Missing Dan Bailey

[Aaron King]

I recently shipped some comics to our veteran poster Dan Bailey and didn't hear back from him for quite awhile. I finally received this message:
Once more, my apologies for the long delay in communication. I don't even turn my home PC on anymore, as in trying to remedy its earlier problems I appear to have accidentally zapped the anti-virus program I subscribe to, & now it's just about useless. Of course, with Xmas looming I can't really afford to get it fixed, & without access to eBay I don't have any means of extra income ... talk about a vicious circle. *sigh*
Is there anything we here can do to help him? Fundraise? Is there anyone that has an extra computer lying around? I could pay shipping.

[Kan-Man]

I'd love to help. I don't have an old computer, but I'd be willing to contribute some $ to help out. This forum wouldn't be the same without his posts.

[wishlish]

I'd tell him to do the following:

1. On a separate computer, download Avast (a free antivirus program):

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Also get SpyBot (a free anti-malware program)

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

2. Start the PC in safe mode:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true

3. Install avast and spybot. Try to clean up the spyware and viruses. By starting in safe mode, you have a chance of accomplishing this.

4. Good luck!

[dan bailey]

Thanks much for the kind sentiments, Aaron. Basically, my machine (which shouldn't be worn out or anything after less than 3 1/2 years -- I had its predecessor for nearly twice that long) hasn't been right since I took it to the shop for debugging back in, I guess, May or so ... & every "fix" I've tried since then has just created new problems without necessarily ending the old ones. I should've taken it back to the shop in question, of course, but instead kept consulting with them by phone. (At this late date, I know myself all too well -- if I walked in there today, I'd probably throttle somebody.)

At this point, there's a 50-50 chance it'll freeze after 5 minutes or so of operation (as happened this a.m. when I tried to post in another thread), necessitating a reboot. And even when it doesn't freeze, I lose the cursor about once a sentence -- 3 ti (no, 4)mes since I started this sentence, for (no, 5) instance.

(And of course, financially speaking, when it rains it pours. I just paid $61 to an eBay* customer in the Ukraine who never received the Swans CD I mailed him months ago. First time that's happened to me as a seller, so I guess I've been sort of lucky, really, but what terrible timing!)

In any event, thanks again for the genuinely heartwarming sentiments -- you too, Kan-Man. And Wishlish, I'll definitely give those recommendations a try.



*As alluded to above, that's been a decent source of extra income -- & also the source of my money for comics, pretty much -- until recently.

[dan bailey]

Well, just got through with a marathon session (since I'm on dial-up) downloading & then running Avast, after running Spybot (which I already had ... in fact, applying it last time appears to be how I *choke* eradicated my previous antivirus program). This is already the longest I've gone in weeks without all sorts of crap cropping up ... I'd have my fingers crossed right now, but that'd make typing awfully difficult.

[Jolly Mon]

If spyware or malware continue to be a problem, I've found (professionally)that running several anti-spyware programs seems to get the best result. Each one seems to find a few things the others don't. In addition to Spybot, Ad-aware is another good free one, as well as SuperAntiSpyware (I know, dumb name, but it works). Best of luck.

[dan bailey]

I'll download those, too. At the end of last night's session, as it happens, my machine froze again ... but that was after at least an hour of trouble-free posting & surfing, which is definitely an encouraging sign.

[Slam_Bradley]

And here I was thinking Dan was lost out in the swamps somewhere.

[dan bailey]

Maybe if I was still located in southern Louisiana (the place I lived in Slidell was about a half-mile from a big ol' bayou that had been the site of a creosote plant & thus was an EPA Superfund site -- something tells me the post-Katrina flooding left that neighborhood pretty much uninhabitable) ...

[devildinosaur]

I'd tell him to do the following:

1. On a separate computer, download Avast (a free antivirus program):

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Also get SpyBot (a free anti-malware program)

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

2. Start the PC in safe mode:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true

3. Install avast and spybot. Try to clean up the spyware and viruses. By starting in safe mode, you have a chance of accomplishing this.

4. Good luck!

Excellent advice in Avast!...I've been using it for quite a while on my home computers. Beats shelling out $59.95 for Norton or McAfee.

I hope Dan makes it back soon!

[Kirk G]

Maybe if I was still located in southern Louisiana (the place I lived in Slidell was about a half-mile from a big ol' bayou that had been the site of a creosote plant & thus was an EPA Superfund site -- something tells me the post-Katrina flooding left that neighborhood pretty much uninhabitable) ...

Ah HA!
NOW we know why the Bush administration let Katrina happen...

Wiped out that whole creoste superfund spill plant site right off the map!

Talk about a cost savings!:D