major computer problem - please please can you help?

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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:58 pm

Re-installing windows is an option, but you'd lose everything you have installed too.

Ty to run windows in safe mode, hit F8 while booting your PC a couple of times to get the menu, choose 'safe mode'

After booting, run kaspensky (or whatever virus scanner you use) to scan your entire PC, and see if it can clean up the trojans that way.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:27 am

If you do want to reload everything, copy off the contents of Documents, Favorites, your address book and your emails (the last two will depend on what you use).

Also, copy SP1 onto a disk and it'll save you a bunch of downloads later

Adamu's soulmate Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 337

Thanks all for further advice - I am having a day off today as I am going crazy so will pick back up tomorrow and see how it goes then

Master Baiter Joined: 23 Dec 2007 Posts: 128

Unless you need Windows for your work or some very specific app you cant live without, my best advice would be to install a user-friendly linux flavour, such as Ubuntu, Mandrake or OpenSuse.

I have not had an issue with viruses or malware in years.

If you want to you can install Ubuntu from Windows as if it were an application. Then when booting the computer you can choose what to use... If you dont like it, simply uninstall from Windows...

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Younger daughters laptop had a major crash while I was on holiday.
Cant get it to load or start up, systems check say hard disk failure.
So its only a few months old, under warrenty. Had a long talk with HP yesterday and they're going to repair it.
Courier was supposed to pick it up this afternoon. Its still here Crying or Very sad

I've no idea why it crashed, had AVG, Spybot etc.
Got bloody Vista on it too.

She's been using my laptop for "homework" which is limiting my time online!!!!

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:39 pm

^^^^
Sounds like a hard disk hardware fault to me. Nothing to do with the installed software.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

My first thought was virus
Second the cat

I agree with you Mr Tambourine Man and I think we've just been unlucky

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:58 pm

You probably just had a bad part or parts that made it happen.

Adamu's soulmate Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 337

To update you nothing worked - whatever I did/downloaded windows wouldnt update nor had updated for a year. Also couldnt update any antivirus nor install new. Called toshiba who thought - and I do too - that trojans are preventing updates so they cant be identified. Today received disk from Toshiba to reinstall OS which seems the only way forward

Maggie

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:38 pm

We can't say you didn't try. Got all worth saving saved?
Good luck with the swap.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:09 pm

Ow crappers!

The only thing that comes to mind now is your host file having entries preventing contact with the antivirus websites.

You might want to check your hosts file, usually located in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\. Open 'hosts' in a notepad, and look if there are antivirus webite entries in there. If there are, just remove those and retry updating.

Normally the hosts file has only one entry:
127.0.0.1 localhost

Everything else should be looked at carefully.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:20 pm

Download HiJackThis! from here and PM me the result if you like

Adamu's soulmate Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 337

Thank you all for further help - Gordon I will do as you suggest this weekend and PM you results - thats so good of you.

Luckily its not my computer thats affected as I use this for business but partners laptop and nothing much on it that needs saving - it would be far worse if it was mine as I have everything saved.

So until the weekend

Maggie

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Update on daughters laptop
HP courier came, collected it.
Returned this evening with new hard drive installed.
She's online as I type.
All i had to do was install spybot and AVG again ( and uninstall Norton}
The rest she can do herself, including what to backup on usb stick or cd

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