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

Yes

Shabakthanai,

Let me ask this a different way...

Is the Windows CD you have for Windows 7?

Does the troubled computer also have Windows 7 installed on it?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
Shabakthanai,

Good!!

Let's do the following...

You need a working Windows computer, a USB pen drive, and the Windows 7 CD/DVD.

Now, In a working Windows computer, please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool
Select the version compatible with the troubled system: 64 bit

Connect the USB pen drive into the computer, and save the downloaded file to it.
Remove the pen drive when done. (Safely remove...etc.)


Next, go to the troubled computer and do the following:

Turn it on, and insert the Windows 7 installation disc.
Also connect the USB pen drive with FRST to a USB port.
Restart the computer.

Assuming the troubled computer is set to boot from CD.
If not, STOP here and post back letting us know.



If the computer boots from the CD...

Enter System Recovery Options using the Windows Seven Installation Disc.
-If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc.
-Select your language settings, and then click: Next
-Select the Operating System you want to repair, and then click: Next
-Select your user account and click: Next

On the System Recovery Options menu you get the following options:
Startup Repair
System Restore
Windows Complete PC Restore
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Scan your computer's memory for errors.
Command Prompt

Select: Command Prompt

In the Command window, at the bliking cursor type notepad and press: Enter
In Notepad, under the File menu select: Open
Double-click Computer, find the pen drive letter, remember what letter it is, click on it, and press: Open
Close out of Notepad.

Click the Command window, and ype X:\frst64.exe, and press: Enter
Note: Replace the drive letter x with the drive letter of your pen drive!

The tool starts and prepares to run. Follow the prompts.
Click Yes to the disclaimer.

Press: Scan

When done, the program saves the FRST.txt report, on the pen drive.

Close Notepad, then, click the Command prompt window, and type exit, and press: Enter
Back at the System Recovery Options, press: ShutDown

Return to the clean computer, and plug in the USB pen drive. It contains the FRST.txt report

Please provide the FRST.txt in your reply.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
Wow what a great amount of work.

I am 72 and my memory doesn't hold very long any more. I am so grateful for this effort, I can't put it into words, but I will do as you say.

When instructions are long, and in this case, I consider them very long, my lagging memory, sometimes doesn't keep up with the process, so this is a big task for me. Additionally, I am sensitive to the time that others spend helping me, because sometimes not remembering a previous task causes me to take exceedingly too much time and, I become stressed; I have to redo many times sometimes to get it right. I am sorry for making excuses, but it is something I seem to have to live with.

I am thinking it may take me a day or so to complete the process, so don't give up on me, if you are willing to continue.

What you are suggesting may help with future problems of similar kind, at least I hope so.

I expect I seem too apologetic, but when you fight my memory problems while getting help from people who are helping out of the kindness of their heart, it makes me feel an increased burden. The result is that I am way more grateful than able to express, and a pain in the nickta with my constant apologies.

This is really a fine forum and you represent it so well as do the others that take the time to help me. Thanks! :geek:
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
I am a little mixed on the forum process. It differs slightly from the forum of my other OS. I hope you can easily refer to the correct reply, no thanks to me. :o

I copied the application you recommended. I put is on an empty thumb drive. Since my other OS is on the same computer as Windows 7 offending, I was able to copy Farbar Recovery Scan Tool to the thumb drive from my other Operating System (it communicates with all OS's and all computer languages and all file systems and file types)(The blue type continues even after attempting to change it to black - I copied and pasted it from your reply, so it probably would have linked without the additional blue print)

My computer has a wonderful motherboard. I entered in the BIOS where a link to the Boot Manager is Available. Since I have 2 DVDRW drives, there, of course, are two entries for the DVD drives. I tried them both, but when I attempted the proper drive, the window flashed but diverted to my other operating system's default boot. Is it possible that the offending programmer took this into consideration when trying to control our computers? I hope we can overcome this. Farbar Recovery could have been named Fubar and been even more accurate, if so.

