Well, not quite - but almost. What a nightmare! Word of warning - if you find an icon on your desktop (mine appeared on the lower right hand corner of the screen and looked like a shield) for Vista Internet Security 2011, your computer's infected too! It mimics an antivirus software and pretends to want to help you clean up your computer, but really it's just adding more viruses and hacking into your sensitive private areas (oh my! *blush*).
Even though I clicked the popup box's 'close' button instead of accepting their offer, it still killed everything having to do with the Internet. I thought I was safe because I'd recently updated my McAfee antivirus, but Vista Internet Security 2011 hacks into your antivirus software, shuts down the firewall and disables other features so it can have its nasty way with your files. The fiends! I could almost hear them laughing: mwahahaha!
So then I had to decide: ditch this computer, which is about four years old (probably the current lifespan of a Dell anyway) or hire someone to clean up the horrendous mess. After speaking with a Dell technician, I realized the latter was the most practical. Even if I bought a new tower and put an antivirus software on it, the same thing could happen all over, and I'd only have to hire someone anyway.
So, after spending my entire evening on the phone with a Dell tech, now I have a one-year warranty and the assurance that if this occurs again, I'm covered.
Apparently, I'm in the wrong business. Hacking computers and fixing computers seems to be the real profit generators (and I wonder how closely they work together, hmmmm).
In any case, I have much to catch up on, even for two days.
