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.

[Nostradamus]

a good way to avoid the stuff is simply stay off the warez, torrent and porn sites for starters and don't follow links popsted by others on social media sites

[kijiji]

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.

In 99.99% of the time reinstalling windows will certainly take care and rid your puter of ANY and ALL virus's scanning with anti virus proggies dose very little to rid your puter of virus's 100% !

[Nostradamus]

works a lot better if you delete all partitions, make sure you a complete reboot recreate partitions and then install windows

[kijiji]

not really most love to attach in the registry as well.Either way the best way is delete all partitions and reinstall the os.

[steveOtoo]

If you can find a program called Acronis it will completely clean up your HDD and reformat. Like starting with a brand new hardrive.

[Anubis]

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

Why a new cpu?
What do you have now with what ram?

[Terryl]

Well some cant do this as they do not have the install disks for some older programs, and some do not know how to store and recover their personal data.

I do this as a sideline to keep from going bat bonkers during the long winter nights, most peeps around here never update their AV programs anyway, it keeps me very busy and in cash.

I have run into some that have not gone away with an overwrite or format (standard format) of the "C" drive.

This is why I have a hard drive test bed, and a hardened laptop with professional AV, Malware, spyware and hard drive diagnostic software on it. I also have a military hard format program, it takes the whole drive down to zero data, then with the drives factory software it comes back up as a factory new out of the box drive.

All a standard format does is put a _ on the front of the program name, like word.exe becomes _ord.exe, you can recover from a standard format. (at least I can)

The format program I use writes all zeros ten times then all ones ten times, then back to all "0", you then have to re-install the factory "0" sector info and bad sector info, this puts it back to drive new out of the box.

This wipes every last bit of data and stray bits, nothing as far as any type of program or data survives this operation, but without an operating system nd hardware drivers for that system to put back on the drive its useless.

[Anubis]

Best not to debate this until we know what computer if brand name and if not what motherboard and processor as well as ram and hard drive is stated. JMO
I don't care about all the tricks of the trade but bottom line is if you want to clean it, know what system you are dealing with first.

[Terryl]

I use a .44 magnum on some.

[iq180]

The best way to never have this problem is to clone your HDD, then you have a backup, I have a clone of every computer I own and
some I dont own, Acronis True Image is what I use.

[Nostradamus]

a backup is a good plan but it will not fix the nastier ones that get down to te lower levels of the hard drive

[bjim]

wow,can't keep up with all this,my computer was home made by a friend around 12 yrs ago,i have about 990 dram,i installed 1000,proccesser is i think about 2.2g,instead of a 44mag i was thinking more along the lines of 12 ga double odd buck shot,i have an xp disc and 2nd service pack disc,will try and reinstall after i buy a new pc(it's time),oh ran malwares in safe mode twice,no threats detected,and i believe i got infected when i opened an attachment in an email(i knew not to,but did anyway,crap)well thanks for all the input,will keep playing with it

[Nostradamus]

well if you buy a new one you can forget about using XP on it as more than likely there will be hardware inside that there is no xp drivers for. Even if that all worked for you, there is no longer any support for that OS so basically XP has gone the same way the dinosaur and the Edsel. A new system should come with Windows 8.1 installed although some places are still blowing out older models with Win 7 in them

[Anubis]

wow,can't keep up with all this,my computer was home made by a friend around 12 yrs ago,i have about 990 dram,i installed 1000,proccesser is i think about 2.2g,instead of a 44mag i was thinking more along the lines of 12 ga double odd buck shot,i have an xp disc and 2nd service pack disc,will try and reinstall after i buy a new pc(it's time),oh ran malwares in safe mode twice,no threats detected,and i believe i got infected when i opened an attachment in an email(i knew not to,but did anyway,crap)well thanks for all the input,will keep playing with it

If you are capable of connecting to the net run this...http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/

Personally from this post I would pack it in and upgrade to a newer computer however I don't recommend changing the operating system it came with but you should learn it as it will be a big learning curve.

Just a FYI, Windows 9 is just around the corner.

[iq180]

wow,can't keep up with all this,my computer was home made by a friend around 12 yrs ago,i have about 990 dram,i installed 1000,proccesser is i think about 2.2g,instead of a 44mag i was thinking more along the lines of 12 ga double odd buck shot,i have an xp disc and 2nd service pack disc,will try and reinstall after i buy a new pc(it's time),oh ran malwares in safe mode twice,no threats detected,and i believe i got infected when i opened an attachment in an email(i knew not to,but did anyway,crap)well thanks for all the input,will keep playing with it
Why would you want XP and not Windows 7, I think Windows 7 is the best of all,JMO,LOL.