Infected: .exe files will not execute, Restore doesn't fix problem

[Guest]

Our home PC was infected. Excuse the format, but I thought presenting bullets
would help things. Thanks in advance for your help.

* Exe files will not execute. (In fact, no files do)
* PKZip won't work either.
*Tried doing various RESTOREs, but problems continue.
* When PC starts, the Windows logo appears. But signon miniwindow does not;
what does appear is a larger box with unintelligible characters.
* Right-clicking on MY COMPUTER will not bring up menu.
* Yet everything connected with Web works: we can connect to the Web, browse,
even download.
* RealPlayer stills works.
* REGEDIT does not work.
* Have tried Doug Knox's fixes, and they also do not work.
* Also, I get messages that .lnk files can't be opened.
* have tried to make linkages, but ... nothing works.
* Help is needed, and will be appreciated.
Thanks again.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Our home PC was infected. Excuse the format, but I thought presenting
bullets
would help things. Thanks in advance for your help.

* Exe files will not execute. (In fact, no files do)
* PKZip won't work either.
*Tried doing various RESTOREs, but problems continue.
* When PC starts, the Windows logo appears. But signon miniwindow does
not;
what does appear is a larger box with unintelligible characters.
* Right-clicking on MY COMPUTER will not bring up menu.
* Yet everything connected with Web works: we can connect to the Web,
browse,
even download.
* RealPlayer stills works.
* REGEDIT does not work.
* Have tried Doug Knox's fixes, and they also do not work.
* Also, I get messages that .lnk files can't be opened.
* have tried to make linkages, but ... nothing works.
* Help is needed, and will be appreciated.
Thanks again.

Virus removers can undo some damage but by no means
everything, because they don't necessarily know what was
there before the infection occurred. The same applies to
System Restore.

If this was my machine then I would consider it compromised.
I would do this:
- Back up all data.
- Back up all EMail files
- Re-install Windows onto a freshly formatted disk.
- Re-install all applications.
- Restore all data.

 

[Elmo]

Our home PC was infected. Excuse the format, but I thought presenting bullets
would help things. Thanks in advance for your help.

* Exe files will not execute. (In fact, no files do)
* PKZip won't work either.
*Tried doing various RESTOREs, but problems continue.
* When PC starts, the Windows logo appears. But signon miniwindow does not;
what does appear is a larger box with unintelligible characters.
* Right-clicking on MY COMPUTER will not bring up menu.
* Yet everything connected with Web works: we can connect to the Web, browse,
even download.
* RealPlayer stills works.
* REGEDIT does not work.
* Have tried Doug Knox's fixes, and they also do not work.
* Also, I get messages that .lnk files can't be opened.
* have tried to make linkages, but ... nothing works.
* Help is needed, and will be appreciated.
Thanks again.

Before you give up on it, try some of these:

Try one of these Virus Removal Tools in Safe Mode.

Avast! One tool for any current virus
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html

Symantec Virus Removal Tools
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/removaltools.jsp

F-Secure Virus Removal Tools
http://www.f-secure.com/download-purchase/tools.shtml

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tools
http://www.kaspersky.com/removaltools
_____________________________________

"Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension"
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

Fix File Associations.
http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm