Repairing Win XP Pro partition after virus removal

[jeffb]

Ok, I'm stuck and I'm hoping to get some help. I have a computer that had
a nasty virus on it that I was able to get off by slaving the harddrive off
of another system and scouring it. The problem now is that when I put the
harddrive back into the original computer the system will start to boot and
then hangs at a black screen. When I boot with my Win XP Pro CD and go to do
a repair installation, the partition with the OS shows up as a NTFS partition
and I don't have the option of doing a repair install. Am I out of luck or
is there a way to tweak it so I can try a repair installation? Thanx for any
help.

JeffB

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ok, I'm stuck and I'm hoping to get some help. I have a computer that had
a nasty virus on it

*What* virus?

that I was able to get off by slaving the harddrive off
of another system and scouring it.

What do you mean by "scouring"? Please describe exactly what you did.

How do you know you got it off?

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Backup your personal data, then do a format & clean install of Windows.
Please note that a Repair Install (AKA in-place upgrade) will NOT fix this!

cf. http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps

After the clean install, you'll have the equivalent of a "new computer" so
take care of everything on the following page before otherwise connecting
the machine to the internet or a network and before using a USB key that
isn't brand-new or hasn't been freshly formatted:

5 steps to help protect your new computer before you go online
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/advanced/xppc.mspx

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP Gold (no Service Packs) fully patched
(after a clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/msg/3f5afa8ed33e121c

HOW TO get a computer running WinXP SP1(a) or SP2 fully patched (after a
clean install)
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/msg/a066ae41add7dd2b

Also see:

Steps To Help Prevent Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/spyware/prevent.mspx

Rogue Security Software - Microsoft Security:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/rogue.mspx

 

[jeffb]

Thanx Ken and PA for taking the time to reply...you're right, I should have
provided a bit more detail.

The system was unusable because of suspected viruses and malware, so I
pulled the harddrive from the system and made it a slave on one of my other
XP Pro systems. I ran Norton Internet Security, MalwareBytes and Ad-aware
against the drive and found a LOT of viruses..about 9 that were marked as
high threat/extrememly serious. After Norton and the other programs were
finished, I then put the HD back in its system as the master and tried to
boot. I get the XP splash screen but it just goes to black. After booting
with my XP Pro CD, I followed some instructions I found in Google for doing a
repair install but it doesn't see the partition on the drive with Windows as
an OS partition..it just shows it as an NTFS partition that will get written
over if I reinstall.

I kind of suspected I was going to have to do a clean install, I just wanted
to make sure there wasn't something obvious I was missing. I don't remember
all of the viruses, but one I do remember was Desot.exe. From Googling that
virus name is where I saw the suggestion for doing a repair install. I was
able to save off the data, but I'm assuming all applications will need to be
reloaded. No biggie if that is the case, the system was pretty far gone.

Thanx again for the help.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

You should have been using NIS, MBAM, and Ad-Aware *before* the computer got
infected.

And the computer should have been kept fully-patched at Windows Update at
all times, too.

Good luck.