Curse

ronronron · Aug 05, 2006, 10:36 PM // 22:36

I tryed to download a movie last night on my laptop and I think I got a virus intsead. what can i do?

If i wipe my harddrive would that work? and if so how do i do that?

currently on my laptop i can get up to the windows xp log in screen and when i try to load my desktop nothing happens. ( no icons pop up nor does the menu bar at the bottem. but i can see the background of my desktop.)

any help would be appretiated.

Refyused · Aug 05, 2006, 10:53 PM // 22:53

Sounds to me like your explorer.exe isn't fully loading. If you just re-install windows without formatting, it should boot up. Once it boots up I recommend using a variety of virus scanners, as well as some spy/adware scanners.

Here are some tools you can use after re-installing windows.

http://www.freeav.com - In my opinion the best AV I've ever used. Low resource usage, more effective than the "mainstream" AVs.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com - Download Ad-Aware SE. Spyware & adware detector and eliminator, best I've used.

Also do an online scan or two. If you go to google.com and search for "FRee online virus scan" you should get a few good results, like Pandasoft, for example.

Let me know how it works out.

NOTE: Wiping your harddrive would eliminate EVERYTHING, including your operating system. Re-installing can save you a few steps and a lot of lost data, assuming you do the proper scans afterward. It's a good idea to scan everything you download before using it, there are all kinds of malicious files you'd never expect to be hit with.

Tarun · Aug 05, 2006, 11:00 PM // 23:00

You may wish to download my Anti-Malware Professional package and Avast Anti-Virus. Everything there is free. :P

Next, follow the PC Maintenance Guide to help clean up your computer. If you still are having issues, let me know.

Stockholm · Aug 05, 2006, 11:04 PM // 23:04

You can also start in SAFE MODE by pressing F8 at bootup and run virus program from there.

awesome sauce · Aug 06, 2006, 04:15 AM // 04:15

when you start up and your background is brought up press ctrl alt delete then go to file--> new task--> type "explorer.exe".

ronronron · Aug 06, 2006, 09:38 AM // 09:38

Yes, I was useing the task manager(ctrl+atl-delete) to try to fix the problem and was accessing the internet and stuff. Also explorer.exe was running the whole time but it was maxing out close to 100%.

I downloaded on of the free malware programs someone recommened but the computer wasn't able to locate it after it finished the download.

After a while of screwing around I ended up getting a fatal system error. As i asked before would wiping my computer fix this new problem? I understand it would erase all of my data.

Im in a very large pickle, plz help

Tarun · Aug 06, 2006, 03:11 PM // 15:11

Yes, it would fix the problem, but you can boot into Safe Mode with Networking and fix it easily and not lose any of your data.

Refyused · Aug 06, 2006, 07:12 PM // 19:12

It'd be much easier to follow the advice already given here, skipping NONE of the steps, to fix your problem.

But to answer your question: YES, it would fix your problem, but you'd also have to make sure you have a way to install your operating system again afterward.

ronronron · Aug 07, 2006, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Thankyou to everyone that helped me, ive gotten the problem undercontrol and my computer up and running again.

safe mode FTW! Thanks again, untill next time haha