Fix to "I Love You Bug" Now Available Online

ONTRACK Data Int'l has released a fix to the devastating "I Love You Bug" that has infected computer systems around the world. The company's EasyRecovery for VBS.LoveLetter Worm software restores MP2, MP3, JPG and JPEGs to their original usable condition. This software is available online at http://www.virusrecovery.com, a special Web site set up to accommodate panicked computer users worldwide.

The software was created by ONTRACK engineers who worked around the clock to solve this devastating problem. "Our software represents a solution and alternative to recreating massive collections of music and photo libraries from a user's hard drive," said Mike Rogers, Ontrack Chairman and CEO. Unlike some recovery utilities, which put data at risk by attempting to repair and rewrite the corruptions on the original drive, ONTRACK's software never writes on the original drive and its evaluations are non-invasive, thereby offering continuous protection of the original data.

"Our software solution has been beneficial to users who have lost valuable data due to this malicious virus," says Rogers. "In fact, the authors of this press release contacted us based on their successful use of the product to recover files from infected computers throughout their office network."

"It was devastating to risk losing our entire collection of music and graphic files," says Gregory Matusky, president of Gregory Communications, Inc., based in Ardmore, PA. "We searched throughout the weekend to find a fix. In fact, our computer consultants told us to delete all infected files because there was no one way to recover the information. But after downloading ONTRACK's software, it completely restored our files and proved to be a Godsend that we felt others should know about."

The program is not an anti-viral program, and ONTRACK recommends that users first clean their hard drive of the virus with any number of anti-virus software. Once cleaned, however, ONTRACK's software recovers damaged MP2, MP3, JPG and JPEG files corrupted by the I Love You Bug. EasyRecovery for VBS.LoveLetter software can be downloaded from http://www.virusrecovery.com.

Editorial note from Neil Shedden:
Ontrack costs about $49. I haven't checked this software out personally, so can't endorse, or recommend this product, or say whether their claims are true. The above press release is just passed on to you for your interest - use your own judgement. Note our standard disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: Any comments, views or opinions expressed through the site or newsletter are those of their respective authors, and are not necessarily endorsed by, or reflect those of the Editor, Neil Shedden or GuitarSite.com, or publishers Hitsquad.

Any good anti-virus program should have released a "I Love You" patch for download by now, not just "Ontrack". Check out their sites. You DO have up-to-date anti-virus software running on your machine, don't you? Look here:

"I Love You" virus in News
http://www.wired.com/news/lovebug/

and:

http://www.guitarsite.com/rd/Virus1/

Infected? Here's What to Do
http://www.wired.com/news/lovebug/0,1768,36123,00.html

Virus resource center
http://www.guitarsite.com/rd/Virus2/

Download antivirus utilities
http://www.guitarsite.com/rd/Virus3/

Virus 101: How to Practice Safe Computing http://www.guitarsite.com/rd/Virus4/

See also:

McAfee
http://www.mcafee.com

Symantec
http://www.symantec.com/

Remember, anti-virus software is useless if it isn't updated regularly! Being online all the time, I check the Net for the latest updates every day...