My computer is left in ruins after a virus attack - help

[Guest]

I had a large virus infection recently(hopefully it's gone now). After MANY
MANY scans with Norton, AVG, and Avast, restarts, etc, the viruses seem to be
gone. Norton scan doesn't find any more viruses at this point. Windows
defender didn't even see the viruses at all, microsoft antispyware was a
thousand times better but that's gone now.

Anyway, i managed to unlock task manager again, bring back my desktop, and
turn automatic updates back on. But my computer is still working much slower
than before. Websites load especially slow. Sometimes it seems like the
computer is doing something and nothing happens. The desktop icons refresh
for no reason sometimes.

Also, there's 2 user names on the computer. On the other user name the
desktop is still set to file://C:windows\desktop.html and is either white or
grey-ish, and changes constantly.

Oh, and when i start up 3 errors come up. I can write those down and post
them here if that'll help.

Any idea what i should do?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Removing viruses alone does not undo the damage caused by the viruses.
I would suggest backing up your important files, then perform a clean install.

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

Enjoy all the benefits of genuine Microsoft software:
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I had a large virus infection recently(hopefully it's gone now). After MANY
| MANY scans with Norton, AVG, and Avast, restarts, etc, the viruses seem to be
| gone. Norton scan doesn't find any more viruses at this point. Windows
| defender didn't even see the viruses at all, microsoft antispyware was a
| thousand times better but that's gone now.
|
| Anyway, i managed to unlock task manager again, bring back my desktop, and
| turn automatic updates back on. But my computer is still working much slower
| than before. Websites load especially slow. Sometimes it seems like the
| computer is doing something and nothing happens. The desktop icons refresh
| for no reason sometimes.
|
| Also, there's 2 user names on the computer. On the other user name the
| desktop is still set to file://C:windows\desktop.html and is either white or
| grey-ish, and changes constantly.
|
| Oh, and when i start up 3 errors come up. I can write those down and post
| them here if that'll help.
|
| Any idea what i should do?

 

[Malke]

I had a large virus infection recently(hopefully it's gone now). After
MANY MANY scans with Norton, AVG, and Avast, restarts, etc, the viruses
seem to be gone. Norton scan doesn't find any more viruses at this point.
Windows defender didn't even see the viruses at all, microsoft antispyware
was a thousand times better but that's gone now.

(snip long list of problems)

While I usually feel doing a clean install is a last resort, I completely
agree with Carey in this instance. Back up your data and flatten the
system. You are never going to get it to work well and be sure it is secure
unless you do a clean install.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#reinstall_Windows - What you
will need on-hand

Malke

 

[Guest]

Anyway, i managed to unlock task manager again, bring back my desktop, and
turn automatic updates back on. But my computer is still working much slower
than before. Websites load especially slow. Sometimes it seems like the
computer is doing something and nothing happens. The desktop icons refresh
for no reason sometimes.

Also, there's 2 user names on the computer. On the other user name the
desktop is still set to file://C:windows\desktop.html and is either white or
grey-ish, and changes constantly.

Oh, and when i start up 3 errors come up. I can write those down and post
them here if that'll help.

Yes, posting the error messages, and the names of all the viruses and virus
files found, could be helpful. If your antivirus program has a text log file
including virus and file names that you can copy and paste, that might help.

You may want to download and run LSPFix [Google it to find it] and perhaps
uninstall any security software that was disabled by the virus, for example
any antivirus and firewall software.

I'd also click on Start, Run, type TASKMGR and click on Processes, CPU to
see if there are any processes that are consuming a lot of CPU cycles. For a
slow PC, there's a lot of stuff you could do and it could take you a bit of
time.

 

[Guest]

Back up your data and flatten the system.

Agree. Deepending on the nature of the virus, I might even go as far as to
do a sector-by-sector erase of the whole disk, from a DOS floppy or bootCD.
Ranish Partition Manager has an option to do this. (E key) This will take
several hours, but will ensure you haven't got the virus lurking somewhere.
Also, reload the MBR using the FDISK /MBR command. These two steps will
ensure you are starting with a clean disk.

Then when you've reinstalled Windows and a scanner, you need to check all of
that backed-up data. PLUS all of your CD's floppies and USB keys. This might
sound like overkill, but it's better to spend a bit longer being thorough
than have a reinfection.

 

[MAP]

Just to add my 2 cents worth to what others have already suggested,
what ever anti-virus program you were using when the virus hit your computer
obviously did not do what it was suppose to do otherwise it would have been
stopped as it was trying to install itself do not continue to use a
(worthless) anti-virus program or this will just happen again!. Pay the $$$
and get a first rate AV program, one of these two.
http://www.eset.com/ or
http://www.kaspersky.com/

 

[B. Nice]

Just to add my 2 cents worth to what others have already suggested,
what ever anti-virus program you were using when the virus hit your computer
obviously did not do what it was suppose to do otherwise it would have been
stopped as it was trying to install itself

Wrong statement. No anti-virus software is able to catch everything.
$$$ or not. That's what people need to understand. Anti-virus software
is not something one should put a high trust into. It should be
nothing but a last line of defense.

 

[Malke]

Wrong statement. No anti-virus software is able to catch everything.
$$$ or not. That's what people need to understand. Anti-virus software
is not something one should put a high trust into. It should be
nothing but a last line of defense.

I don't know if I would call it a "last line of defense", but otherwise I
agree with B. Nice. The end user cannot rely on an antivirus alone; s/he
must also practice "Safe Hex". If the end user clicks on a virus for which
the av has no definitions written yet, they will be infected. And there are
always new viruses/malware.

Malke

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Ultimately as others have advised you may need to a pristine install of the
operating system. If you have not done so yet be sure to scan for malware
and spyware in Safe Mode also. It would also be a good idea to try and use a
program to clean your registry such as Regseeker of CCleaner using the
issues menu and using System File Checker to check your system files using
the command sfc /scannow being sure to have your install disk handy. Be sure
you read the information at the Protect Your PC link below from Microsoft so
that you understand basic preventative measures to try and prevent your
problem from coming back again and add to that list that you should NOT be
logged on as an administrator account when doing any routine internet
activity including using chat programs an opening email. --- Steve

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxpsp2/Default.mspx