My daughter has a 1 yr old Sony laptop with Vista Home Basic and it's on a
wireless secured network. She downloads pics from her camera and places them
in the My Pictures folder. Last week she noticed that her pictures and pic
folders were missing and in their place pictures she has no idea where they
came from or who the pics are of. Other folders and files appear intact.
After a complete search, including recycle bin, her pic files and folders
were nowhere to be found.
The firewall is always on, updates are automatic and programs AWG, Adaware
and Spybot are updated regularly, run and no signs of problems.

The only thing that may have been unusual was she temporarily switched her
wireless access to an unsecured network (secured one was not working).

Any idea what might have happened or how the pics could have been downloaded
without her knowledge?

Thanks for feedback.
Rob

The best internet security is to stay away from unknown websites, especially
those that offer anything free such as wallpaper, song lyrics, music, movies,
greeting cards, calendars- anything free. Also, never open e-mail from
unknown senders.

There is some good free software out there, but before going to those
websites check out the legitimacy of the free software at review sites such
as CNET.

Also, I've found Trend Micro to be a good protector of Vista OS. Yes, it
costs, but it gets the job done and saves time in the long run and one
purchased license can be used on 3 computers.

Cheers...
--
oscar

....Right click is your very good friend...


"Rob" wrote:

> My daughter has a 1 yr old Sony laptop with Vista Home Basic and it's on a
> wireless secured network. She downloads pics from her camera and places them
> in the My Pictures folder. Last week she noticed that her pictures and pic
> folders were missing and in their place pictures she has no idea where they
> came from or who the pics are of. Other folders and files appear intact.
> After a complete search, including recycle bin, her pic files and folders
> were nowhere to be found.
> The firewall is always on, updates are automatic and programs AWG, Adaware
> and Spybot are updated regularly, run and no signs of problems.
>
> The only thing that may have been unusual was she temporarily switched her
> wireless access to an unsecured network (secured one was not working).
>
> Any idea what might have happened or how the pics could have been downloaded
> without her knowledge?
>
> Thanks for feedback.
> Rob
>
>
>
>

I guess I can assume the original pictures are not recoverable. It just
seems next to impossible her laptop was 'invaded'.

I'll proceed to do a 'cleaning' and take a serious look at Trend Micro

Thanks for suggestions.

1 shocked Vista user.....Rob

"oscar" <oscar@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5E2C34D3-2548-49CC-9A1D-B1556B6EFEB4@xxxxxx

> The best internet security is to stay away from unknown websites,
> especially
> those that offer anything free such as wallpaper, song lyrics, music,
> movies,
> greeting cards, calendars- anything free. Also, never open e-mail from
> unknown senders.
>
> There is some good free software out there, but before going to those
> websites check out the legitimacy of the free software at review sites
> such
> as CNET.
>
> Also, I've found Trend Micro to be a good protector of Vista OS. Yes, it
> costs, but it gets the job done and saves time in the long run and one
> purchased license can be used on 3 computers.
>
> Cheers...
> --
> oscar
>
> ...Right click is your very good friend...
>
>
> "Rob" wrote:
>

>> My daughter has a 1 yr old Sony laptop with Vista Home Basic and it's on
>> a
>> wireless secured network. She downloads pics from her camera and places
>> them
>> in the My Pictures folder. Last week she noticed that her pictures and
>> pic
>> folders were missing and in their place pictures she has no idea where
>> they
>> came from or who the pics are of. Other folders and files appear intact.
>> After a complete search, including recycle bin, her pic files and folders
>> were nowhere to be found.
>> The firewall is always on, updates are automatic and programs AWG,
>> Adaware
>> and Spybot are updated regularly, run and no signs of problems.
>>
>> The only thing that may have been unusual was she temporarily switched
>> her
>> wireless access to an unsecured network (secured one was not working).
>>
>> Any idea what might have happened or how the pics could have been
>> downloaded
>> without her knowledge?
>>
>> Thanks for feedback.
>> Rob

If she trespassed into someone else's network to access the internet as you
suggested, whatever folders she had shared on her computer could have been
accessible to anyone on the other network. Not really any hacking involved
if there was read-write access to the pictures folder.

I can think of two slim chances to get the pictures back... A faint hope
would be if the pictures had simply been moved or renamed elsewhere on her
PC.
The second chance would be to try using a file recovery program like PC
Inspector File Recovery, or something similar. If the deleted pictures
haven't been overwritten you may be able to locate and recover them.
Download from http://www.pcinspector.de/download_all.htm?language=2
After installation the program needs to be run as Administrator.


