It feels like a year ago but may only have been six months.  I got my first DM saying that I "look funny on here" and was curious.  I figured it was some of the usual silliness that you just have to weed through so I just deleted it.  Over the next 24 hours I got a whole bunch of these messages from a lot of people, some of whom I know so I figured I better check it out.  I clicked on the link and had to log in again.  Funny, I thought I was logged in... no matter, easy enough to log in again, right?  OOPS!

This one's easy, look in your Sent DMs history.  If there are DMs in your sent history that you didn't compose and send, then you have been hacked.  It is usually very obvious as you will see the same DM going out over and over again.

That's easy too, just change your password.  Once you do that, you may see a few more messages come through but that should be the end of it.

I hope you don't have to use any of these tips except for the "be careful" that all of us should use every time we're on the Internet and especially when we are on a social networking site.  Have fun and "be careful out there".

Roger, my best friend from high school (Go Valley Vikings, class of '67), called me two nights ago to ask if he should install the "Security Antivirus" that had popped up on his computer and was telling him it (the PC) had all sorts of terrible diseases.  I filled him in on "Security Antivirus" and "Personal Antivirus" a similar virus and then assured him I could remove it, told him to take two aspirin and I would make a house call in the morning.  I tried to sound a whole lot more confident than I really was, not wanting to invoke Commander Scott's "She canna' take much more of this Captain"!

I had successfully removed the Personal Antivirus from another computer at my day job (back when I had a day job before all of this stimulus and recovery hopey, changey brave new world where record breaking cold and snow means global warming and new jobs cost $5,000,000 each to create because Congress spent the last year trying to take over health care and get us to quit exhaling carbon dioxide instead of focusing on the economy like they were elected to do... but I digress) by reinstalling the XP operating system and restoring backups from before the infection.  Unfortunately, Roger had no backups (and no antivirus software - hence his dilemma in the first place).

If you're not familiar with this virus, here's a much more succinct description than I could write from SpywareRemove.com (as I tend to wander off with references to high school, Star Trek and political rants):

Security Antivirus is a rogue anti-virus program, even though the name suggests that it is real. Security Antivirus gains access the compromised computer with the help of Trojans and corrupt video codes. Once active, Security Antivirus installs itself and changes the system registry to start automatically each time Windows launches. Security Antivirus runs a fake system scan of your computer, which produces false results to scare you into purchasing a useless rogue spyware remover. It is advisable to have Security Antivirus removed with a proven anti-virus program.

Armed with my instructions from SpywareRemove, I headed off to Roger's with the admonishment from my wife, Terri (SoDear2MyHeart.com), "You boys play nice".  I could have logged on but hadn't seen "Ole Rog" in a few months so I had visions of knocking this thing out and playing at least 72 holes of Wii golf before it was time to take my daughter to meet her friends at the movies to see Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

My first step prior to starting SpywareRemove's plan was to make a backup since even infected files are better than no files at all.  I used Argentum to .zip backup file on his C: drive and then burned that file to a CD.  Argentum has a free version that can be upgraded for $25 to run more efficiently and do even more.  It can be configured to back up on a schedule and you can build as many different backups as you want.  Best of all it's easy to understand and use so the average user is more likely to BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER!!!

Next came Step 1 of SpywareRemove's 6 step road to recovery which seemed easy enough (and only half the steps I was familiar with):

Step 1 : Use Windows File Search Tool to Find Security Antivirus Path

 "Security Antivirus" files can be found in the directory path(s):  %AppData%\Security Antivirus

I found the path.  The path was right there.  I was on the path... then step 2, in the ditch:

Step 2 : Use Windows Task Manager to Remove Security Antivirus Processes

Remove the "Security Antivirus" processes files:  c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\61a60\SA83b.exe

Well, this was a problem because the virus had disabled my ability to load the task manager.  It does some other nasty stuff including denying access to most known antivirus sites telling you they are "dangerous".  This is where I should point out that Roger was losing it and I won't repeat here what he thought should be done to the authors of this virus.  It seems he doesn't suffer extortion quietly.

