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Thread: Newbie who might be screwed

  1. #11
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    You might also check out:

    http://www.ewido.net/en/

    It is a good multipurpose scanner. There is a 14 day trial with the interactive protection running, but you can update and use it as a passive scanner after that for free.

    http://www.emisodt.com/en/software/free/

    A-Squared. A free scanner that specialises in trojans and diallers.

    Remember that you always have reformatting and reinstallation as a last option.

    You might also get a copy of Hijack This! and save the log file and post it here. Don't do anything until someone has looked at it for you

  2. #12
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    i dont know much about this topic even though i had the same problem 6 months back when i got the help of a professional who formatted the entire HD. i could not do this silly procedure since the compu wont even stay on for long...
    i dont know how he did it

    i can only suggest-
    1. going to dos or CLI
    2. using the task manager to shut down processes u think are suspicious.
    3. hope for the best

    i learned a valuable experience during my problem--
    when running an application say xyz, the compu always shutted down at the same precise moment when it reached a specific stage.
    multiple runnings of xyz and hoping for the best didnt work--
    COZ THE COMPUTER WAS NOT SHUTTING AT RANDOM, IT WAS BEING INSTRUCTED AT THE PRECISE MOMENT OF THAT EXECUTABLE CODE DURING THE EFFECTS OF THE VIRUS OR SPYWARE.

    THUS IF COMPU SHUTTS OFF IN ONE SEQUENCE, LEAVE ALL HOPE THIS SEQUENCE MAY HELP U

    GOD BLESS U

  3. #13
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    Thanks everyone for all your useful tips, but the continuous problems with the computer shutting down made me quite impatient so I backed up my computer and began reinstalling but the horrible part about it is that the process of reinstalling keeps on becoming interrupted by the computer shutting down, so what do you think is this a hardware problem I am dealing with or did the virus really get my computer that badly, because either way now I cant get into my computer anymore.

  4. #14
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi Jeff,

    Did you reformat your drive first?

    How many times does the BIOS beep when you power up?

    Can you get into the BIOS setup?

    Does anything appear on the screen?

    For hardware the favourites are:

    1. Power Supply Unit
    2. RAM
    3. Video Card
    4. Hard Drive
    5. Heat

    Your answers will help us suggest the best troubleshooting path

  5. #15
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    Have you rebooted your system in safe mode without the networking resources?, I once had a similar issue. So I started my PC like I normally would and check the processes that were running...although that task itself took forever, but once it appeared I wrote down all the processes that didnt seem right to me. After I restarted my PC in safe mode without the Networking resources and begain to physically purge my pc by checking the Regisrty and search the whole registry with the processes that I wrote down. And that task right there let me know alot of things, like if the process actually belongs, and if the process didnt belong where it was located on my PC, so I could manually delete it. If that doesnt help you, there is always "Nuke - n- Pave" which means killing your whole system.

  6. #16
    Hi

    Just a quick thought. Some fooware (===malware/adware/spyware and just cr*pware) exploits RPC and creates a fault which causes most computers to automatically shutdown. The answer is to change how RPC acts on your system when it detects a problem(i.e. change it from shutdown and reboot to do nothing in your system settings). I agree that disconnecting from the net and booting in safe mode is a good thing.

    Once the operating system is stable enough to work on, back up your data. Restore it onto a different machine and virus check etc it at the same time.

    Wipe the disk and rebuild your operating system. Patch it up to date including all viruses etc signatures and antivirus software. Make sure you have a decent firewall up and running before you connect to the Internet to download updates etc.
    No one can foresee the consequences of being clever.

  7. #17
    Frustrated Mad Scientist
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    I'm guessing you don't have a great deal of value on your system since you're going down the reformat route already. That's probably to your advantage. A lot of people like the fight against the spyware to recover the machine and remove the malware. It's often quicker and easier to reformat and reinstall.

    As nihil has mentioned you should reformat the hard drive first. If you've got friends nearby with internet access go round and ask to se their machine. If you know the manufacturer of your hard drive go to their website and download the tools for your drive. They'll format the drive a whole lot quicker than windows if you've got a big one

    Also download a firewall (Zonelabs etc) and the more popular anti-spyware /AV programs.
    Some of them have been mentioned already and I can't be arsed writing them out again, look around you'll get them.

    Reformat your machine and reinstall windows. DONT GO ONLINE YET!!

    Install the firewall and the spyware tools.
    Now go online and get your patches and update the antispyware.

    You should now have a lovely clean system better protected than you were before.


    Not got friends nearby?
    REformat/reinstall go online and download a firewall first.
    Cross yer fingers, pray to your deity, sacrifice a goat whatever just hope you get it down before you get scanned and compromised.

    The going rate is 12 minutes for an unpatched machine. I've seen it happen in 2.

  8. #18
    Junior Member
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    Thanks for all the advice again, the problem is I backed up all my important files onto an external hard drive and started the system restore. Now, unless my lack of computering skills serves me wrong, I can not access the system anymore, actually, without the system restore disc the only reading I get is "hard drive not accessible" or something like that when I start up. And I just became aware of an issue with Sony Vaios and their power supply which is attached to the motherboard, it has become enough of an issue that people have filed a class action suit, I am not quite sure if this is my problem yet, but it sounds familiar. And Sony refuses to check for without me paying. So I am not sure if there is much more I can do. Let me know, thanks...

  9. #19
    Frustrated Mad Scientist
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    I'm sorry I don't quite understand your problem as it is now. Can you try to explain what you have done now and what errors you are getting on screen.

    I think what you are saying is...correct me if I'm wrong:

    You backed up you files externally so they are safe
    You've used the supplied Sony restore cd to reinstall your system.
    You now get an error saying your hard disk is not accessible.

    Did the computer sucessfully reinstall the operating system?
    Or did the reinstall fail with the error you have described?

    Have you tried to reformat the hard disk prior to the reinstall or does the restore CD refomat as part of its recovery process?

    If your machine was running before, even with spyware, it's unlikely it would pop just because you have ran the restore CD (not impossible, just unlikely). More probably the reinstall has gone bit wrong somewhere.

  10. #20
    Junior Member
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    be safe reformat and reinstall.

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