"Rob" <qwerty2222@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ZWyel.7338$Db2.2551@xxxxxx

>I guess I can assume the original pictures are not recoverable. It just
>seems next to impossible her laptop was 'invaded'.
>
> I'll proceed to do a 'cleaning' and take a serious look at Trend Micro
>
> Thanks for suggestions.
>
> 1 shocked Vista user.....Rob
>
> "oscar" <oscar@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:5E2C34D3-2548-49CC-9A1D-B1556B6EFEB4@xxxxxx

>> The best internet security is to stay away from unknown websites,
>> especially
>> those that offer anything free such as wallpaper, song lyrics, music,
>> movies,
>> greeting cards, calendars- anything free. Also, never open e-mail from
>> unknown senders.
>>
>> There is some good free software out there, but before going to those
>> websites check out the legitimacy of the free software at review sites
>> such
>> as CNET.
>>
>> Also, I've found Trend Micro to be a good protector of Vista OS. Yes, it
>> costs, but it gets the job done and saves time in the long run and one
>> purchased license can be used on 3 computers.
>>
>> Cheers...
>> --
>> oscar
>>
>> ...Right click is your very good friend...
>>
>>
>> "Rob" wrote:
>>

>>> My daughter has a 1 yr old Sony laptop with Vista Home Basic and it's on
>>> a
>>> wireless secured network. She downloads pics from her camera and places
>>> them
>>> in the My Pictures folder. Last week she noticed that her pictures and
>>> pic
>>> folders were missing and in their place pictures she has no idea where
>>> they
>>> came from or who the pics are of. Other folders and files appear intact.
>>> After a complete search, including recycle bin, her pic files and
>>> folders
>>> were nowhere to be found.
>>> The firewall is always on, updates are automatic and programs AWG,
>>> Adaware
>>> and Spybot are updated regularly, run and no signs of problems.
>>>
>>> The only thing that may have been unusual was she temporarily switched
>>> her
>>> wireless access to an unsecured network (secured one was not working).
>>>
>>> Any idea what might have happened or how the pics could have been
>>> downloaded
>>> without her knowledge?
>>>
>>> Thanks for feedback.
>>> Rob

>
>

Well, tried TrendMicro but repeatedly got a runtime error on install. Tried
VirtualLab but it came up empty looking for the photos.
Yes, the folder was set to shared so the access was possible on another's
network.

Oh well, maybe can get some of the pics from the old PC. At least there's
partial solution.

Thanks for all the advice.

Cheers!
"RalfG" <itsnotme@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:7196F084-3965-4822-A3BB-5253DF38ABFD@xxxxxx

> If she trespassed into someone else's network to access the internet as
> you suggested, whatever folders she had shared on her computer could have
> been accessible to anyone on the other network. Not really any hacking
> involved if there was read-write access to the pictures folder.
>
> I can think of two slim chances to get the pictures back... A faint hope
> would be if the pictures had simply been moved or renamed elsewhere on her
> PC.
> The second chance would be to try using a file recovery program like PC
> Inspector File Recovery, or something similar. If the deleted pictures
> haven't been overwritten you may be able to locate and recover them.
> Download from http://www.pcinspector.de/download_all.htm?language=2
> After installation the program needs to be run as Administrator.
>
>
> "Rob" <qwerty2222@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:ZWyel.7338$Db2.2551@xxxxxx

>>I guess I can assume the original pictures are not recoverable. It just
>>seems next to impossible her laptop was 'invaded'.
>>
>> I'll proceed to do a 'cleaning' and take a serious look at Trend Micro
>>
>> Thanks for suggestions.
>>
>> 1 shocked Vista user.....Rob
>>
>> "oscar" <oscar@xxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:5E2C34D3-2548-49CC-9A1D-B1556B6EFEB4@xxxxxx

>>> The best internet security is to stay away from unknown websites,
>>> especially
>>> those that offer anything free such as wallpaper, song lyrics, music,
>>> movies,
>>> greeting cards, calendars- anything free. Also, never open e-mail from
>>> unknown senders.
>>>
>>> There is some good free software out there, but before going to those
>>> websites check out the legitimacy of the free software at review sites
>>> such
>>> as CNET.
>>>
>>> Also, I've found Trend Micro to be a good protector of Vista OS. Yes, it
>>> costs, but it gets the job done and saves time in the long run and one
>>> purchased license can be used on 3 computers.
>>>
>>> Cheers...
>>> --
>>> oscar
>>>
>>> ...Right click is your very good friend...
>>>
>>>
>>> "Rob" wrote:
>>>
>>>> My daughter has a 1 yr old Sony laptop with Vista Home Basic and it's
>>>> on a
>>>> wireless secured network. She downloads pics from her camera and places
>>>> them
>>>> in the My Pictures folder. Last week she noticed that her pictures and
>>>> pic
>>>> folders were missing and in their place pictures she has no idea where
>>>> they
>>>> came from or who the pics are of. Other folders and files appear
>>>> intact.
>>>> After a complete search, including recycle bin, her pic files and
>>>> folders
>>>> were nowhere to be found.
>>>> The firewall is always on, updates are automatic and programs AWG,
>>>> Adaware
>>>> and Spybot are updated regularly, run and no signs of problems.
>>>>
>>>> The only thing that may have been unusual was she temporarily switched
>>>> her
>>>> wireless access to an unsecured network (secured one was not working).
>>>>
>>>> Any idea what might have happened or how the pics could have been
>>>> downloaded
>>>> without her knowledge?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for feedback.
>>>> Rob

>>
>>

>

Hi Rob
Since it was my pictures that was affected you can use previous versions to restore her pictures. Previous versions is a feature that many are not aware of and is enabled by default. I don't like it personally but it can be useful.

SuperXero