can anyone help..?

I'm having a very bad problem, and this is on one of my boss's work computers. Somehow I managed to get stuck with the Hello4 virus that acts as a 2012 Windows scanner. I've worked with many other viruses before that controlled my computer but this one won't let me do ANYTHING! Not even in safemode!



When I go into the computer with safe mode (both internet and not) I try clicking on firefox, won't load, system restore, won't load. All I get is a quick pop up that ends up being "hello4" or "blank window"

I've looked through several of the threads where people have the same problem, and I'd love to be able to use the solutions, but the question I have, is how in the world can I use any of these virus scanners if I can't even bring up firefox to even get to the programs?

Is there any other way?

Thanks a lot.

On another computer, download the kaspersky rescue cd. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivir...cue-Disk.shtml

Boot from this cd on the infected computer. Do all of the updates, and then run the scan. This might clean up the system enough for you to run Malware Bytes AntiMalware. Depending on how bad the infection is, it might be a good idea to have your OS cd handy, and run 'sfc /scannow' from a command line [after removing the infection]. This will check the integrity of your system files, and replace them if necessary.

In case anyone wondered; That's a known Spammer. They try to look innocent with a valid question, and then, "Oh I found a product that works! And it has a free trial you can get here!" And then, well, you know.

We were told about him earlier. I knew something was fishy though; When the **** is the last time you heard of someone being infected by a normal Virus that wasn't Malware or Spyware or a Worm? Heh :)

lol. Good point. :)

Well, given that this is apparently a genuine question (albeit a prelude to a spam) there might be others interested in possible solutions?

1. As this is supposed to be a workplace scenario why not just blitz the drive with your approved corporate build? .............. you do have one of those don't you? ............. and there won't be any critical data on a workplace PC will there? :D

2. Use the Windows installation disk and do a fresh install. IIRC anything from Vista onwards overwrites the HDD first when you do that? Otherwise use something like D-Ban to wipe the drive with a single pass.

3. Remove the infected HDD and slave it to a "sheep dip" PC, then clean it from there. Personally I have USB caddies for this and other repair tasks ;)

BTW a "sheep-dip" is what we call a stand-alone PC that is used for security type functions such as checking external media and cleaning malware. It is a good re-deployment of older or low powered machines as the bottleneck is usually the connection to the target. Probably the best way to go if you don't know what malware you are dealing with. You should always have a mirror of the sheep-dip's build.

EDIT:

The reason I prefer a PC to a live (bootable) CD is that it is much easier to keep the software up to date. On the other hand the live CD/DVD has the advantage of using an OS that the malware won't understand, and would normally not be writableto by malware.