for the last twenty four hrs i have fought bravely to save my computer! Failed miserably 6o/clock this morning

Question

had to format it.couldnt access my security my search facility couldnt be opened system restore kindly informed me they couldnt save me....files moving all over the placeand renaming themselves. it was probably the worst sober night of my life! I could download security onto my computer but then it would sit on my monitor and do nothing .any idea what it was ? and has it now gone i couldnt believe it ,it was a nightmare!

Answer 1

It sounds like Vitumonde to me. This nasty bit of adware attaches itself to your Win32 and fools your os into thinking it is just another Windows server. This is missed by most security programs for this reason, and duplicates with every reboot.
To rid yourself of this, run a search for virtumundobegone, then download the killbit software. This will cause a fatal error, but you simply restart your computer and it is clean. Then, go to your device manager to system restore. Uncheck it, then delete all system restore files, as you could well start the whole process over with the next restore operation if Virtumonde is stored there. Then recheck system restore, and install a new check point. After this, go to trendmicro.com and run their Housecall scan. This should clean your pc. Good luck! Btw, you want to open Dr Watson and send the error log file to Microsoft.com. They should analyze this for you and send back a report of findings.
~ Geek your mind; the rest will follow ~

Answer 2

Reformatting should only be the last drastic step you take.

Since you were able to download AV programs, you could have gone to an excellent online scan site and probably removed it. Here is the site. I recommend you bookmark or add to favorites.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Since you have AV and AS programs on your computer, I recommend you go here and download Cyberhawk. I will work with your AV and AS programs and stop Infection attempts before they get on your computer. I have been using it for 6 months now and haven't had one infection of anything. Two days ago the released the final full version and I had a shock in store for me. This final version has a counter of the Malware Infection attempts it stops. I learn that the Beta 5 verion I used for a month and a half had stopped 187 Infection attempts. In the last two day it has stopped 4 more infection attempt and is now at 191. It's up to you as to whether you use it. Since it's free, you can't beat the price.

http://www.novatix.com/Home.aspx

Answer 3

sorry to hear of your predicement,but thats what a virus can do to a computer,pure and simple
obviously you have access to the internet so your first plan of action will be to get security software to avoid this problem again in the future
firstly if you are running a genuine windows xp,you should make sure you get service pack 2 installed on your p.c,this sometimes comes in the form of a update,or you can go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx,this will give you all the info and the download link for the pack
next you need to get a good anti-virus,i would recommend a free scanner called avast avalible from http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html#3,this will protect you from all kinds of viruses,worms,trojans,and has 6 resident scanners running ,such as browser scanner,explorer scanner,and a p2p scanner ,for those of us who like to download the odd film from limewire.it also has free downloadable skins to add a little fun to virus scanning
although this program is free,you must register(free) within 60 days,but it will run as a demo until then
spyware is a ever-increasing scurge on the internet,and many scanners have been marketed to fight this problem,the problem is getting the right one
spybot is probally the most effective software avalible for fighting spyware and is avalible from http://www.safer-networking.org/,it has a unique imunize feature which makes your p.c immune to all the latest spyware ,as long as you keep it updated and imunized
finally adaware,is another spyware scanner but concentrates more on adware,it is avalible from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/,and is very good at detecting and cleaning the adware that causes pop-ups
all this software is free,so there is no excuse not to have security on your p.c,and remember...keep it updated!
good luck

Answer 4

Probably was a nasty virus. And yes, it is gone now since you reformatted the computer. But I suggest if you don't already go out and by a virus protection. Sometimes, the free downloads, aren't always as good. It's fine to download the spy-ware protections so as Yahoo anti-spy-ware or Windows Defender.

Answer 5

Sounds like a virus.

However, for what it's worth, a story of my own.

Back in 1973, when I passed my driving test, I had a year old Ford Escort, my first car. It was brilliant. Colour metalic bronze, interior black leather.

Fords were known for being poor cold starters then, and so on this very wintry day, a few weeks after passing my test, I couldn't start the car.

Now, being a psychic medium, who was trying not to be one then, I broke my own rule and called upon my late dad (he died in 1968) because he'd been a very skilled man in everyhting from maintenance of watches, up to aircraft.

There wasn't an engine or clockword thing, he couldn't repair, or find the fault inside.

"Come on Stan... please help me to get started."

The car sprang into life, much to my amazement.

I then drove out and onto the main road and turned toward the town. I'd got about a half mile when suddenly, the car engine stopped dead. Nothing that I did would make it start again.

I had to put my flashers on and then let traffic pass, angrily:-( and only after much had gone, did I notice that I'd stalled right opposite the very garage that my dad had apprenticed in, way back years beofre my birth.

The men were great, though they were too young to have known dad, they came across and wheeled the car in for me, sorted out the problems (? I'm no mechanic) and asked how the hell I'd got it started let alone to them, since whatever was wrong, (something needed replacing that cost me a few quid) should not have allowed the car to start at all.

Now... moving on from this, only one of many such experiences inside my life... I'd like to make a suggestion about machinery of all kinds, including your computer.

Everything we use, everything we make, everything we take for granted in our lives, originated from a living creature, or from residue of plants or animals or such, since the planet is a living force as well.

At one time, all that plastic was once oil, all that furniture was trees. Etc.

So inside everything we touch, are the spirits of these once sentient beings that lived on and in the earth.

Whenever my computer, or my current car, or any of my household objects, starts to play up, or die on me, I appeal to them directly inside my mind.

I thank them for the service that they give me, have given me before, and I promise to continue to respect them, to care for them, to appreciate the work they do for me... and amazingly, they are rejuvinated.

It's true, and it works for me... because I know that we are all interdependent on each other on this planet. Because I believe we are all part of one great whole through our creator.

Try it... but not in jest or test... believe and try and appreciate.

It works!

Answer 6

been there I FEEL YOUR PAIN since that time I use 2 hard drives, the master for programs and slave for files, in the event of total failure and need to reformat you lose your OS but no files or drivers as i make a copy on the slave hdd. My new computer I have 3 sata hdd programs, files, backup as the price of hdd have come down it is much cheaper to have redundant drives, I haven't figured out RAID yet but I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY

Answer 7

I had been under similar stress. Just one day without the anti virus forced me to format the system. Using microsoft defender (available from microsoft) and Norton Antivirus works fine for me

Answer 8

Hey, just for next time like, you can get anti virus

but you only get the viruses when you been on the porno sites

HaHaHa

Answer 9

I tried too. Not good. I was thinking of questions in my sleep!

Answer 10

is that really a question, or just a vent of frustration ?? :)