My powers of concentration not being what they once were, this didn't make the task any easier.  I explained these people were probably hosting their stuff on an oil rig platform off the coast of Russia.  Roger's dad being the former TAC commander at the SAC base in Minot ND, he had a few other suggestions about what we could do to that oil rig and I must admit his solution seemed appropriate.

This is where I departed from Spyware Remove's 6 step plan:

My Step 2:  Simply delete the SA83b.exe file from the disk.

Seems simple enough but the virus was still in memory and I hadn't gotten to the point of removing it from the registry, removing the processes files etc.

My Step 3:  Reboot using the F8 key and restore to a checkpoint.

You know all those annoying updates that Windows sends then wants you to reboot your system when you get up in the morning?  Thankfully, they create checkpoints when they install so I was able to go back to Feb 10th.  This returned the registry values to what they were prior to the virus so I was able to continue without the virus in memory, on the disk or in the registry.

My Step 4:  Install a good antivirus software.

Easy enough to do and during the scans that took place the antivirus (I used AVG Free) was able to find and remove any remaining traces of the "Security Antivirus" virus.  I didn't have to reload the operating system.  Roger didn't lose any of his data.  He now has an up-to-date antivirus running.  The only down side of this approach is that he is now one Windows update behind which should correct itself the next time they send a new one.  If we wanted to get picky we could re-install the latest Microsoft update but at this point the computer was no longer "broke" so we didn't feel the need to fix it any more.

Prologue:

Roger was grateful.  I received a nice parting gift (look for my new Path-Pro Ultimate Golf Training Aid as seen on TV coming to WebSelling4U on eBay soon - it's okay, Roger said he got it as a door prize and I could sell it without hurting his feelings.)

The best part came when we were coming home from the movies and I got a call from Roger.  He had been on the phone with his brother-in-law who had gotten the same virus and took his computer to the local computer shop.  He said they kept it for 3 days, had to completely clean the disk and re-install everything.  He (the brother-in-law) wouldn't say how much it cost him or how current his backups were but Roger said it appeared his bro-in-law was too embarrassed to talk about it.

Yesterday was a good day.  Any day that includes being a hero to your daughter and having your best friend yelling "You da MAN" loud enough for your family to hear is a good day indeed.

Even though I can barely walk today, it was a rejuvenating experience.  I used to do computer shows back in the '80s and traveled a lot.  This was closer to home than most of them but still brought back memories of the people I got to know over the years.  I thought about the gentleman that set up across the aisle from me at the Thunderbird Motel in Minneapolis. We admired all the animals around the wall there in the "Hall of the Tribes". He wanted to know how fast was that bear going when it hit that wall since it looked like he was poking through the wall from the other side.  I found out later he was Mack Hunter's uncle when he mentioned Montana Hunter, my 5th grade teacher, was his sister.

It seems like forever since I made my last blog entry. We all have the best of intentions but get caught up in other things. Truth is, I have been swamped and that's a good thing since, as a friend of mine says, "I can buy things". Also, it says I'm not going to blog unless I really have something to blog about.

A while back I wrote an article titled, "Friend or Follow, TweetLater, Twitter on the Run,TwitSnitch, (What can they do for you?)". In that article I described the programs, how I used them and how you could use them to grow your Twitter following legitimately. Since then, I have significantly grown my following and helped several of my friends and customers grow theirs. I think the article still has relevance but then too, the products have improved, been renamed, and combined sooo... it's time for an update.

Friend or Follow...

is still free, is still pretty much the same and still is a great tool to get a look at who is not following you back (or who are following you that you may have overlooked following back). Try it, it's cool and totally free with no upgrade: FriendOrFollow.com.

I debated...

over which one to talk about next because I use a combination of these next two to manage my needs mainly because each has functions they excel in. I think the fair thing to do is go for from free, to spend a little, to spend a little more (each month). This doesn't necessarily translate into good, better, best because, depending on your needs better may be better than best. Huh? Read on.

TwitterOnTheRun

I have been helping (at least I think I was helping, he may see it differently) a brilliant young programmer, Cameron Moore, debug his latest incarnation of Twitter on the Run. As far as I can tell, the software is a clean and very VERY VERY powerful tool for the money ($15 one time fee for unlimited Twitter accounts at the time of this writing).

