare through various programs such as Word and (especially) Publisher. I use the latter programs to prepare concert programs. NONE of the Publisher files got on to the Seagate ... all my templates, etc. I also lost about 500 fonts (I collect fonts!). Trying to update the drivers on four different printers I use only partially worked. The HP drivers work fine. The big printer I use from Epson (Artisan 1430) did NOT give me the ability to print on actual CDs, something I use frequently. I also cannot get to Edge, though the first time I brought the computer home from Geek Squad, I could get to Edge. Now I cannot get there. I must go back to Windows

I have used several protective programs to avoid people hacking in: ESET, Malware and something else. Obviously, I lost all of those; Geek Squad put me into Webroot, which seems to work fine.

Talk about depression! Got that right now over this problem. I believe the problem originated in Florida when I was checking e-mails. My sister sent me a message that said "this is too long to put here so click on the link below." I did that and that is when I believe I was hacked into my e-mail because I heard from people saying that got "ads" from me they know I would not send. And so it goes!

Sorry to hear of others on this post that have been experiencing computer problems. The lesson I learned - a big one - was to back up major files myself to DVDs or CDs. Since I had the availability of the mouse, I could have done this BEFORE I went to Geek Squad who was, incidentally, very cooperative throughout this. However, I think they may have to do yet another reinstall of Windows 10, hopefully without eradicating the current version thus taking me back to square one.

I thought I had another big loss: I have manifested my CD collection to the computer, also books, DVDs/videos, etc., and those icons remained on the screen. When I clicked on them, nothing showed UNTIL I reinstalled the Microsoft program (and old one) which brought all this information back. Otherwise, this would have been the straw that broke the camel's back!

Pardon me for going on-and-on ... but I'm glad to get it off my chest.

Thank you, everyone, for your concern!

Hello Lance

I have a question. Apart from the keyboard problem, I'm assuming your mouse was affected as well, was there anything else wrong?

[John F]

My sister sent me a message that said "this is too long to put here so click on the link below." I did that and that is when I believe I was hacked into my e-mail because I heard from people saying that got "ads" from me they know I would not send.

So a baddie was "spoofing" your sister's address and naturally enough, you fell into the trap. Even so, opening an e-mail enclosure in your cell phone, even if it's malware, really can't affect your home computer unless it's turned on and you connect the two, or open the enclosure again when you get home. My guess is that your home computer was hacked before you left home, possibly through some other e-mail you received. Well, let's hope that Webroot protects you better than whatever you were using before.

[Holden Fourth]

I'm wondering if maybe it wasn't a hacking problem at all as the only thing that seemed to be affected was your wireless keyboard.

I had a similar problem a while ago that affected both mouse and keyboard. The issue was a driver problem that went all the way back to W8 but only showed up after I installed W10. After searching for and applying a fix I found on the internet the problem went away. The culprit was a bad combination of Nvidia graphics drivers and Windows OS. The fix I applied came from Nvidia and seems to have worked so far.

The second point is that the Geeks seem to have done a clean install of Windows 10. This wasn't necessary as you already had the OS on your PC and simply reinstalling W10 over the top of the old version would have allowed you to retain your files. This was going to be my next move if the Nvidia fix didn't work as it would have given me a new set of drivers.

[maestrob]

Yes, I had the same experience with Windows 10, all my files and programs were preserved: I don't understand why they had to wipe all your files, unless it was to get rid of the virus the easy way. Sounds like they took the lazy, easy road. Grrrrrr!

[mikealdren]

[quote="Lance"]I thought I had another big loss: I have manifested my CD collection to the computer, also books, DVDs/videos, etc., and those icons remained on the screen. When I clicked on them, nothing showed UNTIL I reinstalled the Microsoft program (and old one) which brought all this information back. Otherwise, this would have been the straw that broke the camel's back!
[quote="Holden Fourth"]Hello Lance

Hi Lance,
Pleased your up and running again. Get a backup system and use it! A stand alone USB hard disk for instance, is cheap and easy to use.

Mike