I’ve recently cloned a few drives for customers who have upgraded their computers via Computer Aid.

The process is simple enough: Clone the hard drive to the drive in the new computer, then a repair-install of XP, then a fix for internet explorer 7 / 8. After that, I might need to install XP SP3, plus any recent updates.

But lately, I’ve had a few problems, where either SP3 would generate an error, and back out, or IE 7 / 8 would not install, or sometimes, some other Microsoft updates (eg .net framework) would not install…

Very confusing until I do a malwarebytes’ scan and find a rootkit, or a trojan.

Whats worrying, is that infections seem to be on the rise, and worst of all, many are now so subtle, that you can barely know your computer is infected.

I found these particular infections, because I had to get the latest Microsoft updates… But I can see that many people, when faced with a failed Microsoft update, will just shrug their shoulders, and think to themselves: “its just a computer glitch… I’ll ignore it and it might go away in a few weeks time”.

Its ironic that the internet is a great way of expanding knowledge, yet it can also magnify the damage caused by ignorance…