DANGEROUS VIRUS!!!

Our courts paper service computer got hit with a VERY nasty virus. Had to replace the 'puter! Here it is in a nutshell:

Something will come on your screen like "Windows XP restore"

AS FAST AS YOU CAN HOLD DOWN THE ON/OFF SWITCH UNTIL YOUR COMPUTER GOES OFF!

IF you get a dark screen and it starts saying something about "C drive error" or something like that YOUR HARD DRIVE IS FRIED AND CAN NOT BE REFORMATTED/REPAIRED IN ANY WAY.

Supposedly Norton has a fix for this but I am not 100 percent sure.

PLAY IT SAFE. IF you get something like this check with a computer pro!

Thanks for the warning. I updated my Virus protection just in case.

my girlfriend got this on her computer once, what it does it shuts your comp off then when you log in it'll take that password and use it to change your settings to not view hidden items, then it'll change all your items to hidden (so they dont show) then it says your harddrives broken and "all your data is gone" and tries to charge you $$$ to fix it. If you pay for it, it goes away.

Good luck running norton, it'll probably boot you out of it if you logged in and gave it your password.

A way to fix it:

If you have dual-boot or partition on your HD, just run malwarebytes scan on the partition, otherwise mount the drive to another computer and run a scan through that, you will have about a 0.01% chance of getting a successful scan on the infected drive

(a lot of computers you can just mount as a "external storage" then you can scan it.. just look up what your mobo startup key is to put it in storage mode, or if you have the knowledge (pretty easy) just remove the hard drive and directly mount it on a diff computer (this is what i did)

Thats sometimes the only way. But its way above the novice.

That sounds like a nasty virus. I wonder if its running the exe through java script or active x and if it requires interaction. A lot of time the whole pop up is a button. I tell people to CTRL-SHIFT-ESC and kill the task in task manager (I don't like to use CTRL-ALT-DEL). Now everytime my wife gets a pop up that says. "YOUR INFECTED, or CLICK HERE TO RUN VIRUS SCAN" she stops and calls me to stop it before it starts.

Viruses are a tricky thing and as soon as we find ways around them someone makes up a new way to trick you.

Randy, I forgot to say thanks for the warning. Thats a good catch and its always a good thing when people share this kind of info, because most people and businesses don't have a active backup plan.

+1 Amigo.

ZOOG, from what I understand this is a BRAND NEW rendition. Supposedly Norton itself says that the hard drive, once the infection takes hold is totally fried.

avast is a good early warning anti virus system, however it doesn't always stop viruses. malwarebytes is a must to have and pays to use it and update it regularly. superantispyware is must always too.

things like this made me new customers. My current customers were schooled better.

Any business without a backup solution doesn't have a good IT guy/company.

+1 malwarebytes

I'll be sure to tell all of the PC owners I know that there is another virus out there. My mom managed to get one on my dad's laptop. Not cool... I'm glad I made the switch to Mac.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

malware is now hitting macs, and apple said they won't help if you get a virus.

Hey B52, how you doin? Long time no type.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the heads up

Dan

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Zogg, SPOT ON. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

All Dogs should have a dual boot ability. It is child's play to set up.
Stops ... well.... any virus I ever had.

Don't know how effective it is for the rest of the world, but three times since 1988 I have had my "Root Directory" tossed out by a sneaky virus programmer. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I have ALWAYS used a dual boot system to cover myself. No damage ever done that a simple choice of which Dir to boot from saved the day.
Then it's just a matter of formatting from that 1 drive system and ALL the evil goes away. I have always used a external hard drive for all my back ups. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Point two; Wise men keep a CD back up of their most precious program files,photos, etc. If you can afford a few dollars more...
use a external hard drive to store the special things you would lose if you were ever attacked. Isolating the near and dear things outside your computer is a wise option. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Peace,
David

I usually run a linux, but with my newest laptop I have been lazy and using the standard Win7 load. This is a nice reminder to make that linux partition.

For those that run into issues, there are free USB disk bootable Linux OS loads that could be used to access a badly infected machine. Just need a 2GB or larger USB key and a second computer to set it up. I have used Ubuntu Linux for that.

On the Mac you have to manually install it basically. It's not a virus but scareware that tricks you into installing it. Apple WILL assist in removing it even if you are out of support, that was not the case when it first hit, but now that Apple knows what it is they are letting the support staff assist with removing it. Microsoft doesn't assist with removing viruses either so I'm not sure why people are knocking Apple for not supporting removing what is essentially a 3rd party application that the tech doesn't know what it does or where it installs files. However, they are now assisting with removing it if it was installed.

My roommate just got something like this, it started out saying "hard drive failure" with a bunch of "buy this" to fix it programs. After reset it would start loading windows then only show a blue screen. Had to go into safe mode and restore to last update, it worked but took several hours to fully clean out.

When ever I get a crazy virus I go here for help:

http://forums.maddoktor2.com/index.php

Its free to everyone. Since there staff is small it might take a few days for a reply. They have solved all my virus problems. If they can't fix your problem best thing to do is wipe your hard drive and start fresh.

L4D, for some reason and some how, I was told that you COULD NOT reformat your drive, that it was totally dead.

Thanks for the warning! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I have a hard time understanding how a reformat would not resolve a software issue. I might be missing something though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I´m not native english speaker so there might be a possible misunderstanding in terms but anyway: remember to use firewall programs parallel with your virus scanners. Also remember to keep your firewalls updated. I´ve had only one virus in my computer since I started to use firewall.

You should keep in mind that the best firewall and virus protection is your brain and common sense! I´ve won only once in a lottery in my life, but in the internet I can be "The Lucky Winner" six times in a row just in one day!

T1, You are correct Sir! And thank you for your input!

Is your avatar your actual family Coat of Arms or just something you found?

If It IS your COA, could you explain it?

Thank You

Randy

Ted I know my Computer understand is limited, but i don't understand it either.
All I know is he said that the hard drive could not be "Fixed".

Well, reformatting and reinstalling the OS on the hard drive isn't fixing it. It's removing the old OS on it and replacing with a new one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

That said, new hard drives are cheap. You shouldn't have had to replace the entire computer.

Yup I think that some information is missing here, just not sure what it is. All I know is that it was NOT this computer they had to replace.

SkunkHunter, my avatar is the coat of arms of the state of Finland. So as a finnish person I tought I have the right to use it.

Very nice and also Patriotic!