lacking experience I have a tenatious virus and need help to remove it

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  1. Posts : 33
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #31

    Recoverry from virus


    You definitely have me smiling. I have easy access to the BIOS aG-skill Ares nd have spent a lot of time there. I am pretty much familiar with most or all of it. It has a click to reveal the Boot manager and works using my mouse, so I should be able to provide what you need to help me.

    My computer is an AMD 8-core @ 4GHz
    Memory is 32GB DDr3 SDRAM
    Video Card is 2GB DDR5
    128 GB SSD
    256 GB SSD
    TB SATA 6GB/s HDD
    TB SATA 3GB/s HDD
    2ea. DVDRW, one perhaps defective
    Motherboard is Sabertooth, can't find the box and don't remember more, but it was cutting edge when purchased for the AMD Processors.

    I built my computer from purchased components. I just mention this because you made a comment in your reply that eluded to my telling you the manufacturer of my computer. So you can see, I love what I do so poorly.

    You all are just stellar, and my new friends that I probably will never meet in person. I hope some day I can return your kindness regardless of our result. If not, I will pass on equivalent to another in need, if the occasion presents itself. If I had your skills, I would be doing similarly; I feel great debt to the system of helps that all forums so generously provide and would take pleasure out of being part of the solution rather than the problem. I only hope that some other injured party can learn from your efforts in this post.

    By the way, it is very easy to change the boot order i my computer. In my BIOS, I can just drag the DVD entry to the first position and it becomes first to boot. Once an ISO is in my USB port, it also will show on the Boot Manager and the entrance screen of my BIOS. If there, I can drag it to first position and it will be first to boot.

    What do we do next? Opps! and a continued thanks!

    Geek2go said:
    Shabakthanai,

    You are doing fantastic for a 70+ user!! Your thought process is on point and we are here to help you. You do not have to feel any obligation to thank us or apologize all the time as it's something we enjoy doing. I personally enjoy helping people solve their problems and as you can see so does Cottonball and Bear!! We will help you though this issue as best we can.

    So it seems that the other DVD drive is damaged and you can at least know now that it's not a drive to use for the future. In which case, we are at a junction that needs to be identified.

    1. Is your DVD a Windows Repair disc, a Recovery Disc, or an Installation Disc?

    Since you say it's a Windows 7 installation disc, it can also be doubled as a repair disc. There is no need to see any receipts as we are here to help you and trying to identify the disc without images is not easy. (You are still doing great in your details).
    I tend not to be specific in my use of the terminology but as Cottonball kindly pointed out, a recovery disc from a manufacturer not for your computer would not work.
    A Windows 7 repair disc should work from any machine (if I recall correctly, Cottonball will correct me if I'm wrong as I too am constantly learning new things) so that should not be an issue. Even if it was an issue, you would get an error message stating that and we are not there yet. I don't believe there are any licensing issues using a windows repair disc made from another computer because your copy on your HDD (the infected windows) is a legit copy so I would not worry too much about licensing. If needed, we would make you aware of this ASAP as Cottonball, Bear and I would not offer you any advise that might compromise you (I would hope :))
    A Windows 7 installation disc would work too.

    2. If you do have *any* of the discs above, regardless of their content, they should all allow you to boot into them. The repair and installation disc should have a "Press any key to boot from disc...." text. A recovery disc is vendor specific, but it too would have some form of indication that it's booting.

    So here is where we are, either a) your dvd drive is damaged some how and won't allow booting (very unlikely scenario since it works in Linux), b) your disc is damaged and won't allow booting (also very unlikely as it would need a specific damage at specific locations), or c) you cannot get to the boot manager to insure that you are booting from your dvd drive.

    The reason I say that (c) is likely is because you get into GRUB (it is the operating system boot loader) and GRUB quickly moves you into Kubuntu. Good news is we can still help you, this is just a simple hurdle to over come. Using text it will tend to get longer and verbose so bear with all of us who are trying to help you. Good news is GRUB is also very unlikely to be "bugged" as it's a linux based utility and usually windows viruses do not know how to attack it. I believe any malicious activity by any windows based viruses will ONLY occur once Windows starts loading so anything prior is very unlikely to be hacked or compromised.

