Sunday, September 9, 2012

Wow, That was a Close Call!!

Wednesday evening my computer was acting real strange but it was about bed time so I shut it off and went to bed, hoping it would be all OK when I turned it on the next morning. Well it wasn’t, in fact it went crazy and I couldn’t do anything with it.  I hollered for help from Ms. Pat as she can usually get me straightened out and back to normal.   Not this time, she tried everything and nothing worked. She finally got in touch with McAfee and they had her do a few things to my computer and then told her she had better back the computer up completely and call them back. 

The part that got me was that McAfee told her it would cost $89.95 for them to clear the computer of this Virus.  Whoa, wait a minute! We pay them an annual fee to protect our computers, now we have to pay to have them do what we pay them to do under our annual contract that we have on all three of our computers? Didn’t sound right to me and they wouldn’t proceed without our full credit card info so they could charge our card. Really?? I couldn’t believe it, but what do you do???  They got ya!

It took a couple hours to back up my entire computer, then Ms. Pat called them back. They spent about an hour doing all kinds of tests and poor Ms. Pat doing what they ask her to do and having a tough time understanding the tech……as you know they never speak English.   Then he told her it was not going to be an easy fix and she would have to make an appointment with a super technician and the soonest he could get her in was Saturday……..WHAT??   2 days later??  Yep, that was the best he could do and he would have this SUPER TECH call her between 10-11am.

So we waited and waited, as I wondered if I would ever see my Computer again.  I kept having thoughts of them having to completely sweep the hard drive and I’d lose everything.  Finally, Saturday came and sure enough, shortly after 10am the "Super Man" called and began working on my computer.  He was inside my computer and you could sit there and watch him do stuff....one by one he went through different things with Ms. Pat watching and following his directions as best she could as he was another one that was tough to understand.  FINALLY, about 2 hours later the Tech told her “OK, it’s all yours...it's FIXED”….. 

So, I’m happy to report I have my computer back and it seems to be working fine………Wow, CLOSE CALL!!   I am always very careful what I click on but some of them can get past you. This is the first time this has ever happened and I hope it is the last.  I still don’t know how the virus got in, but from what I hear they are getting better and better at disguising them. One thing I learned is that by paying McAfee an annual fee, they will still charge you to fix your computer if it becomes infected.  They don’t help you and fix it for the regular fee you pay them year after year.  I’m $90.00 shorter but my computer works.  They have become such important items in our life, you are almost willing to pay anything to get them restored. Strange society we live in…….. who would have ever thought…..?

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It sure is enjoyable having Gregg and Bonnie here with us.  We have been looking forward to their visit all summer.  Gregg's Harley is in the shop, so we aren’t doing any riding right now, but it should be fixed this week and we’ll enjoy a spin or two in the Hills.  Gregg always tells me to line up some projects for us to do while he is here. Now I know I told you a couple times already that I was "Project'ed out"!! No more projects!! But wait, there is one thing....hmmm maybe a couple things I would sure like to get done and to have a willing helper is WONDERFUL.   

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Our little storage shed was starting to need paint.  Gregg said “Lets paint it”!!   Who could pass up an offer like that?  We spent a couple hours prepping it and then the painting began.   We also wanted to get it painted to match the Big Building, so we took some samples to town and the guys at Menard’s said their computer would match it for us.  I was a little skeptical but it seems to be a super good match so far.  Don’t know about the trim as we are saving that until last…..

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Ok, here we go! Gee, Gregg is a good painter, he is off and running. I will be glad when this job is DONE, painting is not my favorite thing to do.

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Here we are all the way around and about to finish up.  I was laughing as Ms. Pat took this picture telling her that we better not let Rollie see it. He would say, “Get down off that ladder, Pops”!! LOLSmile

After we got all done and looked at the finished product, it sure looked good. But we also noticed a few spots where it wasn’t covered completely, so that means a second coat. Hmmm, darn I hoped one coat would do it but a second coat will go a lot faster and it will look even better.  That wood really sucked up the paint. So next time we are in the big city we will get some more paint and go over it again.   I’ll show you the finished project when we get it completed.    Now Gregg asks, “What's the next project”?

