Windows 7 fail

Colinh0611 · 30 Aug 2012

Hi,

I use my acre aspire 552 amd athion x2 p320 OS regularly with norton antivirus. I tried to turn on my laptop and windows has failed to load. I have tried safe mode and launching the Self launching fix which has sort of fixed the problem however it take about 40 minutes to progress from the start page to the desktop. Furthermore the toolbars don't has changed into almost a windows 98 equivalent. I launched norton and it told me my computer was at risk with problems being intrusion Prevention.. Can anyone shed light to what has happened and possible fixes? Thank you

Colinh0611 · 30 Aug 2012

Colinh0611 said:

Hi,

I use my acre aspire 552 amd athion x2 p320 OS regularly with norton antivirus. I tried to turn on my laptop and windows has failed to load. I have tried safe mode and launching the Self launching fix which has sort of fixed the problem however it take about 40 minutes to progress from the start page to the desktop. Furthermore the toolbars don't has changed into almost a windows 98 equivalent. I launched norton and it told me my computer was at risk with problems being intrusion Prevention.. Can anyone shed light to what has happened and possible fixes? Thank you

Furthermore, the laptop is extremely slow and cookies take a while to appear. I am hesitant to turn the thing off

essenbe · 30 Aug 2012

I am not sure what you mean by 'it takes a while for cookies to appear. But from your description in post 1 it sounds like you have a virus or something similar. Did Norton give you the option to delete whatever the problems were? I would also use another computer to make the DVD/USB and use Windows Defender Offline. You have the option to put it on a CD or a USB drive. Boot from the whichever you selected and run a full scan and delete any items it finds. It will take a while for it to download the definitions to your selected media and will take a while for it to scan your computer.

Colinh0611 · 30 Aug 2012

Once norton opened it was told me the aforementioned and that I should reinstall the programm in order to fix these issues that norton cannot fix at the moment. 'norton remove and reinstall' is its name. On a looser note, I'll try your suggestions just now

karlsnooks · 30 Aug 2012

Colin,
Definitely try the suggestions from Essenbe.

HOW TO USE MICROSOFT'S OFFLINE MALWARE REMOVER
Windows Defender Offline
· performs an offline scan of an infected PC to remove viruses, rootkits and other advanced malware.
· is a free standalone, bootable malware and virus remover from Microsoft.

Download Windows Defender Offline (about 785 kB)
You will have the choice of downloading the 32bit version (x86) or the 64 bit version (x64).
The link will help you determine whether you are running a 32 bit version or 64 bit version of Windows

NOTE!! You can download and prepare a 32 bit version using a 64 bit version of Windows
NOTE!! You can download and prepare a 64 bit version using a 32bit version of Windows.

You run the 32 bit version on a 32 bit version of Windows.
You run the 64 bit version on a 64 bit version of Windows.

The 32 bit download file name is: mssstool32.exe
The 64 bit download file name is: mssstool64.exe

For the curious, this program was originally name Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper.

INSTALLATION:
· Requires an Internet Connection.
· Insert 512 mB or larger USB stick into a usb port.
· Run the downloaded program--mssstool64.exe or mssstool32.exe
· NEXT button
· Choose the option On a USB flash drive that is not password protected
· NEXT button
· NEXT button
.
The install program will:
· format the usb stick using the NTFS format.
· download less than 230 mB.
· name the USB stick WDO_Media32 or WDO_Media64
· use less than 300 mB.

How to UPDATE the Windows Defender Offline USB stick:
· reinsert the usb stick
· run the installation program, mssstool64.exe or mssstool32.exe, again.
· the update will download less than 65 mB.

Since the malware database is sometimes updated several times in a day, always update before running.

PERFORM AN OFFLINE SCAN
Bootup your computer from the USB stick
Windows Defender Offline will automatically perform a quick scan.
After the quick scan finishes, Choose Full Scan
Select all of your drives

The initial, full scan can easily take several hours, but
Remember, your computer is being very thoroughly checked for all types of malware.

Colinh0611 · 30 Aug 2012

Ok great, I've downloaded windows defender offline in 64-bit and I am installing it as we speak (taking a while due to processing speed) but thanks.. Next issue to follow... Lol

gregrocker · 30 Aug 2012

Defender offline is burned to CD with Windows Image Burner to boot and scan.

I would not reinstall Norton but instead install immediately Malwarebytes
to run a fulll scan, in Safe mode with networking if necessary.

Then install Microsoft Security Essentials in place of Norton for AV, run a full scan.

Report back what is found for further steps to repair system files if necessary with SFC -SCANNOW Command and other steps.

If you lose boot use these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

karlsnooks · 30 Aug 2012

Greg,
Windows Defender Offline is superior to MalwareBytes and is also an offline program which enables Windows Defender Offline to catch some malware that an onine program such as MalwareBytes can not. The malware writers are very clever and can subvert any online anti-malware.

gregrocker · 30 Aug 2012

I am aware of that, Karl, which is why I suggested all three.

Windows Defender does not always work or takes some work, while Malwarebytes on a System that will boot or boot into Safe Mode is very quick and effective. I would never leave out either choice.

OP also needs to replace Norton with MSE. Hence the three.

karlsnooks · 30 Aug 2012

Very true that he needs to replace Norton with MSE.
After a cleaning with WDO, the MSE will catch anything else. With MSE, then the MS MSRT is run initally and then monthly thereafter. the MSRT is updated monthly and has the job of searching out and eliminating any rootkits that have made their way in from a user's actions such as turning off MSE or allowing a program to run with administrative privileges.