virus

[jac1791]

hi can anyone help-- i downloaded a screensaver and got trojan horse virus!!! it keeps restarting my pc whenever i go to log on -- i dont get time to go into my start menu so can do nothing with the pc at all ( this is my daughters one im using)
any ideas on how to get rid and be able to get onto pc would be great
thx

[pedromcgrory]

best bet would be to take it to the new computer shop in wick we have heard so much about on here ,check forum back about a month or two and you should find his email address

[halkirk1]

Hi there,

I wouldn't bother going to the shop in Wick.

Their prices are obscene and will only charge you for something that takes a few minutes to get rid of.

Firstly start your PC in safe mode.

When the PC is up and running run your anti virus software.

This should get rid of it.

If not, go into your temp folder and empty it.

Most viruses download into this folder.

Best of luck.

[Doolally]

Do you have any idea of which virus it is? Do you get any error message on screen?

[Saveman]

hi can anyone help-- i downloaded a screensaver and got trojan horse virus!!! it keeps restarting my pc whenever i go to log on -- i dont get time to go into my start menu so can do nothing with the pc at all ( this is my daughters one im using)
any ideas on how to get rid and be able to get onto pc would be great
thx

Hey Jac,
Viruses are a pain in the neck eh?
When you do get it up and running you'd be best to download AVG Free Edition and/or AntiVir Guard Personal Edition.
Also some sort of Firewall is advisable.
You can PM for more details if you need them...

[jac1791]

hi , i can not get into safe mode. how do i go about this - someone said go to F2 - done that but didnt know what to do next - any help would be great -- thx

[halkirk1]

To start your PC in safe mode:

Switch off your pc then reboot it.

As soon as you reboot your pc keep hitting the F8 key, then select start in safe mode.

Once you have done this your pc will start with the minimum of drivers.

Run your anti virus software.

Once it has finished scanning your pc, shutdown your pc and then just start as normal.

Kind regards.

[jac1791]

hi,
iv been trying this but cant get F8 to work - i can get into F2 but thats about it!!!! H E L P

[EDDIE]

If your trying to get your computer into safemode start the computer up and let it half load up then switch the power off and the computer will think its crashed and should start up in safe mode i no its rough but if needs must.

[Saveman]

hi,
iv been trying this but cant get F8 to work - i can get into F2 but thats about it!!!! H E L P

Jac,
You may need to reinstall windows if the virus has really messed up your system.

Its fairly straightforward doing this, unless you have a lot of pics or documents you don't want deleted. Its still fairly straight forward but you need to know what your doing...

[jac1791]

i dont want to lose all my pics/documents really - but i got F8 to work so now just going through step by step -- fingers crossed!!
thanks for all the advice folks! x

[jjc]

i downloaded a screensaver and got trojan horse virus!!! it keeps restarting my pc whenever i go to log on -- i dont get time to go into my start menu so can do nothing with the pc at all
Hi Jac.

Do you get some kind of a message to tell you this is a virus, or are you just guessing?

You definitely want to boot in safe mode and run your anti-virus scan, but it’s also worth considering the alternatives.

You say that your PC reboots when you log in and you don’t get time to go into any menus. This makes me think that you do get to see the desktop. If your new screensaver was one that required an install then there’s a good chance that it is slightly more complex than a simple .scr file and that it has its own processes running in the background. If that is the case then where you say your PC reboots is where I’d expect these processes to start. It’s possible that rather than a virus you just have a badly written screensaver application that is causing your system to panic. When you get the PC up in safe mode you should uninstall the screensaver. Hopefully there’s an entry in the ‘Add or Remove Programs’ option of Control Panel, but if not you could try looking in your start menu for a new group relating to the screensaver.

As others have pointed out, you should be able to get into Safe Mode by pressing F8 when your PC boots. You say F2 works but F8 doesn’t; how long did you leave it for? F2 will take you into your BIOS setup and that is a function of your computer so it happens right at the beginning of the boot process. F8 is a windows function and it works whilst the Windows ‘splash screen’ is up. If you haven’t already done this, try booting again and this time keep pressing F8 from the moment you see the first mention of Windows right up until the desktop comes up. Hopefully that will get you into Safe Mode.

Hope that helps.

