Success!

Every month or two, Slashdot runs a story on the latest Microsoft worm or virus. By now, the replies are pretty predictable: links to reports from anti-virus companies and security firms, comments about how Microsoft is insecure and Linux/Mac OS rules, and retorts that a properly secured and update Windows box won't have problems with virus attacks. I usually have the luxury of chuckling and passing on to the next story; Linux worms are virtually non-existant, and anyhow I'm fairly conscientious about keeping my box patched up.

This morning I had a colleague call me and ask me to take a look at her laptop, which was acting weird. I don't have much experience with Windows, but I figured that I could at least apply some security updates and run Ad-aware to get rid of some computer cruft. By coincidence, I scanned Slashdot and realized that the problem was probably due to the Sasser worm, which I located, confirmed and removed. We went out for sushi.

I hear that the computer is now connecting to the internet again, which means my first real experience trouble-shooting a PC was, at least for the moment, a success.