Windows help. PLEASE!

Frank Browne

Frank Browne

Final Approach
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A few weeks ago I started having a malware issue with my PC at home. I am very...shall we say...confused by PC's. I tried everything I knew (which isn't much) to get rid of this thing. It is called "Spyquake". Microsoft Anti-Spyware doesn't even see it, and Spybot sees it, but will not fix it. On the advice of a guy at Comcast, I downloaded adaware and ran that. It seemed to work, but as soon as I launched an application after running it, my machine crashed. Doing a restart it would not boot up Windows. It tells me to put the Windows disk in the cd-rom but the machine came with Windows XP pre-installed so I don't have a disk.
Questions....

1. Is my machine toasted, or can it be saved?
2. Does doing a "restore" delete all my collected files? (Music, photos etc.)
3. Does doing a restore get rid of applications installed? I have not ever done a restore, so presumably it would restore the machine to it's "new" configuration. I dunno.
 
Using a windows CD, you can sometimes repair the system without losing data. Otherwise, the best course of action is to attach the hard drive via an external enclosure to your mac and download all of your needed files then reformating and reinstalling windows. Seems harsh, but if you can do that on your own, you're saving time and money that would end up going to a PC Tech who is basically going to do the same thing.
 
mikea said:
All ya gots to do is Google:
http://www.spywareremove.com/removeSpyQuake.html
http://forum.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_virus&message.id=52210
http://pcpitstop.ibforums.com/lofiversion/index.php/t114386.html

The easiest thing to do is try HijackThis or the automatic script at the frist link. Editing the registry is not for the faint of heart.

DO NOT give it to Geek Squad if you want keep your stuff.

A Mac Mini is $800 and can't get stuff like this.
Click to expand...

I did that and got the same sites. Unfortunately here at work on a G5 mac it does me no good. I can't download anything at home because it won't boot up windows. Believe me, I wish I had a Mac at home.
 
Frank Browne said:
I did that and got the same sites. Unfortunately here at work on a G5 mac it does me no good. I can't download anything at home because it won't boot up windows. Believe me, I wish I had a Mac at home.
Click to expand...
*sigh* You could burn a Knoppix CD at work and boot on that, but getting anything done from there will also be not trivial. I would use that to get your data off. You might Google to find some guidance on doing Windows rescue using Knoppix Linux.

A BART PE CD lets you Windows from a CD similarly. http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
You need a full copy of Windows, which of course, you didn't get with the computer.
I don't know of any free BART images. You can buy buy one, but they're usually priced for commerical PC fixers.
http://avast.com/eng/how-to-buy-avast-bart-cd.html

I suggest you try callling a local PC support company. See if they seem to know know what a BART PE CD is. Geek Squad types are the $10 an hour resinstall Windows solutions.
 
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Frank Browne said:
A few weeks ago I started having a malware issue with my PC at home. I am very...shall we say...confused by PC's. I tried everything I knew (which isn't much) to get rid of this thing. It is called "Spyquake". Microsoft Anti-Spyware doesn't even see it, and Spybot sees it, but will not fix it. On the advice of a guy at Comcast, I downloaded adaware and ran that. It seemed to work, but as soon as I launched an application after running it, my machine crashed. Doing a restart it would not boot up Windows. It tells me to put the Windows disk in the cd-rom but the machine came with Windows XP pre-installed so I don't have a disk.
Questions....

1. Is my machine toasted, or can it be saved?
2. Does doing a "restore" delete all my collected files? (Music, photos etc.)
3. Does doing a restore get rid of applications installed? I have not ever done a restore, so presumably it would restore the machine to it's "new" configuration. I dunno.
Click to expand...

There should have been a set CDs with the machine, assuming you bought it new. If you bought it used you may be able to get a recovery CD from the manufacturer.
 
gmwalk said:
There should have been a set CDs with the machine, assuming you bought it new. If you bought it used you may be able to get a recovery CD from the manufacturer.
Click to expand...
The point is he doens't want to lose everything he did since eh PC was new. Often the recovery CDs just restore a disk image of the dsk as it left the factory. There will have been a lot of Windows updates, new programs, and perosnal data since then.
 
There are many times where you can't delete spyware files in windows normal mode. Try starting in safemode. (start>run>msconfig>BOOT.INI>Check"safeboot") Then you can try running spybot...if it doesnt work then try deleting the file manually.

System restore or C: wipeout should be last resort.

Another thing is: If you know the name of the trojan or virus, search it on google and see if anyone has a similar problem and solution.
 
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flyerny said:
There are many times where you can't delete spyware files in windows normal mode. Try starting in safemode. (start>run>msconfig>BOOT.INI>Check"safeboot") Then you can try running spybot...if it doesnt work then try deleting the file manually.

System restore or C: wipeout should be last resort.

Another thing is: If you know the name of the trojan or virus, search it on google and see if anyone has a similar problem and solution.
Click to expand...
Yeah.. I forgot to mention that even if "it doesn't boot" you may be able to boot into safe mode. Hold the F8 key when you see the Windows logo and it should offer you a boot menu. Choose "prompt on load" or whatever it says. Then say no to most things especially if you don't recognize it. Use that list of what is the spyware to know what to look for, although they're known to make repeated attempts to get their stuff loaded.

You may not have network connectivity and the screen will be in VGA mode.
 
gmwalk said:
There should have been a set CDs with the machine, assuming you bought it new. .....
Click to expand...

Many new systems include the restore function on a hidden hard drive (HDD) partition and do not ship restore CD's by default. If the HDD goes "belly up", then the owner can order a restore CD from the factory.
 
Frank, troubleshooting malware issues can be a very time consuming process requiring several different utilities. Typically, hijackthis (as has been mentioned) is a good predictor of how badly a system is infected, but removing items from the hijackthis list should only be done with assistance from a knowledgeable person; you may end up destroying a system by removing the wrong thing. As for AdAware, I have never known it to break a system as you described. It is one of the mainline malware detection and eradication tools in the computer industry.

Were you able to get your system to boot up in SAFE mode as previously discussed?
 
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