Pc Help Please! Virus?

MotoSook · 04-13-2005, 06:20 AM

I posted this on GruppeB, but figure I could use the help from here too!

Ok. So I was having trouble with my XP (Home) P-4 machine, and I tried to scan for bots with SpyBot...got a few stuff and cleaned the machine. Then my network connection wouldn't work...so I restored the system via XP Restore. Now it won't boot up correctly. It powers up, then shows the XP screen while it boots....then when about the time that it should be done I get nothing! I get blank screen and sometimes a very large picture of my desktop picture, with a large cursor arrow...but nothing. It doesn't even start or restart in SafeMode.

I went into the setup on startup and use the Safe Defaults them reboot...still nothing.

HELP! If I loose the PC...years and years of Porsche work will be loss! Of course I have a 60 Gig harddrive sitting next to my desk that I was going to use for backup, but Porsche work prevented that! HELP HELP HELP!!!!

I'm dying! I can't lose the data or I might as well start a new hobby....so say good buy to Souk and Bastard...we are going to go collect rocks! No need for computers to catalog my rock collection!

stomachmonkey · 04-13-2005, 06:53 AM

First relax a bit.

Sounds like an OS problem or hardware issue unrelated to the drive.

Can you boot a PC into operational mode from an external drive or System install CD? (works on the "other" platform so I assume it works on Windows)

I would try

disconnect the internal drive

load a fresh system on the external drive and see what happens

if problen persists I'd think hardware failure or corrupt BIOS.

If everything is cool then reconnect the internal, boot from the external, run any and all virus detection programs on it and then see if you can back up individual files from the internal.

Scott

lendaddy · 04-13-2005, 06:57 AM

Can you boot up in safe mode? Turn on the PC and hold down F8.

MotoSook · 04-13-2005, 07:13 AM

I'm at work now, and I downloaded the Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830). I'll give it a shot tonight when I get home. I'll try the F8 key on startup. I'll report later...thanks guys.

928ram · 04-13-2005, 07:31 AM

I'm no PC expert by any means, but heres an "If all else fails" way to save data until you get the prob worked out (if it comes to this).

Since you have a new HD that you were going to install; install it and set it up as the main drive at the BIOS level, set the current drive as a second HD as well as CDROM, etc - like you're building a new PC from scratch.

Install XP on the new HD fully, then unless there's a hardware problem, you should be up and running with 30 days till you have to "activate" the new XP install.

Transfer everything that you need to save from the old disc to the new one, then swap the old back to being the boot disc and tinker at will without fear of losing the important data. You'll have the 30 days before "activation" to swap these back and forth as needed to figure out what's wrong.

If the 60G disc is faster/newer/better than the current one, I'd set it up as the "C" drive with a fresh install of XP, set current disc as "D" (or whatever), reactivate windows in that configuration (not at all uncommom to do, you want your "best" drive to hold your OS anyway). Then you can clean up and transfer any data you need at your leisure until you get to the point that you can format the old disc and use it as secondary.

jyl · jyl's Garage

More or less echoing the others.

Disconnect the old drive. Since it has precious non-backed-up data, get it isolated until you know the system is working properly.

Install the new drive. I assume you have a spare drive bay.

Insert the Win XP CD-ROM, do a fresh install of Win XP.

When the PC is working properly, shut it down and connect the old hard drive as the secondary drive, then when you have the PC running copy the data to the new drive.

Then set up a regular backup schedule. It can be as low-tech as manually copying data to a CD-ROM every week. Since this data is for your business, I would want to keep the backup off-site. No reason to let a burglary or house fire shut you down.

MotoSook · 04-13-2005, 08:03 AM

I'll give the second drive a shot guys. I'll try anything...first a safe mode start to see if I can erraticate the virus or fix what ever is wrong...if that fails them I'll swap drives.

Thanks....keep the suggestions coming...I like multiple solutions/options!

THANKS!

Tim Hancock · 04-13-2005, 08:14 AM

Souk, I am no computer guru at all, when my home computer in the house (XP home) would not boot even in safe mode, I yanked the hard drive and reset the little jumper plugs so that it was now a slave. Next I plugged it into a computer at work that was running XP and was able to copy the important files I wanted to save. I then put the hard drive back into my computer and after failing to restore, I took it to a computer place where they ended up having to "reset the bios". After that they were able to do a system restore.

Being able to back up what was on my hard drive was a great feeling of relief (if your hard drive is bad, obviously this advice is would be useless). After you do that then you do not worry so much about trying different things to fix your box.

stomachmonkey · 04-13-2005, 08:27 AM

Good way to do a backup is to set up an account with a web hosting company.

You can get an account with 5 gb of space for $20 or less a month.

Set automated back ups to your online account.

That way you can access the stuff from anywhere that you have an internet connection AND the provider will be doing daily backups of the server, double redundancy and peace of mind.

Good luck
Scott

Joeaksa · 04-13-2005, 08:32 AM

Was just at Fry's electronics here in town and for $75 or so (after rebate) got a USB backup drive. Its 250 gig so large enough for anything.

Also, I always, on every computer I own (except laptop) use a second drive for ALL MY DATA! This way if the OS goes tits up I can format drive C and restore the OS with no fear for my data. Still, back up anything important on a totally different computer/hard drive.

JoeA

jyl · jyl's Garage

Even on laptop, you can partition the single physical drive into two logical drives, use one for OS and one for data. I also keep a copy of the Windows install CD, all special driver files, the install files for applications (e.g. if I downloaded Firefox etc) on the data partition. That way I can boot into DOS and reinstall the OS and all apps.

Neilk · 11:35 AM

Well if you can boot up to a blank screen of your desktop, here's what you do to get your desktop back.

When you reach your blank screen, press ctrl+shift+esc which will bring up the task manager (alternatively ctrl+alt+del gets you there as well).

Click on File and New Task (Run..) and type C:\ and enter. Your C drive should appear and the rest of the desktop will load up as well.

I removed a bunch of spyware from someone's computer which also resulted in lost network access. I had to type a command in the command prompt to reset the network config. I will look for it and post it here when I find it.

Follow the instructions on this site to restore your network connection.

MotoSook · 04-13-2005, 12:07 PM

I tried "ctrl-alt-del" and I got nothing!

RoninLB · 04-13-2005, 05:45 PM

your hard drive may be corrupted. If you can get into safe mode a through system scan may repair it?

greglepore · 04-13-2005, 06:09 PM

Have you tried interupting the boot by powering down during, restart in safe mode, and then use the restore point utility? Worked for me when I had a similar issue.