Programs etc.. gone.

[Onebionicman]

1st, i have had the same XP install for 1.5 years.
yesterday, somehow i got the nasty virus pop up, buy software, etc. /
russian i think ?
i think you know what i mean.
i restarted pc.
ran Malwarebytes, MSE, got rid of it.
but most of my programs in start menu, accessoriers, system tools,
word pad, etc are gone. / i magine maybe 40 programs shortcuts icons
gone.
some are gone from desktop also.
i cannot access system restore. / can't find it, its gone.
any help would be apprecited.
realy don't want to reinstall xp.
also my desktop picture folder was empted.
i do have a backup on another drive, thank goodness.

Thanks, Jim S.

 

[Tim Rude]

A virus deleted who-knows-how-many files, killed the System Restore feature,
and even after a system cleanup (which you hope was complete) you still
don't have them back. And you 'realy don't want to reinstall xp'?

Why in the world not? Would you rather limp along on a compromised system?
It doesn't sound like it's much good at this point.

You said you have a backup. If it's a full-backup, do a full restore and
rock on. Otherwise, wipe that system and reinstall.

 

[Bob F]

1st, i have had the same XP install for 1.5 years.
yesterday, somehow i got the nasty virus pop up, buy software, etc. /
russian i think ?
i think you know what i mean.
i restarted pc.
ran Malwarebytes, MSE, got rid of it.
but most of my programs in start menu, accessoriers, system tools,
word pad, etc are gone. / i magine maybe 40 programs shortcuts icons
gone.
some are gone from desktop also.
i cannot access system restore. / can't find it, its gone.
any help would be apprecited.
realy don't want to reinstall xp.
also my desktop picture folder was empted.
i do have a backup on another drive, thank goodness.

Sounds like the "windowsrepair" thing that got me. I just restored the system
from my backup and went on my way.

 

[lobo]

1st, i have had the same XP install for 1.5 years.
yesterday, somehow i got the nasty virus pop up, buy software, etc. /
russian i think ?
i think you know what i mean.
i restarted pc.
ran Malwarebytes, MSE, got rid of it.
but most of my programs in start menu, accessoriers, system tools,
word pad, etc are gone. / i magine maybe 40 programs shortcuts icons
gone.
some are gone from desktop also.
i cannot access system restore. / can't find it, its gone.
any help would be apprecited.
realy don't want to reinstall xp.
also my desktop picture folder was empted.
i do have a backup on another drive, thank goodness.

Thanks, Jim S.

Got one of those nasty Trojans awhile back. Check to see if your folders and
other things that are not supposed to be have been marked hidden.
Good luck!
Ray

 

[Onebionicman]

1st, i have had the same XP install for 1.5 years.
yesterday, somehow i got the nasty virus pop up, buy software, etc. /
russian i think ?
i think you know what i mean.
i restarted pc.
ran Malwarebytes, MSE, got rid of it.
but  most of my programs in start menu, accessoriers, system tools,
word pad, etc are gone. / i magine maybe 40 programs shortcuts icons
gone.
some are gone from desktop also.
i cannot access system restore. / can't find it, its gone.
any help would be apprecited.
realy don't want to reinstall xp.
also my desktop picture folder was empted.
i do have a backup on another drive, thank goodness.

Thanks, Jim S.

1st, thanks for the attempted help.
it had left Revo uninstaller alone.
i opened it & on the tools tab, system restore was there.
system restored opened, i restored pc to Sunday.
when resarted, all programs were restored.
quick launch returned,, etc ...
all is well,, will back complete pc during next few days, just incase.

Onebionicman

 

[Paul]

1st, thanks for the attempted help.
it had left Revo uninstaller alone.
i opened it & on the tools tab, system restore was there.
system restored opened, i restored pc to Sunday.
when resarted, all programs were restored.
quick launch returned,, etc ...
all is well,, will back complete pc during next few days, just incase.

Onebionicman

In this article, they mention the malware adds the +h attribute to the files,
to hide them, and changes a system setting affecting your ability to see
hidden files.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-recovery

They have a tool "Unhide.exe", which removes the hidden attribute from
all files, so at least you can see your files again. If there were any
files that would normally use the hidden attribute, then those would
start to show up (which means you might end up with some extra
things on your desktop or in other places).

I think your solution might have worked better than that. So there may
have been another way to fix it, but that method might have had
side effects of its own.

Paul