    So here are some thought:
    - Do you know how to get into the BIOS?
    - Do you know how to get into the boot manager?

    If the answer is no to both questions, please let us know what brand your computer is. (i'm only bolding for effect)

    Also, reinstalling windows would not work well as once you reinstall windows, you overwrite the boot sector and this will remove GRUB and Linux from your selection of OS (it would boot as if it was a Windows only machine). You would then introduce another problem of reinstalling GRUB which may not be allowed in these forums (I'm not sure).

    The easiest method is the one you are doing which is trying to repair it from a windows 7 installation/repair disc. This allows you to boot a windows 7 system that is clean and not from your HDD. It then allows you to run windows 7 utils to scan and remove any malware. Our only hurdle right now is getting your disc to boot.

    Have patience in this task and believe that you can solve it. I promise you everyone in this forum from simple users to geeks to gurus all had to overcome this hurdle. We will work with you to solve it so keep smiling and let us know if you can get into the BIOS or what the brand name of your computer is.

    regards,
    Geek2go

    Shabakthanai said:
    Dear friend,

    What I have is a registered Windows 7 installation disk. I probably could find a copy of the receipt for purchase, if you want to see an attached copy.

    When I attempted that, the drive would not open. I tried everything I know to correct that situation and do not believe it had anything to do with the virus, because I was and currently am in the other Operating System right now, not Windows 7 Pro. The other DVD drive must be damaged.

    I have a disk that I made at some prior time entitled Windows 7 repair disk. I am not sure I made it from my current Windows 7 desktop; in the past I had an Asus laptop that had Windows 7 on it too.
    I have never used the repair disk nor needed to until now, so I don't know which computer it was made from. I thought I also made a "recovery" disk, but if so, I cannot find it. Would the repair disk work? If it happens to be made from the laptop I gave to my neighbor, will it still work on my current copy of the Windows 7 Operating System.

    In my other system, we are not required to register anything when we install an operating system, so I am unfamiliar with how an OS protects its ownership. So if the 'repair disk' was made from the laptop I gave away, would it work on my current desktop? I hope I was able to make myself understood.

    I would like to reiterate, when I tried to open my Windows 7 Pro DVD from the ROM, it flashed a menu of items I could not read, because it happened too fast, but after flashing that menu it then opened in my Kubuntu OS.

    I sounds to me like whoever made the virus anticipated this step in an attempt to recover and placed another bug in there. I know absolutely nothing about these things, due to lack of experience. It is something that has never happened in my other OS, and I have never heard anyone else talk of such a thing.

    If this is a part of the offenders virus, is there a way to work around the situation? Thanks for your continued patience and understanding. When I think about it, I have used my Windows 7 Pro OS only for emergency backup and entertainment, ie. Netflix, so I suppose I could reinstall Windows 7 to solve the problem. The only reason, I didn't reinstall is because I do not understand all the security steps that may be involved, and as a result opted for repair, thinking it would be easier. I yield to your experience on that decision. Additionally, I don't like to take the easy route usually, because I can't learn anything from that.

    The email that you sent with instructions for the above process I copied to a document. When I attempted your recommendations, I was very careful to follow the steps, and had the copy to confirm each step. I then did the whole process again with the same result. I am pretty sure I did as you suggested accurately. As a result, I believe we should look at my result as we would if we were sure I did things correctly in the first place. It may make the cause of the problem easier to see. Thanks again, my friend :).



    cottonball said:
    @Geek2go,

    If it is a recovery CD (provided by the manufacturer), it will not work.

    If that is the case, we would go the route of using a Windows 7 System Repair Disc, but, instead of creating a CD, would create a bootable System Repair USB pen drive.

    The bootable System Repair USB pen drive will take us to the System Recovery Options, and from there we select the Command Prompt. That is all we need.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,470
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       #32

    Shabakthanai,

    By the way, it is very easy to change the boot order i my computer. In my BIOS, I can just drag the DVD entry to the first position and it becomes first to boot.