Just so you don't have to repost, if my boot manager record is something you are interested, here is how it appears in my BIOS:

Windows Boot Manager (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
ubuntu (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
ubuntu (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
RealTek PXE B0B D00
P5: HL_DT_STDVD_RAM GH22LS30
P0: HL_DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS50
P2: WDC WD10EADS-00L5b1 (3167MB)
P3: ADATA SP900 (953869MB)
P4: OCZ-AGILITY4 (244198MB)
JetFlashTrendscend 4GB (3768MB) - This represents Farbar USB3
UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24N350 (3167MB) - My default DVDRom
UEFI: JetFlashTranscend 4GB (3768mb) - Drive if I wanted to boot to USB

Have you ever purchased an SSD or HHD drive that contained as many GB's as it said, when you purchased the respective Drives. I hate that; it bugs me; I would rather they identified with SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE. hah!

I verified the USB copy was successful. still, I have probably done something wrong. :shock:

 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
Shabakthanai,

GREAT! Glad you could get through most of the instructions. Also, you have followed them fairly well.

Now, most new bioses usually have a F2 key press (or DEL or such) to get into the bios. Usually, these same bioses have a "boot manager" without having to get into the bios. It involves either a F10 or F12 button press. From here you can select either DVD drive. If one doesn't work, then it must be the other. It is imperative you use the WINDOWS 7 DVD in either drive. I'm going to be explicit here to aid in the troubleshooting process (and save COTTONBALL from some work :p):

  • Place the DVD in one of the two drives.
  • Boot your computer, and start pressing F12 or F10 (depending).
  • Select the FIRST DVD drive and press ENTER.
  • If it says "Press any key to boot" then press any key on the keyboard.
  • If not, reboot your computer (CRTL-ALT-DEL).
  • Get into the boot manager pressing F12 or F10.
  • Select the SECOND DVD drive and press ENTER.
  • If it says "Press any key to boot" then press any key on the keyboard.
  • If it STILL doesn't boot, move the DVD into the OTHER DVD drive (sometimes dvd drives can be finicky)
  • reboot, get into the boot manager and select the first drive.

At this point, you MUST be booting into the windows startup disc. If not, your disc is either damaged, or a copy aka not a legit copy (don't get upset about this statement it happens).

The alternative is to get your windows recovery dvd onto a thumb drive to boot from there. I will let COTTONBALL continue with that as he's doing great and I'm learning too. :geek:

You're doing great, so give yourself some credit. Also not to be rude in hopes of getting you a solution quickly, try for some brevity in your posts as you do add some info that tends to confuse the important info. :) (i.e. - your second last paragraph)
===================================================
SIDE NOTES - Just for your info as these two items have nothing to do with your current problem.

To answer your question, "Is it possible that the offending programmer took this into consideration when trying to control our computers?", the answer is no. This is a BIOS issue and will involve your input. Remember, when you boot up your computer, the BIOS loads before any other program so unless you installed a "hacked" bios, it's very unlikely. (If you are going to ask me how do you know if you've installed a hacked bios, don't worry... it means you've never done it. It's not possible to do it without your input either so just keep reading)

When SSD or HDD are sold as 100GB(for example), the manufacturer's marketing department has modified the number because larger is better. So their MARKETING of a 100GB is 100,000MB (supposedly).
In truth, 1024 bytes make a 1KB, and in turn 1024 KB make 1MB, and 1024 MB make 1 GB. Therefore a true 100GB drive is really 97GB (approx) but no one will buy a 97GB drive if every other manufacturer is saying 100GB. Hope that gives you an idea of why drives don't really show as their marketed number size. Obviously, as the size of the drive increases, the discrepancy does too.


