so this happened about 3 weeks ago, and my computer has just been shut down since...
I was trying to download google sketchup 6, from what seemed like a completely legitimate site (i don't recall the exact url it all happened so fast), my laptop starts to do the same thing it does for all downloads, and then suddenly this completely fake "antivirus program" pops up and keeps telling me that i need to install it and what not, that i'm being attacked etc.
i unplugged my external drive after I realized that I should, about 5 min. after it all started. it has all my music files and picture files on it, but all of my word docs are saved to the laptop harddrive. since my norton antivirus program is about 2 years old because i've been too lazy to buy the new one, the scan i did with it did nothing. so i tried to download a new antivirus program right then, and the virus completely prevented me from being able to use it
besides bringing it to a professional for $200, is there anything i can do to salvage the word docs, and in any way restore my laptop to what it was before? ive been told to rebuild the entire operating system, but i want the word docs saved somewhere else before i do that. as for the ext. drive, i plugged it into another computer and everything seemed fine, all the files i checked opened fine w no problems, but is there anything i can do to make sure its completely clean of viruses?
sorry for the essay, but if anyone with more computer knowledge than me (and i know that there are a lot of you) can give me any advice at all about this, i would really appreciate it, +k