It was 34 deg when we got up Saturday morning.  You can sure tell Fall is in the air. Trees are turning color and it's really getting pretty, although still extremely dry.  We are wearing jackets on our morning hikes and not even breaking a sweat.....I love it.  Pat took these pictures with her phone.......




Only 3 more weeks until our departure date. with a ton of fun and excitement left to do here in the Hills before we call it another season. Come on back next time and see what some of those exciting things are. Meanwhile, Gregg says we need another project!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all as we continue to give our Father in Heaven our praise for all he continues to Bless us with..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

12 comments:

Jim and Sandie said...

I got a virus in Albuquerque and we ended up paying $100 to get it fixed. But it was so worth it to me. We back up the entire computer on a regular basis now. Nice to have help with those "projects".

Kevin and Tracy (a.k.a. kcgaz) said...

Bring Greg with you to Arizona, I've got lots of projects he can do here.

All Because Two People Fell In Love said...

Good Morning Pops,

Glad that you got your computer working again. I have a question about baking up. I thought you and mom used carbonite to keep both of your computers backed up. Yes, you are correct. I would have told you to get down from the ladder. I know that you are not old yet but at your young age your bones are a lot more brittle. If your daughter wasn't so busy being a GiGi I would have sent her up there to paint for you. Y'all have some nice rides through the hills this week. We miss y'all!!!
Love and Hugs,
Your Kids

Jerry and Suzy said...

When our computers died, one after the other a year or so ago, we had the Geek Squad at Best Buy fix 'em. Expensive! Then they sold us service programs so for a couple of years anything else would be fixed for free. Guess what? Nothing else happened! Expensive again!

Janna and Mike said...

Ditch that expensive McAfee program and go with Microsoft Security Essentials--it is FREE and Malware which is also FREE. It's all we run on our laptops now and works great. McAfee and Nortons load all kinds of un-needed crap onto your computer. Of course this is just my (Janna) opinion!

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

When I was teaching, I was the Technology Integrator. I learned the importance of backing up every computer in the school district. I found a great computer guy here in Canton who only charges $75 or less for repair and do maintenance on computers. No one can ever be too careful!!!

QuiltinLibraryLady said...

Your paint job looks good, the cooler weather is most welcome and your computer situation sounds so bogus. I dumped McAfee & Norton years ago. I run the free Avast and anything that might get past it or can't be removed by it, I use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware followed by Super Anti-Spyware. Spybot Search and Destroy is always running in "immunize" mode. Download & install the programs on the computer & if it starts to act a little wonky, shut it down and restart in Safe Mode with networking and run the programs. Once they have done their thing shut down "System Restore" and then restart it to get rid of any lingering virus elements that might be in the restore file. Takes a while but you won't be throwing another $90 at a company you already paid once to protect you.

Al Bossence said...

I'm in agreement with Janna on this one. We dumped McAfee many years ago after half a dozen computer crashes & hours & hours of angst with them. Norton & McAfee are almost a virus in themselves in the way they take over one's computer. Know what you mean about painting. Not one of my favorite things either. Like the darker color on the shed as opposed to the lighter color. Solid step ladders I am OK with but a shaky ladder leaning against a building....no way!!

KarenInTheWoods said...

ARRGGHH on the computer woes... I hate the thought of ever losing my stuff, so I try to backup every week to a separate backup drive. Even then, just the thought of having to reload programs and make up new passwords etc. for everything on a new computer is daunting. So I will keep on limping along with my old laptop and hope it stays safe...

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Elaine said...

We also had McAfee and it was garbage always one thing after another finally dumped it and we us AGV (free) here for PCs....mind you mine doesn't need one I have a mac..but Rick has a PC....good luck..sorry you had to pay that happened to us with mcafee....a few yrs back..frustrating as all get out..take care

Elaine said...

We also had McAfee and it was garbage always one thing after another finally dumped it and we us AGV (free) here for PCs....mind you mine doesn't need one I have a mac..but Rick has a PC....good luck..sorry you had to pay that happened to us with mcafee....a few yrs back..frustrating as all get out..take care

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