TOTR now encompasses TwitSnitch. After setting up a search term (the part that used to be TwitSnitch) the operator will receive a list of users that used the term, see the name and the tweet, can pull up additional tweets and get follower/following information on the account. Basically, you get everything you need to determine if you want to follow this tweeter's followers (with the hope they follow you back). It also allows the operator to set how many hours to wait for a follow back before deleting the tweeters TOTR followed. (Default is 24 but I like 48 - get more followers and don't make Twitter as upset). It will show you history (who it followed for you) and reciprocity (the list of tweeters who's followers you are following, how many you have followed, and how many you have subsequently deleted. The tutorial (hosted on You Tube) is excellent and to the point. It is not intended as a selling tool, but I would watch it anyway since it shows you the complete functionality of the product. Again, Twitter on the Run is well worth the money. You can check Twitter on the Run out here.

TweetAfter

TweetAfter, also from Cameron Moore, provides auto tweeting, auto DMs and auto follow-unfollow functions. As opposed to Twitter on the Run's targeted follow/unfollow TweetAfter will auto-follow those that follow you and auto-unfollow those that unfollow you. Additionally it will randomly auto-tweet any number of messages at any time interval you want for any number of accounts you want. Tweet After also has an auto DM feature. Because most auto DMs come from Social Oomph (see next topic) and Social Oomph offers a "DM Opt-Out", as more and more people take advantage of the "DM Opt-Out" Tweet Later DMs will stand out even more. If nothing else, your DM will get attention because it got through. The KISSS (keep it short, sweet and simple) method of DMs still applies but they get through.

Another advantage this product has over some others is that you can tweet as often as you like. Depending on how many followers you have, Twitter will cut you some slack on tweet times. What? Put another way, the more followers you have, the more tweets you are allowed per hour. Other "auto-tweeters" make you play games to tweet anything less that 2 hours apart. As I mentioned, Twitter on the Run and Tweet After are very powerful stuff for a one time fee of $15 and $24.95 respectively and you get unlimited accounts. As with Twitter on the Run, the video tutorial for Tweet Later is fast paced, straight forward and easy to understand. You can check out TweetLater here.

Social Oomph (Formerly TweetLater)

SocialOomph.com to me is the Cadillac of Twitter aps although Twitter on the Run and Tweet After are making great strides and do so for much less. The first difference is where they run. Twitter on the Run and Tweet After both run on your computer. Your computer has to be up and running and hooked to the Internet for them to function. For some of us that only have a notebook or laptop computer and are only on the Web when we are at McDonald's or another hot spot, this isn't feasible. SocialOomph is a Web app and runs on their Web site. As such, you can set it up and shut off your computer. For some of us that's pretty cool. For others, the monthly fee that goes along with that can be more than we want to pay or can afford, especially when we are first starting out.

SocialOomph can do so much that it is almost overwhelming at first. There is a free version that is very helpful although, to get recurring tweets, their awesome TweetCockpit, and some of the other really cool stuff you need the Professional Version. Here's the best part: you can sign up for SocialOomph for free and then sign up for the seven day Pro Trial absolutely free - NO CREDIT CARD NO NOTHING. At the end of the trial, it simply reverts back to the free version. They are that sure of the value of their product.

Here's what I recommend, sign up for the free version, use it a couple of days to get familiar with it and THEN sign up for the Pro Trial. That way you will get more done during your seven day trial because you won't be learning the basics while the clock is ticking.

Currently, I am using all three: SocialOomph Professional version, Twitter on the Run and Tweet After. Here are some reasons why:

• I have a desktop computer at my office so I can just let Twitter on the Run and Tweet After run 24/7
• I like how Twitter on the Run handles adding people by key word
• SocialOomph also does a good job with keywords but I don't like having to "Vet" my followers or check them first. With Twitter on the Run I only "Vet" the person I am going to use to "follow their followers"
• SocialOomph's Tweet Cockpit is awesome for #FollowFriday because of the "Follow All" feature. You know those tweets filled with people to follow? Click once to follow all of them or follow them all for any number of accounts you are administering. Click again to retweet it.
• If you are in a hurry Twitter on the Run and Tweet After are the way to go because you are working on your desktop and then turning it over to the Web.
• If you have a real fast Internet connection or don't mind taking a little more time at the controls SocialOomph will work just fine.

