WIN a Norton 360 Antivirus by sharing your most annoying encounter with a computer virus!

When in Manila, you can surely see lots of internet cafés which are almost everywhere.

The thing is, before the boom of WiFi Zone coffee shops, cheaper computer, and more affordable internet plans, these internet cafes defined the cyber life of a huge chunk of the Filipino  population. Up until now, many of them still exist. They come to the rescue when things go wrong—faulty internet connection, technical problem with our own gadgets, and simple i-could-have-brought-my-gadget dramas. However, we shall beware of these places. Since file sharing is too easy here, computer viruses usually lurk around in such places.

In fact, my first and most annoying encounter with a computer virus began at a certain internet café. I was in high school then. There was something wrong with out internet connection and since home works could not wait, I was forced to run to the nearest internet cafe to do some research.Things went fine at first. So, when I noticed that it was already getting dark, I did not hesitate to save my files  using a flash drive. Unaware of the risks, I trusted so much.

When I got home, I immediately transferred the files to my laptop since I was planning to continue working on my homework using that computer. But strangely, some files I was sure I did not save showed up as I explored the contents of my flash drive. Even more shocking, there was something labeled “scandal.” Now confused of what was really going on, I called a friend to ask what I should do with those strange files. I don’t know if he was ignorant as well or he was just intrigued with the file name, but he advised me to try opening the strange file. I did so and nothing happened.

Nothing, until days after when strange files grew in number, invading almost every folder in my laptop. Even worse, I found out soon that many of my files were already corrupted–including the articles and dummy sheets of our school paper (I was the editor in chief then so I took care of those files). So what a surprise, really. It even came to the point when I could no longer open my laptop. 

When I went to a computer specialist and consulted about my problem, I was told that my laptop was severely infected by viruses and there was no other choice but to have it reformatted. And since I could no longer access my files, that meant I really had to let them go–as in all of them including my photos, papers, and even our files for the school paper!

Good thing, our school paper  adviser had a backup of the school paper files or else we would begin at zero. Meanwhile, all my personal files were already gone. Though I was so embittered, this experience really taught me to become more careful when it comes to such matters. The cyber world is not always a safe world, after all.

Now, it is your turn! Tell us about your most annoying encounter with a compute virus and get a chance to win one of the five Norton 360 6.0’s  that we will be giving away. 

 

Norton 360 CDs2

 

To join, just follow all these three easy steps:

1. Briefly, tell us about your most annoying encounter with a computer virus by commenting on this post.

2. Follow @WhenInManila on Twitter.

3. Tweet the URL of this post (now with your comment posted below) and tag @WhenInManila following this format: @WhenInManila I want to win #Norton360! <then, paste the URL>

 

Remember, only those who follow these three steps will be eligible for the contest. This contest will run up to 11:59pm of this day, July 21. The winners will be picked and announced the next day. Winners will be posted as a comment on this post.

This contest is brought to you by Norton. 

 

WIN a Norton 360 Antivirus by sharing your most annoying encounter with a computer virus!