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Thread: I believe I've been HACKED! Need Help From Linux & Win XP Experts

  1. #1

    Unhappy I believe I've been HACKED! Need Help From Linux & Win XP Experts

    I used Partition Magic 8.0 to do dual booting - Windows XP Home Edition & Red Hat Linux 8.0 Professional Edition.

    I downloaded a MPEG file from Kazaa & opened the file without scanning with my Norton Anti Virus which I usually did. Later, when I switched on my PC I received this message.:

    "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this. If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files & folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that works. If a previous start up attempt was interrupted due to a power failure or because the Power or Reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows Normally.

    Safe Mode
    Safe Mode with Networking
    Safe Mode Command Prompt
    Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked)
    Start Windows Normally. "


    I tried every option but the box keeps on looping between Red Hat Linux Grub loader & Win XP Home Edition. After the Win XP logo there is a long message in the blue screen which I could not read as it appeared in a split second. All I can see is some hexadecimal numbers. I could not gain access to my Win XP. I have to opt for Red Hat Linux to get into my PC.

    I do not want to call Dell technical support as I installed Linux without their recommendation. The most they could do is to ask me to reformat my hard disk & reinstall my Win XP again. I don't want to do that as there are many important files in my Win XP. Furthermore, I have to spend a few days to reinstall all the softwares like Macromedia softwares, Visual Studio, etc .

    I hope someone out there could help me as I really regret trying out Red Hat Linux because I do not know what to do. I am using Red Hat Linux now to type this because my Win XP is not working.

    Thank you in advance.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    you can try re-installing WinXP without doing a full restore, but that depends on if you have a full version XP disc or not. You'll also have to use a boot disk to get into linux, and you'll have to reinstall Grub.

    installing this way will keep your progs (for the most part) intact.



    advice: don't use kazaa anymore. It's full of viruses, and strays pretty far from secure.
    i\'m starting to think that i\'m bound to always be the first guy on the second page of the thread.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Wazz's Avatar
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    If you are able to boot from your Windows XP CD, do it and choose Recovery Console. Do a Bootfix or Fix /MBR. I would also do a Chkdsk from there. This should rebuild your Master Boot Record for XP if nothing to drastic happened. Your RedHat will probably still be intact also, Good Luck!
    "It is a shame that stupidity is not painful" - Anton LaVey

  4. #4
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    you may not have been hacked, or caught a virus, but it is likely. One question do you have a USB digital camera?

    Originally posted here by Wazz
    If you are able to boot from your Windows XP CD, do it and choose Recovery Console. Do a Bootfix or Fix /MBR. I would also do a Chkdsk from there. This should rebuild your Master Boot Record for XP if nothing to drastic happened. Your RedHat will probably still be intact also, Good Luck!

    Build a working copy of grub onto a floppy before you do a fix /mbr or fdisk /mbr, as that will blow out grub
    Who is more trustworthy then all of the gurus or Buddha’s?

  5. #5
    Yes, I have USB camera but not digital camera. It is a web cam that I used in Yahoo chat. I also have external Hard Disk using USB port, Wacom Tablet also using USB & also a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse using USB. Is the Web Cam the culprit? Please let me know. Thanks.

  6. #6
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    I am not sure on the web cam, I get the same problem on XP if I boot with my sony digital camera pluged in and turned on. Before you blow out XP try to boot with the devices removed form your system (this is how I useualy trouble shoot, keep plling a device one at a time untill it works...if that dosn't work then look to the software.)
    Who is more trustworthy then all of the gurus or Buddha’s?

  7. #7
    The Iceman Cometh
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    Do a Bootfix or Fix /MBR. I would also do a Chkdsk from there. This should rebuild your Master Boot Record for XP if nothing to drastic happened. Your RedHat will probably still be intact also, Good Luck!
    Like BBallad said, I would really suggest that you not follow these instructuctions. If you do fix mbr from the recovery console, you will lose the ability to start Linux, because your GRUB loader will be removed from the master boot record. Just some advice.

    AJ

  8. #8
    Senior Member Wazz's Avatar
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    quote: "I hope someone out there could help me as I really regret trying out Red Hat Linux because I do not know what to do. I am using Red Hat Linux now to type this because my Win XP is not working". I assumed he wasn't that concerned with trashing Linux...perhaps not..my mistake.
    "It is a shame that stupidity is not painful" - Anton LaVey

  9. #9
    Ok in my opinion, the problem are not USB devices a like, but i think have's to see the software you've donwloaded from kazaa. Not because a virus or hakers things but remember that not all the software are up-to-date to the Operative Systems, so the software maybe has changed any library that usualy windows Xp has or are trying to start the software at boot time an makes windows go the hell.

    Ok, my sugestion is if you can boot on Redhat, do and look to youre NTFS partition to check where the software you downloaded is and try to abruptly erase from youre system or just rename to test my theory. If the system cant find the problematic file maybe just report you and let you get in. So try and dont do things like "fdisk /mbr" or "Reinstall youre system", untill this is totaly necesary. we are here to gave you quality solutions, or wath ever comes to ower minds.

    xDrack

  10. #10
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    I agree With waiting on the OS reinstall untill a last resort, But I woulkd start with Hard ware...a good rule of thumb is to rule out the easiest fix first then work your way towards more complex problems
    Who is more trustworthy then all of the gurus or Buddha’s?

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