# might have a virus



## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

One day when I tried to turn it on it wouldn’t turn on, I tried a few times but it wouldn’t turn on.  Then about 45 minutes later I tried it again. And it sounded like it was working. So I walked away and did a couple things while the computer was starting up as I usually do and when I came back it was pretty much frozen, the clock was also frozen to the time  when I first turned on the button.  I held the button for a few seconds to shut it off and tried again but the same thing happened. 
 So then I called a friend hoping he could talk me through the F8 menu or the delete menu that you get by tapping those buttons at the beginning of startup.  Well we went through that and it said that 100% of the cpu was being used so we tried to shut some programs down and stuff and before we could finish going through that the computer shut down and the powers supply smelled like fried electronics so I am sure that it was shot, but after getting a new power supply I knew we would still have to fix the old problem. So I got another one put in and tried to work through those menus again (and this took a lot of time: for each click of the mouse to register sometimes took minutes) and this time we got through them but after restarting the computer, it was still doing the same thing.  I have a feeling that we somehow got some sort of virus on it the last time it was working properly that didn’t take effect until the next time I restarted the computer (like a lot of things on a computer) but I cannot be sure.  The problem is if it is a virus, I cannot really use any anti-virus program when the computer won’t function well enough to run it.  Maybe it isn’t even a virus, but either way. I need some help for more knowledgeable people than myself.


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## Flyordie (Mar 12, 2009)

Is the hard-drive churning alot...?


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## Mr.Amateur (Mar 12, 2009)

What kind of graphics are you using?  Integrated or a video card?


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

Flyordie said:


> Is the hard-drive churning alot...?



do you mean like the noise it makes when you first start the computer and the same one it makes when you start a task such as inserting a disk or something?
I don't heard that loud rapping sound like one hears in the computers from 10 or 15 years ago.  I have heard a time or two (usually if there is like a power outage or the computer would get disconnected from the wall accidentally or  something) but I don't recall hearing that sound recently


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

*Mr.Amateur * I am not sure what type of graphics we have.  Do you think one type or the other could cause problems when the computer starts to get a little older?


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## A Cheese Danish (Mar 12, 2009)

Are there any unusual noises going on when you power it up?
What was the power of both power supplies? the shot one and the current one?
Did you try to run a recovery of what operating system you are using? xp or vista? or older?


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

A Cheese Danish said:


> Are there any unusual noises going on when you power it up?
> What was the power of both power supplies? the shot one and the current one?
> Did you try to run a recovery of what operating system you are using? xp or vista? or older?



Nothing unusual that I noticed. 
the old, shot PSU was 250 and the new, working one is 350
I did not try the recovery.  I am not real sure I know how to do that.  does that involve using the CD's  also will I lose some files and stuff by doing that?  And can that even be done when the computer barely runs?


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## A Cheese Danish (Mar 12, 2009)

steven said:


> Nothing unusual that I noticed.
> the old, shot PSU was 250 and the new, working one is 350
> I did not try the recovery.  I am not real sure I know how to do that.  does that involve using the CD's  also will I lose some files and stuff by doing that?  And can that even be done when the computer barely runs?



You have to use the CD's that the OS is on. What Operating System are you using?
And no, Repair will, well, repair any bad files. Or if you get to the desktop, you could do a system restore. Depending on when you last had a restore point, you could lose files/programs.


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

A Cheese Danish said:


> You have to use the CD's that the OS is on. What Operating System are you using?
> And no, Repair will, well, repair any bad files. Or if you get to the desktop, you could do a system restore. Depending on when you last had a restore point, you could lose files/programs.



we have xp.  I haven't really been able to get to the desktop.  It shows up but with a black background and the icons don't respond, neither does the start menu.


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

Mr.Amateur said:


> What kind of graphics are you using?  Integrated or a video card?



 Integrated graphics


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## ChiSox (Mar 12, 2009)

Can you get to safe mode??? 

Ur files are fine as long as u don't reformat...


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

ChiSox said:


> Can you get to safe mode???
> 
> Ur files are fine as long as u don't reformat...



well I think that is what we went into after hitting the F8 key but everything was really slow and there was no desktop we had to get the task manager up I belive to do some of those things and it took forever because the computer would take minutes for each thing we tried to do and when we restarted in safe mode it was just frozen up it seemed we could only get into anything by tapping the keys after pushing the button on manually and then selecting something.


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## jagass (Mar 12, 2009)

Whoa...That's pretty bad...


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## ChiSox (Mar 12, 2009)

Well if you're dying to save your files you can get an external enclosure like this

It does sata or ide....it plugs in using usb and you can see all ur files like a flash drive....I would recommend u plug it into a comp that ur not to worried about because of the possible virus but I wouldn't be too worried....

After that I would format and reinstall windows...


