[Tricky]

Ok, I don't care what those sites are saying. Here is a follow up on what happened.

EA spyware installed other spyware. That spyware installed other spyware and spyware installed other.. At some point I managed to stay ahead of the constant infections by enabling constant spyware scans (AVG). It seems clear to me that EA has very little control over what kind of spyware eventually ends up on your computer.

Hence I don't know what caused what anymore. Yesterday afternoon I lost my internet connection due to a massive worm infestation. I think some kind of backdoor was opened up by some other spyware installation. Maybe it was some of the spyware that did it by itself, I have no idea. It was too new for most of the virus or spyware scanners to handle (the distinction becomes a bit blurry, I'll admit), and I already had a hard time browsing pages to even find a suitable scanner (I managed to get short moments of internet access by constantly releasing and renewing my IP). Every .exe on my computer got infected. I was able to clear that up eventually, but my system directories suffered damage that I for whatever reason couldn't repair by letting the Windows XP installation CD reinstall the important files. At some point my computer stopped responding and I had to format and reinstall.

I didn't really get a chance to make a backup. I fortunately keep most of my important papers on a network drive, but I lost all my personal stuff. Including a small collection of pictures of someone who was very dear to me. That I can't really do anything besides warn everyone not to download this aggravates me greatly. I already asked if the link in the news section could be removed for protection, but that obviously ain't my call. For full satisfaction though I'll have to head over to Flagship or EA and break loose a few kilograms of teeth.