[Update@14th July, 1500hrs: Apparently, it was not a software problem - neither was it due to a malware (malicious software - a common term for worms/viruses). It’s actually a hardware problem - my harddisk is failing! More about it in my next post.] Earlier this evening, just before I wrote my previous entry, my PC was running very slowly even though I didn’t fire up any processes. My ZoneAlarm prompted me that some program pertaining to Microsoft’s genuine check was trying to access the Internet. I denied the connection, but somehow, about 20 mins later, I saw something strange when I opened my Task Manager to see why my PC was still lagging terribly. I saw a running process named something like MTD.exe, if I’m not mistaken (can’t really remember). All caps, with three letters, and starts with an M, of that I’m sure. Quickly, I ended that process.

However, moments later, I was prompted a dialogue that says my Windows had just finished downloading and installing some updates - much like how the real Microsoft Windows Update works. It says I must restart my PC, and gave me a choice of either to restart immediately, or wait til the progress bar finishes loading. At that time, I didn’t think much about whatever happened, because it really seemed like a real, ordinary update. I restarted my PC, and everything was fine until I returned from the gym. My PC crashed, and the harddisk area (just below the keyboard, to the left of the touchpad) was emitting some loud clacking noise I’ve never heard before. I knew that something was terribly wrong. I tried to bring up the Task Manager but even that couldn’t come on. I then force-shut down my PC.

And walla, I can’t boot into Windows because it says some file is missing. I can’t even boot into Safe Mode. The furthest I can go is the BIOS menu area. I tried again and my PC says ‘Primary hard disk drive 0 failure’. Below it, there was ‘No boot device available’. Basically, I think I’m screwed.

I snapped the pic with my phone, and wrote this entire entry using the same phone. No, no QWERTY keyboard, just a numeric keypad. My thumb hurts real bad now. I’ll try to use the linux-based Knoppix to access my files and back up the important ones. Looks like a reinstallation of Windows will be inevitable…

Damn it. I’ve never been infected with a malware/virus/worm this badly! I thought I had sufficient protection. Sigh! There goes my happy weekend.

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