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## tkpenalty (Mar 12, 2009)

steven said:


> One day when I tried to turn it on it wouldn’t turn on, I tried a few times but it wouldn’t turn on.  Then about 45 minutes later I tried it again. And it sounded like it was working. So I walked away and did a couple things while the computer was starting up as I usually do and when I came back it was pretty much frozen, the clock was also frozen to the time  when I first turned on the button.  I held the button for a few seconds to shut it off and tried again but the same thing happened.
> So then I called a friend hoping he could talk me through the F8 menu or the delete menu that you get by tapping those buttons at the beginning of startup.  Well we went through that and it said that 100% of the cpu was being used so we tried to shut some programs down and stuff and before we could finish going through that the computer shut down and the powers supply smelled like fried electronics so I am sure that it was shot, but after getting a new power supply I knew we would still have to fix the old problem. So I got another one put in and tried to work through those menus again (and this took a lot of time: for each click of the mouse to register sometimes took minutes) and this time we got through them but after restarting the computer, it was still doing the same thing.  I have a feeling that we somehow got some sort of virus on it the last time it was working properly that didn’t take effect until the next time I restarted the computer (like a lot of things on a computer) but I cannot be sure.  The problem is if it is a virus, I cannot really use any anti-virus program when the computer won’t function well enough to run it.  Maybe it isn’t even a virus, but either way. I need some help for more knowledgeable people than myself.




Try something such as replacing the battery on the motherboard, this is usually overlooked.


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## denice25 (Mar 12, 2009)

pretty bad...i think you have to recheck the video card if it is still in good condition or nedd to be replaced if it's the one that you're using..


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## D007 (Mar 12, 2009)

Run the XP installation Cd..

put the XP cd in.

reboot the pc..

hit Escape until you get the boot menu up.
say boot from CD.

when it asks you "for the first time"
weather you want to repair using recovery console or install XP..
say install XP..

another option will come up later asking you if you want to repair or install a fresh copy of XP..
choose "repair" at that time..

do not choose install a fresh copy at that time or your installing all new files, for a new OS, on a new partition.
Unless you delete the existing partition and use that space.

Then just follow the prompts.
it will repair XP..

if you want to reformat windows and reinstall xp on a clean HD.
just choose install a fresh copy of windows that second time.
"when I said say repair".

then delete the existing partition by doing what it tellls you to do..
then follow the prompts to install XP..

it will prompt you to format the partition again..
I recommend you don't choose quick..
takes a bit to format long, but it's better.
even if only by a little bit.

if you have a 200 GB HD.. take about an hour.
give or take..

if your going to be online you have to have an antivirus..
even a free one..
something..

guys here know of some very good free ones.
ask around. 
good luck..


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

tkpenalty said:


> Try something such as replacing the battery on the motherboard, this is usually overlooked.


I didn't even realize there were batteries to be replaced.  is there a certain battery that usually causes this type of problem.  how much does it cost to replace this battery?


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## erocker (Mar 12, 2009)

steven said:


> I didn't even realize there were batteries to be replaced.  is there a certain battery that usually causes this type of problem.  how much does it cause to replace this battery?



You can get them anywhere.  The part # is usually 2032.  They look like a watch battery but are about the size of a quarter.


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

denice25 said:


> pretty bad...i think you have to recheck the video card if it is still in good condition or nedd to be replaced if it's the one that you're using..



I don't think we have a video card.  If the problem is related to this would that mean it is probably not a viral problem?


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

ChiSox said:


> Well if you're dying to save your files you can get an external enclosure like this
> 
> It does sata or ide....it plugs in using usb and you can see all ur files like a flash drive....I would recommend u plug it into a comp that ur not to worried about because of the possible virus but I wouldn't be too worried....
> 
> After that I would format and reinstall windows...



I really don;t have anything else to plug it into that I would feel comfortable with in case there is a virus.  but I don't know for sure if this is a virus and what virus it is and if another computer would be protected from it.  when you say you wouldn't be too worried, is that becasue you really don't think it is a virus, or that even if it is you think it would be hard for that virus to install itself into another computer even if it didn't have great anti-virus software?


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## steven (Mar 12, 2009)

D007 said:


> Run the XP installation Cd...good luck..



so will following these steps still allow all me to not lose any files?

And also does it sound like this *is* a virus and running the installation cd is sometimes a necessary fix for viruses or is there another reason that running the installation cd might be the best course of action.


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## A Cheese Danish (Mar 12, 2009)

steven said:


> so will following these steps still allow all me to not lose any files?
> 
> And also does it sound like this *is* a virus and running the installation cd is sometimes a necessary fix for viruses or is there another reason that running the installation cd might be the best course of action.



It sounds like you either; a. have a very terrible virus, or b. have a ton of screwed up programs.
Yes, if you run the XP cd and click the Repair option, you will NOT lose any files.


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## BroBQ (Mar 17, 2009)

Since your computer powers on... You need to search for spyware.