    Can you insert the Windows 7 disc you have, restart, do the above (drag the DVD entry to the first position and it becomes first to boot), and boot from the CD?

    If it does not work with the CD inserted first, take out the CD, then restart the computer, drag the DVD entry to the first position, reboot again to Windows, insert the CD, and once again reboot.

    Does it boot to the W7 CD?

    We really do not need a Repair disc if we have the real thing (installation CD)!

      My Computer


  3. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #33

    For information only.

    I have not sent Shabakthanai any emails, P.M. or V.M.

    From post # 29.

    Dear friend,

    What I have is a registered Windows 7 installation disk. I probably could find a copy of the receipt for purchase, if you want to see an attached copy. What you recommended in the email you sent was the exact thing I did prior to my reply and your new instruction. I did everything again, before this reply, with one addition. You suggested that I put the installation disk in the second drive as a last resort.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,470
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       #34

    @Layback Bear,

    Neither have I.

    In fact, IMO, sending email or PMs to a User shows a lack of consideration for others that are also helping.

    There is a place for emails or PMs if very personal information needs to be obtained, or is contained on a report and should not be posted publicly, or there are extenuating circumstances. However, I do no see where any of that would apply in this topic.


    .
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 17,322
    Win 10 Pro x64
       #35

    I can see instant email notifications are on for the OP, that's probably all it is.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 33
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #36

    email notice


    Sorry, I screwed up again. I have been replying to notices sent to my email application. I click on an address that takes me to the forum. My other OS's forum does not do this. It is a great way to keep a user informed. I really wasn't thinking about the possibility that I was making reference in error.

    In time, I will get this right. You may have noticed I do not mention the name of my other application any more, anyway, if I have it was an accident. I hope I do not upset anyone in this forum; all of you are so excellent and helpful, I do not want to disturb that quality. Have patience, I am a slow learner.

    derekimo said:
    I can see instant email notifications are on for the OP, that's probably all it is.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 33
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #37

    reply


    Windows is always installed first for Linux installations, otherwise, the Linux installation fails. I really do not know the reason, but it was never a problem to me as a Linux user, because by having Linux installed second, it became the default OS, so if you used that OS more, it was first on the boot manager list as well as the one that would boot, if you did not choose either. I wouldn't have mentioned this, but it seemed something you may like know.

    cottonball said:
    Shabakthanai,

    The troubled computer may not be set to boot from CD.

    Another issue, the CD that you have, did it come with the computer?
    Is it a Windows 7 recovery/restore CD provided by the computer's manufacturer, instead of a W7 installation CD?


    A simple question that may allow us to help you boot from the Windows 7 installation CD/DVD (if that is what you really have).
    What is the brand name of the troubled computer? Dell, Compaq, Asus, Toshiba...other?
    Also, please provide its model number. Like T135-S123 (fake example).
    By providing this, maybe we can do some checking, and figure out where you are getting hung up.

    Also, was Windows 7 installed after Ubuntu? Was Windows 7 the last OS installed?


    On a different note, there is something you and I have in common, we are both in the 70s club!
    Yes, there are health issues, memory issues, pain in the rear issues, however, we press on. Being engaged in activity requiring your brain to think and solve issues will give the big 'A' (Alzheimer's) a hard time finding us.

    If I can do this kind of stuff, you can also. Keep in your mind: Yes I can, yes I can, yes I can!!!

    Just take one step at a time, there is no rush.


    .
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 33
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #38

    The bold is to distinguish this entry is referring to something from a previous reply from one of you kind people. It is a bit out of order.

    There was a suggestion that I drag the Windows 7 Pro installation disk to the first position of the Boot Menu and restart my computer. I apparently did not notice or at least remember the suggestion. In re-reading all the posts to see if I may have missed something, I noticed the comment.

    My BIOS is a GUI. When I open the BIOS, I do so by pressing F2 at restart; all of the installed drives are in a row with the first entry the one that boots first. As suggested, I dragged the Icon that represented the Windows 7 Pro Installation disk to the first position and restarted the computer.