JJC

[jjc]

Oh good, I see you got F8 to work. Fingers crossed for the rest of it :)

[scorrie]

hi can anyone help-- i downloaded a screensaver and got trojan horse virus!!! it keeps restarting my pc whenever i go to log on -- i dont get time to go into my start menu so can do nothing with the pc at all ( this is my daughters one im using)
any ideas on how to get rid and be able to get onto pc would be great
thx

First thing to consider is which version of windows you are using? If you have a late enough version of windows you will be able to try a system restore, certainly a lot less dramatic than a re-install of windows.

I would recommend trying to operate from safe mode first, if this is not possible then a boot disk should allow you to restore your system to something workable. It is basically like going back and operating from DOS. Then you can try installing anti-virus and spyware killers. If you don't have a boot disk it can be created from the internet for free for every possible version of windows. Trying to re-install windows is to be avoided. On some versions of windows you need to disable the restore function in order to remove viruses properly because the system restore thinks the file is something you need and it is re-installed.

[jac1791]

hi
I am running windows xp - not the home edition - the other one
i got F8 to work - clicked safe mode - went right through it and bloody virus wont delete!!! program foung trojan horse but I cant get rid of it!!!! HELP

[bobbyjoeufb]

2 things you could try, first try windows restore.

If that does not work go to the website that provides your aint virus software, they normaly have a procedure to remove the trojan from your pc, or tool that you can download and this will remove it for you.

[pedromcgrory]

just incase u dont know how to do a system restore try once you boot in safe mode click start, then run then type in msconfig.exe under genral tab you will see launch system restore just restore it to previous month or so when it was fine ,

[scorrie]

hi
I am running windows xp - not the home edition - the other one
i got F8 to work - clicked safe mode - went right through it and bloody virus wont delete!!! program foung trojan horse but I cant get rid of it!!!! HELP

You need to turn off system restore. Right click on My Computer and select properties. Click the System restore tab and check the box to turn off system restore. This will delete all previous restore points but if you have tried a restore and it hasn't fixed the problem then you need to get shot of the lot of them. Click apply and then reboot your PC in safe mode. Once you have run your virus checker it normally finds no virus in my experience. Also run any spyware killers. Once you have a clean PC reboot normally and when you are happy all is well you can turn the sytem restore back on. This process has worked for me on several PCs running Windows XP and Windows ME

[jac1791]

thx - ill try these things now!!

[jac1791]

Nothing seems to be working - I can get into safe mode but I'v still got the VIRUS!!!!!!!!

[rfr10]

Have you created a virus rescue disk, this can be done by using the antivirus software installed on your computer. If you have one, shut your computer down, ensert the disk, turn the computer on and the programme should automatically boot and start scanning your system for viruses. Do you receive a message that lets you know that your machine will restart in a matter of seconds? If you do, this problem will be easy to solve. Let me know.

[rfr10]

You are quite sure that it's not your power supply that is the problem? There is a chance that something may be shorting out which will definitly cause your PC to restart. It could also be because the ScreenSaver program is using up too much of your computers memory capacity, even though it's just a screensaver, are you sure it was a safe site you downloaded it from? If you had enough time to to this before your computer restarts, you should try- opening control panel, open system, click on advanced tab, then click on the settings button under Startup and Recovery, under "system failure" untick the box which says Automatically restart. I assume you can't do this though? This next action should be taken ASAP when your computer is started. If it is a virus which is causing your computer to shut down, click START, RUN and type "shutdown -a" if this does not solve the problem, then it is unlikely to be a virus.

[jjc]

Nothing seems to be working - I can get into safe mode but I'v still got the VIRUS!!!!!!!!
Jac,

Just checking, but have you deinstalled the screensaver?

Also, do you mean that once in Safe Mode your PC still reboots, or do you mean that you have got into Safe Mode but can't clean the virus?

If the latter then what does your virus scanner say about the virus? A Trojan Horse is a type of virus, not a virus in itself - it would be helpful if you could tell us the name of the virus that you have (your virus scanner should tell you). Also, what file(s) does the scanner say is infected?

Thanks,

JJC

[jac1791]

hi - i cant find anything out about it as once pop up appears saying trojan horse it re starts== i really dont know anything about pc's!!! does it show

[jjc]

hi - i cant find anything out about it as once pop up appears saying trojan horse it re starts== i really dont know anything about pc's!!! does it show
Don't suppose you can remember where you got the screensaver from? I have a 'spare' PC here that I can install it on and see what's what.

Cheers,

JJC

[rfr10]

Try doing what I said then. As soon as you see the message, go to RUN and type "shutdown -a" this will stop all the messages that tell your system to shut down and restart.

[jac1791]

got it fixed tonight - thx for everyones help - had about 20 viruses!!!!!