Problem retrieving Gnucash data

[Liz]

On Thu, 25 Sep 2014 15:49:37 -0700
Jennifer Peckham <jen.peckham68 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Greetings,
> 
> I downloaded Gnucash in August of 2014 after doing a web search for
> free accounting software.  At some point in recent weeks, I started
> experiencing major problems with my laptop (I have Windows 7)
> whenever I went online -- I would get a ton of ad popups and other
> messages that interfered with my ability to use the web.
> 
> I finally took my computer to a repairman yesterday who cleaned up my
> computer and got it running properly again.  He identified the last
> "safe" date on my computer as August 7, 2014.  I don't know when I
> installed Gnucash, except I see that the shortcut was put on my
> desktop on August 14, 2014.
> 
> Anyway, as part of his cleanup process, apparently he deleted Gnucash,
> because when I went to open a saved Gnucash file, it won't open and
> wants me to identify the proper program for opening it.  I was going
> to reinstall Gnucash, but my Avast anti-virus program cautions me
> about installing this program.
> 
> I'm very nervous that Gnucash is what caused my computer problems
> recently and am nervous about reinstalling it.  However, I have some
> important business data saved as a Gnucash file that I need to
> retrieve.
> 
> Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Jennifer Peckham

1. There have not been any other reports of Gnucash doing this to
Windows 7. It's possible but unlikely.
2. Safe ways to continue
2a Gnucash portable, not officially supported here
http://gnucashportable.sourceforge.net/
2b Put a Linux distro on a USB stick, boot from that and use that to run
Gnucash (saving the program onto the USB stick). This mailing list
supports that sort of system.
3. Forget Windows altogether. What you have described sounds like
malware installed on your computer, whether virus, worm or trojan. It
is not likely to be named Gnucash.