I’ll not make that mistake again

I’ve been internetless since yesterday. I downloaded something that really screwed up everything.

But it wasn’t my fault. (As Han Solo said when the Falcon refused to go to light speed.)

For several weeks, every video site said I needed to download a newer version of Flash. The sites were so insistent, none would let me watch anything – not You Tube or Metacafe or political sites or military sites. I wanted to hear Tannhauser Overture. Not gonna happen until you download Flash, said You Tube.

I gave in. I did search on ‘download adobe flash’ and opened a link and followed directions. I wound up with something called ‘conduit.com’. It took over. It eliminated goodsearch as my web page. Ads started popping up every time I opened a news story or searched for specific items. I was reading information on a Balkan country and an ad popped up telling me I needed to talk to Serbian women. I don’t speak Serb.

Yesterday afternoon, the computer would not allow me to access the internet. Every address I entered brought the response that the address was not listed in my proxy settings.

I got into the control panel, but I could not eliminate coduit.

So, I disconnected the computer and connected this one. Both belong to my wife. Her IT people said they could fix my (older) computer (not on company time), but they installed some stuff as per SOP, and unless my computer is attached to the company system, I can’t get internet. We’re going to get that fixed.

So … I don’t care what message pops up in the future, I ain’t downloading it.