Finally, I mentioned Auto DMs and "DM Opt-Out" you can log on to the SocialOomph site and look at the right hand column. About a third of the way down is the "DM Opt-Out" link. Just click on that link and follow the instructions to opt out of DMs generated by SocialOomph. My "Hi I sent you a Christmas Goose, now you should send me something" and "Thanks for the follow, join my MLM" DMs immediately dropped 95% and I immediately became a much happier person. You do NOT have to subscribe to SocialOomph to do this.

My advice?

1. Friend or Follow is free and fun, try it.
2. Twitter on the Run and Tweet After are so inexpensive to try. Most people spend more than that on one meal out. Try them.
3. SocialOomph Basic is free, try it. SocialOomph Pro is free for 7 days so try it but be careful, you will NOT want to give it back.

I'd love to hear what you have tried and what you think. Please comment and let me know.

Cheers,
Den

I notice a few emails still coming in on the Twitter Support topic: "Can'tfollow- hit a limit when I'm within my limits?". Twitter piggybacked the topic Followinglist vanished, time line stopped updating onthe same topic and eventually Fixed: Following list vanished, time line stopped updating aswell.

I did not see a message that the original issue wasfixed or not but it appears that most of the Twuniverse is back andfunctioning pretty much normally.  (That is if anything willever function NORMALLYagain.)

With apologies to Chris I will share the post and myresponse to him/her (Sorry again, I couldn't find your profile either- I like profiles and pictures... they are nice things to have)...Uh... where was I?... Oh yeah, here's Chris's post:

"Howdy, I have 2106 followers and following 2327 people - I have already been through the 2000 limit not being able to follow people - Recently when adjustments were made to followers I lost around 200 followers - but now I cannot follow anyone - I don't know what these 'ratios' are or what I need to do to start following people again - Have I got to start deleting people I follow - all over again?  Where can we find information about these limits. Thanks @ChrisTwittery"

@ChrisTwittery's Solution:

Chris, you're over 2,000 followers and over Twitter's magic 10% following to followers rule.  Use your calculator and multiply your followers by 1.1 to give you the number of people you can follow: 2106 X 1.1 = 2316.6 or about 11 fewer than you already have.  Once you get your numbers back in line you should be able to follow 11 people for every 10 that follow you. Hope that helps. @webselling4u blog.webselling4u.com

It seems simple enough but the numbers get big and people don't think they could possibly be over the limit because they haven't been doing anything wrong etc.  I agree.  I personally think Twitter could relax the rule a little, say make it 20% but I know somebody could then build a case for 25% or even 50%.  Shoot, when I only had 1 follower, I was at 500%. 

But the real point is, I believe all the problems that are still happening are due either to Twitter being slammed from time to time at peak hours or people actually being over 2,000 followers and over the 10% following to follower ratio.

Either way, I would like to hear from you, especially if think there is some other problem, or if you have a reason to believe the old problems are not fixed.  For some tips on how to add or delete followees (or followers) when Twitter.com seems to be dragging it's feet, please see my blog from a couple of days ago (Re-post my Twitter Tips Page).

It still bothers me that I can't find @ChrisTwittery anymore. You don't suppose...? NO THEY WOULDN'T!  If anyone sees Chris, please let me know.

Thanks,
Den

Twitter support announced tonight that they have resolved the situation where Tweeters were losing all of their followers.  Here's the post: http://help.twitter.com/forums/31935/entries/49181.

This is from my Website posted last night.

I am rehashing it here so you don't have to go to the site to find it and so you can comment on the post.  It should actually be two posts since the "Update" (next section second paragraph) came out after I had written most of the page. This will give us a starting point but there is still more news.

Since this was written I received many MANY email updates on the twitter support post (linked below) with between 5 and 10 people per update. Most are telling how ticked they are that Twitter did this to them.  Some, however, are pointing out that their followers have been restored.  I think it's just a matter of time, how much time is anyone's guess.  I don't think this will be resolved quickly.