If you can get to the desktop, hit CTLR-ALT-DELETE
this will open the task manage, click on processes at the top and see what the number of processes you have open. You can see this number at the bottom left of the task manager window. For a desktop, You shouldn't have anymore then 35 running. 

You should at least start with combofix then spybot

The best way to scan for this is to connect your hdd as a slave on another machine and scan the drive.

I would use the following:

combofix (http://www.combofix.org/)
spybot
superantispyware
spyware terminator

there are some other good programs, but this will get you started. Whenever I go out to a clients home or business for a spyware call I always remove the HDD from their pc and connect it to my laptop and scan. Works very well. Keep in mind... After you remove the spyware and can actually get back into windows, there will be some other things to work on.


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## steven (Mar 21, 2009)

Morrison5891 said:


> Since your computer powers on... You need to search for spyware.
> 
> If you can get to the desktop, hit CTLR-ALT-DELETE
> this will open the task manage, click on processes at the top and see what the number of processes you have open. You can see this number at the bottom left of the task manager window. For a desktop, You shouldn't have anymore then 35 running.
> ...



I did the Ctrl+Alt+Delete thing, but in safe mode.  I cannot remember the exact number processes that were open but I think those were all of the little programs we were trying to shut off, does that sound right?  Anyway I was told by the guy at the place where I bought the power supply that often there are other spyware programs that don't show up in those lists.

I just was able to get my hands on the restore cd's a couple of days ago, was going to try that tonight and came on here to let everyone know where I was at with it so they didn't think I just ignored all their advice and see when I saw the additional posts.  So I am wondering should I still try using the restore cd's or are they probably not going to work anyway because of the slowness of the computer?


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## A Cheese Danish (Mar 21, 2009)

Try the restore discs, but remember to boot from the cd first. That should take you through a menu or two and then will finally restore.


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## steven (Mar 23, 2009)

Okay I hit the escape key got to a menu that looked like this


System Restore Menu / WINDOWS XP
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------​
      1. RESTORE WINDOWS XP
      2. BOOT TO COMMAND PROMPT FROM CD-ROM

Please select 1 or 2:  [1,2]?


And I typed 2 and then  it looked like this:



System Restore Menu / WINDOWS XP
------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------​
      1. RESTORE WINDOWS XP
      2. BOOT TO COMMAND PROMPT FROM CD-ROM

Please select 1 or 2:  [1,2]?2

A:\>_  


with the little blank blinking and it stayed like this for a very long time
I hit 2 again after a couple minutes  but nothing happened so then after about 5 minutes I hit enter to see if that would do anything but still no response
My restore disks are in drives D and E I believe; I am  not sure if that is relevant to the A:> thing popping up.  I left it like that to see if anything would happen but after an hour  and a half I figured nothing probably was going to happen and I didn’t want to risk overheating the computer.  I did not sound like the cd’s were spinning during that time, however the fan ran continuously.

When I did shut it down it went off the moment I pushed the button.  So then I tried to do it again thinking maybe I had to restart it with the button to get things to work, but  same thing.  I tried this a couple of times and I noticed that it didn’t matter if I tapped any key at all, it opened in the same menu.  So although the prompt are similar to what was suggested, I wonder if I even got the right menu that I was supposed to get with the escape key.  I am starting to become fearful this is not going to work.  Also since I had two cd-sized drives I put one restore disk in each one, should I only put the first restore disk in and hope that I get a prompt to switch to the second one later.  
One more thing after all the above stuff was typed I was getting ready to post it. the computer that I have been trying to fix just turned on and the fan wasn’t running I hope I didn’t burn out the new power supply as well.  I pushed and held the button this time, but had to actually unplug it to shut it off this time.


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## blobster21 (Mar 23, 2009)

well you typed 2 and you got what you asked for : the command prompt (that's a:\> )

the command prompt does nothing, it merely waits for your commands, to make a long story short nothing was going to happen, EVER...



> System Restore Menu / WINDOWS XP
> ------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...



You were supposed to hit 1 to restore your operating system...


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## steven (Mar 24, 2009)

I thought there was supposed to be a "boot from cd"  option and this one seemed the closest to that.  I was afraid 1 would restore but delete any files that I saved on it, Is that not the case?


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## A Cheese Danish (Mar 24, 2009)

No, it will only restore damaged system files. It will do nothing to the other files you have saved.


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## steven (Mar 24, 2009)

*gonna try again*

okay, I am going to give it a try so long as nothing got burned out from before


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## steven (Mar 24, 2009)

*not good*

As soon as I plug it in the light in the front comes on and the fan runs kind of slow in the back but not like it is suppose to (I had to look to see it moving: no noise but the computer doesn't even turn on, so I think I burned out the new power supply but I will leave the computer completely disconnected from the wall for a few days to see if it works differently then, sometimes that works when my dvd player messes up.  I really wish I hadn't been so patient with the computer this time around and would have just shut it off after 5 minutes


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