virus help

[bjim]

me thinks i got a virus,windows xp(i know buy a new pc,gonna soon)ran avast twice,then ran it in safe mode,2 days ago,been working fine,til this morning,won't boot up all the way,no desktop icons or start menu.i can hit ctrl alt delete,and bring up task manager,then hit file then run,type in firefox and i'm online,but can't figure out what to type to bring in internet explorer,any ideas on what to do to get back icons and start menu?or what to type so i can get internet explorer up?

[kijiji]

Reinstall window's

[bjim]

No,but I wll

[fluffy]

Google Malwarebytes and install it then run a scan. Chance's its a worm or trojan that is stopping you from running correctly.

[bigbadbrother]

Try going here

http://forums.techguy.org/

they will fix you up

[bjim]

thanks,did a restore,no good,will try the other options suggested

[bigbadbrother]

doing a restore wont work. all it will do is reinstall any virus you have. turn off the restore and run a good antivirus and malwarebytes. I really recommend going to the site I posted.

[iq180]

Google Malwarebytes and install it then run a scan. Chance's its a worm or trojan that is stopping you from running correctly.

Use safe mode with networking and google malwarebytes, then scan with malwarebytes, after it scanes remove all thats in red.

[bjim]

i did the malwarebytes,but not in safe mode,will try in safe mode,thanks
anybody reccomend a pc around $600

[Nostradamus]

also while doing scan make sure you do not have anything else running or connected to the web via your computer.... a lot of that stuff will hide in web browsers and other apps and after scanning and cleaning come right back again otherwise

as for computers in that price range, check out futureshop or bestbuy if you are in canada

[Terryl]

Some of the nastier viruses can't be removed by scanning when the hard drive is severely infected, or a root infection has occurred, or the AV program has been affected by the virus it's self.

The only way to fix one that has an infection that is hard imbedded is to remove the hard drive from the infected PC and run a scan externally, with the operating system on the hard drive not booted up and running the PC.

How to do this is not very cheap, you need an external USB enclosure (or the interface like I have) for the drive, and a second (non infected) PC to run the scan on the now external drive.

I do this for many of my clients, I have an adapter that will interface to any type of hard drive, it turns it into an "F" or "G" external USB drive and I just run the scan on it, find the virus or malware and dump it.

Some drives however can be so infected that they can't be fully recovered without serious damage to the operating system on the drive, in cases like this the data that is recoverable (photos, letters other stuff, factory OS or it's "D" drive) is stored on a USB memory stick, the drive is then wiped using a special program I have that takes it down to a factory new condition and the OS is restored like it came from the factory. (if they have the disks for this, or the OS was stored on the drive is self)


I would not recomend doing a format of your drive if you do not have the system recovery disks that came with the PC,(or one that was made when the system was first booted up as new) doing so without them can cause more problems then you can think of.

Doing so will wipe out all your system drivers and hardware drivers, you may be able to recover enough to download them from the factory web site but if the system is too old you may not be able to find them all.

Some systems come with the operating system on a second hard drive partition,(D) if this is the case you may be able to wipe the "C" drive (store all your files and photos first, but do a AV scan on them before you put them back) and start fresh, you may have to make a recovery disk first to do this.


And Dell has some good deals on PC's right now, if you go to their web site you can get one with W7 on it, no one has one with XP on them anymore, unless you live in China.


Also if you have the system drivers you can wipe the drive and go with Ubuntu, it's free, it doesn't have the problems that windows does with viruses, and with the optional "Whine" program it will run most windows software.

You can download it and run it alongside the XP platform, (dual boot options) this will let you get an idea on what it's about.

[Terryl]

Another option would be to take it to a local PC shop and have them fix it.

[Terryl]

For those that want the type of USB to hard drive adapter I use for this, look at the one below.

http://www.apricorn.com/products/notebook-hard-drive-upgrade-kits/drivewire-ide-pata-sata-to-usb-hdd-adapter.html

That and a stand alone laptop works wonders to fix hard drives.

[kijiji]

just reinstall windows problem solved.

[Terryl]

That may or may not work if the virus, trojan or malware is hiding in the root directory or zero partition, some of the new stuff will hide and not go away on a re-install if they are the real tough ones, I have run into several lately that will not go away by doing this.

The virus guys are getting smarter, some I have seen where the infection is actually hiding on the "D" supposedly protected partition, you would have to have or get a hold of of the actual OS disks and driver disks, and do a full format of the drive, some of the newer systems do not come with re-installation disks, you have to order them from the factory first.

I have to do maybe one a month like this.