Being an IT manager, I know from experience, nice people get their problems fixed first.  That's my advice.  If you are having a problem, BE SURE to let Twitter know but also be sure you are courteous.  

Twitter Issues...

I'm still working on the site so please excuse the mess. I created this page because I had a problem with my Twitter Followers and Followees so I wanted to mention a few things here that might help others in the same situation.

Update (Tuesday July 28, 2009 7:41 PM EST)

There is a new post by Twitter Support:" Following list vanished, timeline stopped updating. We're looking into a handful of reports that came in this evening regarding the sudden emptiness of following lists.  People who clicked on the list of people they follow see no one listed, and a count of zero." Besides the use of the term "handful" if that matches your issues, please READ THE POST first.

Otherwise...

When I first had the problem (of my counts not updating and me not being able to follow or un-follow from twitter.com), I went to Twitter support and found the topic, "Can't follow- hit a limit when I'm within my limits?". I posted my difficulty (I could not follow or unfollow from Twitter.com and my following, follower numbers appeared messed up) and within hours it was working well and I have not had any trouble since.

I don't know if Twitter fixed it or if it just needed some time to "rest". I know there are many of you that have logged many more hours than I have on Twitter. I have noticed from following this topic that there seem to be several issues that people are reporting and they don't all appear to be related:

Some appear to have legitimately hit their 10% limit when they are following over 2,000.

Some say they are getting messages indicating they are over the limit when they are under 2,000 followers. I wonder if they added over 1,000 people (or attempted to) within a 24 hour period.

Still others say that they can't follow or unfollow people and that their numbers are off on the screen. (That was my situation.)

Maybe Twitter is Overwhelmed

As I already mentioned, once I posted my problem, it seemed to cure itself shortly afterwords. The thing is though that I appeared to have the problem several times after that. Each time, I was able to use Twhirl or Seesmic to follow or unfollow. Sometimes it would show up in my numbers, sometimes not for awhile. I think this is just a case of Twitter being slammed. I think they are always running at the edge of their capacity and more power to them. You know, we seem to expect a lot for free these days and Twitter is still a work very much in progress.

Maybe I'm Really Over My Limit

For those of you who have legitimately (or illigitimately) hit your limits or are close, there are several ways to go about fixing it. One isFriendOrFollow.com. If you are just a few peole over the limit, this is a pretty good way to go. It shows you who you are following but are not following you back. You can even sort the list. The only thing you can't sort by is how long you have been following someone. Seems that would be real handy if I want to get rid of the oldest "unfollowers" first.

The tool I am absolutely falling in love with though is Tweetlater! This one does it all. It comes with a Free and a Pro version both of which have been recently upgraded. It does too many things to mention here but the one thing it does relating to this article is FOLLOWER CHECKING! It will also let you save drafts of your tweets to use again. Schedule tweets to release when the time is right. I love the fact I can tell everyone Good Morning at 8:00 sharp even if I'm on the way to work and don't want to DWT (Driving while Texting).

It has many other features but the best one is you can try Tweetlater Pro for 7 days without paying a dime, without making a commitment, without giving a credit card or anything. Post like the big boys (and girls) for free!

OK, I said the tryout was the best feature but each feature is better than the last. They have an AFFILIATE PROGRAM. At first I thought "If I could just get enough people to try it out, I can get my copy free". But this product is so great, I think it will be much much better than free. Try it free AND sign up for the affiliate program FREE and see if you don't earn more than enough to pay for it in just seven days.

Dennis Weaver,
WebSelling4U.com

I hammered out a quick web page the other day twitterTips.html because of the issues going on over onTwitter and how I got around some of those issues that were affecting me.  Twitter is obviously a victim of it's own success causing it to be stretched to the limit and beyond.  Personally I think we could get rid of half of the spam and the capacity issues would dissappear immediately.  The awesome tech guys there are probably working night and day trying to resolve the latest issues, seemingly "on the fly" with no time time fully test the result.  Sometimes that makes you look like a hero and sometimes it... well I digress.