    When the computer attempted to restart to the DVDRom, the Boot Menu flashed only long enough to leave the impression it was a boot menu, but left the screen too fast to read it. Then, my other OS opened instead; it is the default open.

    Not knowing anything about virus', I assume that was a programming issue created by the writer of the virus to keep a user from being able to use a repair or installation disk to remove his intrusion. It is just a guess, though.
    Last edited by Shabakthanai; 07 Mar 2015 at 14:50. Reason: overlooked a mispelled word.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2,470
    Windows 7 Home Premium
       #39

    Re: Post #36

    Shabakthanai,

    I have been replying to notices sent to my email application. I click on an address that takes me to the forum.
    If the above is what you are doing, that is exactly what you are supposed to be doing, replying by clicking on the address that takes you to the forum.
    Then, once in the forum, you post your reply.

    When you mentioned "...in the email you sent...", it was misconstrued to mean that you received a personal email from one of us. That was not the case.
    No need for an apology. Forget all about it!!

    Back to Post #32, any luck booting from the Window 7 CD?

    On Post #38,
    There was a suggestion that I drag the Windows 7 Pro installation disk to the first position of the Boot Menu and restart my computer.
    No, that was not the case. Maybe I did not explain matters clearly...
    You mentioned:
    In my BIOS, I can just drag the DVD entry to the first position and it becomes first to boot.
    I gathered you meant the DVD drive, and just wanted you to drag the DVD drive entry to the first position so that it becomes first to boot, as you mentioned above. Then, insert the CD and see if the system boots from the DVD drive.

    We need to get that system to boot from the Windows 7 install CD. If not, you need access to a workable Windows 7 64 bit computer in order to create a Window 7 Repair USB device.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 33
    Windows 7 Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #40

    I wish I knew what to write here.


    Actually that is what I did during my first failed attempt. When I made the DVDRom first to boot, then put the Windows 7 Pro installation CD in the functioning DVDRW and pressed enter, the Boot Screen flashed the Boot Sequence so fast it could not be read, then opened in my default Operating System. I tried that several times, because it did not make any sense, then finally gave up thinking it was part of the virus program.

    Actually, I have never been so closed out of an Operating System. I hope there are additional things to try. In any event when you explained I would lose my other Operating System if I reinstalled Windows 7 fresh, I decided to not do that.

    If that becomes the case, I have already put a feeler in the Other Operating System's forum for help getting a Virtual Machine installed in the other system. If that is possible without losing the OS in the process, it may be the required cure.

    I have plenty of space on my drives to keep the infected OS in my computer, and will, just in case the virus becomes easier to deal with in the future, but it is useless for me now.

    I will wait to see if anyone has anything new that I can try. Thanks again for all the kind help.

    Steven

    cottonball said:
    Re: Post #36

    Shabakthanai,

    I have been replying to notices sent to my email application. I click on an address that takes me to the forum.
    If the above is what you are doing, that is exactly what you are supposed to be doing, replying by clicking on the address that takes you to the forum.
    Then, once in the forum, you post your reply.

    When you mentioned "...in the email you sent...", it was misconstrued to mean that you received a personal email from one of us. That was not the case.
    No need for an apology. Forget all about it!!

    Back to Post #32, any luck booting from the Window 7 CD?

    On Post #38,
    There was a suggestion that I drag the Windows 7 Pro installation disk to the first position of the Boot Menu and restart my computer.
    No, that was not the case. Maybe I did not explain matters clearly...
    You mentioned:
    In my BIOS, I can just drag the DVD entry to the first position and it becomes first to boot.
    I gathered you meant the DVD drive, and just wanted you to drag the DVD drive entry to the first position so that it becomes first to boot, as you mentioned above. Then, insert the CD and see if the system boots from the DVD drive.

    We need to get that system to boot from the Windows 7 install CD. If not, you need access to a workable Windows 7 64 bit computer in order to create a Window 7 Repair USB device.
      My Computer


 
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