[vox-tech] Linux Computer Infected

[Timothy D Thatcher]

Hah, I'm glad it was nothing as nefarious as some weird malware or
rootkit, or as irritating/potentially expensive as an actual hardware
failure. Great work, and thanks, Rick.

Tim

On Sat, Jun 2, 2018 at 7:59 PM Bob Scofield <scofield at omsoft.com> wrote:
>
> I've got it fixed.  But first thanks to Brian, Tim, Rod, and Rick.
>
> Because Thunderbird was starting to crash I decided to go ahead and try
> to fix it on my own.  (I was getting very nervous.)  I think my
> procedure, while ham handed, generally follows Rick's advice.  But Rick
> did not waste his time with the long response because I'm going to copy
> and paste his response into a Libreoffice document so I'll know a more
> elegant approach the next time this happens.  So I appreciate it, Rick.
>
> Rick said to see if Firefox was still running.  It was.  When I tried to
> reboot I got a message that I had to force the roboot because Firefox
> was still running.
>
> As far as Brian's advice goes, I had a Linux Mint stick.  So I booted
> into and checked that Firefox was working from it.
>
> Then from /home I deleted the following:  .mozilla, .chromium, and .cache.
>
> As far as Rick's point about bookmarks, I think I've got most backed up
> on an external hard drive.  I'll check as soon as I send this message.
>
> Then I reinstalled Linux Mint. I've wasted some time doing it this way,
> but everything seems to be working.  And I've got Virtualbox working,
> which I was worried about.
>
> I may have committed the fallacy of false cause, but I'm still not going
> back to that website about the mama bear.
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Bob
>
> On 06/02/2018 06:04 PM, Brian E. Lavender wrote:
> > Bob,
> >
> > How about booting with Fedora on a stick?
> >
> > https://docs.fedoraproject.org/quick-docs/en-US/creating-and-using-a-live-installation-image.html
> >
> > I can create one for you if you like.
> >
> > brian
> >
> > On Sat, Jun 02, 2018 at 05:12:41PM -0700, Bob Scofield wrote:
> >> Here's an update.  The idea of installing Chrome as a temporary fix does not
> >> work.  Chrome will not even come up when I click on the icon.
> >>
> >> Bob
> >>
> >> On 06/02/2018 04:55 PM, Bob Scofield wrote:
> >>> I've got an infected Linux desktop and I don't have the technical
> >>> expertise to fix it.  I live in Woodland and I'm willing to hire someone
> >>> to come over here to fix it.  So I'll explain the problem and then
> >>> explain what I think I can do on my own, but if that won't work I would
> >>> like some professional help.
> >>>
> >>> I was on the CNN news website and saw an article with a title something
> >>> like "Mama Bear Hugs Man Who Saved Cubs."  I wanted to read the article,
> >>> but checked out another story first.  Then I could no longer find the
> >>> bear story on the CNN website.  So I Googled and found it.
> >>>
> >>> When I clicked on the link to the story or video or whatever it is,
> >>> Firefox crashed.  It crashed permanently.  If I try to start Firefox all
> >>> I get is the "Mozilla Crash Report."  I've removed Firefox 3 times.
> >>> I've purged Firefox twice.  I've reinstalled and the problem persists.
> >>>
> >>> In the meantime I tried to read the story with Chromium.  Chromium now
> >>> constantly crashes.  It will not stay up for more than about 30 seconds.
> >>>
> >>> What's more, Cinnamon (I'm using Linux Mint) is now crashing every once
> >>> and awhile and I've never seen Cinnamon crash before.
> >>>
> >>> One idea I have is to reinstall Linux Mint.  But /home is on a separate
> >>> partition.  And I've got a feeling that if I reinstall, then something
> >>> in /home/.mozilla will prevent Firefox from working. So if I do a
> >>> reinstall, do I first wipe out /.mozilla?
> >>>
> >>> I've got ESET Linux antivirus on this computer and it didn't find
> >>> anything during an in-depth scan.
> >>>
> >>> This is a dual boot system.  I use Windows 7 for work.  Given that
> >>> Windows 7 is expiring next January I was planning on taking some time in
> >>> November to re-partition this computer to wipe out the Windows partition
> >>> and use Windows 7 in Virtualbox (keeping Windows more isolated from the
> >>> Internet).  So I guess I could download Chrome and use it until I do
> >>> this big computer switch in November. But even then I have to worry
> >>> about whether .mozilla should be deleted.
> >>>
> >>> If one of these fixes don't seem like they'd work, please contact me and
> >>> I'll hire you to drive over and do the fix.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks.
> >>>
> >>> Bob
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