Thanks for taking the time out, relating to your experiences, Gary. Most people I know keep a Black Book with regards to passwords. It makes good sense like backing up important info.
I'm glad you were able to retrieve your passwords. Viruses are turning up in innocuous areas in safe sites one wouldn't expect. I had a computer infected with a virus while looking for flooring in a small renovation project.
One option you can use is to purchase or create a CD / DVD disc which has an imbedded operating system and sometimes an accompanying anti virus suite. The viruses can't infect those. With the disc, you can use the anti virus and clear out the infected files. You have to first establish the boot order so the computer knows to boot into the disc, not the onboard operating system.
Most viruses disable the operating system on the computer in addition to the anti virus suite and roll back features as well as the ability to boot into safe mode. The CD provides an operating system on the disc to enable you to clear out the viruses and reestablish the operating system on your computer and it's files.
It would be a good thing to have in case it happens again and is just another tool or toy in your tool / toy box.