I am a little mixed on the forum process. It differs slightly from the forum of my other OS. I hope you can easily refer to the correct reply, no thanks to me. :o

I copied the application you recommended. I put is on an empty thumb drive. Since my other OS is on the same computer as Windows 7 offending, I was able to copy Farbar Recovery Scan Tool to the thumb drive from my other Operating System (it communicates with all OS's and all computer languages and all file systems and file types)(The blue type continues even after attempting to change it to black - I copied and pasted it from your reply, so it probably would have linked without the additional blue print)

My computer has a wonderful motherboard. I entered in the BIOS where a link to the Boot Manager is Available. Since I have 2 DVDRW drives, there, of course, are two entries for the DVD drives. I tried them both, but when I attempted the proper drive, the window flashed but diverted to my other operating system's default boot. Is it possible that the offending programmer took this into consideration when trying to control our computers? I hope we can overcome this. Farbar Recovery could have been named Fubar and been even more accurate, if so.

Just so you don't have to repost, if my boot manager record is something you are interested, here is how it appears in my BIOS:

Windows Boot Manager (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
ubuntu (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
ubuntu (P5: OCZ-AGILITY4)
RealTek PXE B0B D00
P5: HL_DT_STDVD_RAM GH22LS30
P0: HL_DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NS50
P2: WDC WD10EADS-00L5b1 (3167MB)
P3: ADATA SP900 (953869MB)
P4: OCZ-AGILITY4 (244198MB)
JetFlashTrendscend 4GB (3768MB) - This represents Farbar USB3
UEFI: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24N350 (3167MB) - My default DVDRom
UEFI: JetFlashTranscend 4GB (3768mb) - Drive if I wanted to boot to USB

Have you ever purchased an SSD or HHD drive that contained as many GB's as it said, when you purchased the respective Drives. I hate that; it bugs me; I would rather they identified with SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE. hah!

I verified the USB copy was successful. still, I have probably done something wrong. :shock:

 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Gateway
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Shabakthanai,

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

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 :ar: 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.


.
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
@Geek2go,

The alternative is to get your windows recovery dvd onto a thumb drive to boot from there
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
Shabakthanai
Their are many on this forum that are not spring chickens; me being one of them.

Just keep hanging in there and do the best you can at your own pace.
Don't worry about the members helping you and the time spent.
The good members helping you like helping other members. That is what they do.

Some times my 3 brain cells do get confused also.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pr...Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400EVGA GTX 1070 OC
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home made Desktop
OS
Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
CPU
Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3
Motherboard
ASUS X-99 Deluxe II
Memory
Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 1070 OC
Monitor(s) Displays
Asus 27" LED LCD/VE278Q
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 or 1280-720 HDMI
Hard Drives
INTEL SSD 730-240 Gb Sata 3.0/
PSU
EVGA Platium 1200W
Case
Phanteks Luxe Tempered Glass 8 fans/ one radiator
Cooling
XSPC/ Water Cooled CPU
Keyboard
Das 4 Professional
Mouse
Logitech M705/MX Anywhere 2-S
Internet Speed
100 mbits
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials/ Malwarebytes Premium 3.0/ SAS
Browser
I.E. 11 default/Firefox/ ISP Time Warner Cable/Spectrum
Other Info
LG BluRay Burner/
Sound system-KLipsch-THX/
Icy Dock ssd Hot Swap bays.
Repair a virus on Windows 7

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.

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 gave that laptop to a neighbor, who did not have a computer.

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. :p

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 :).



@Geek2go,

The alternative is to get your windows recovery dvd onto a thumb drive to boot from there
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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):D

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

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. :p

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 :).



@Geek2go,

The alternative is to get your windows recovery dvd onto a thumb drive to boot from there
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Gateway
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
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? :shock: Opps! and a continued thanks!

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):D

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

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. :p

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 :).



@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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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 My Computer

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Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
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An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
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.
 

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Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pr...Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400EVGA GTX 1070 OC
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home made Desktop
OS
Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
CPU
Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3
Motherboard
ASUS X-99 Deluxe II
Memory
Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 1070 OC
Monitor(s) Displays
Asus 27" LED LCD/VE278Q
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 or 1280-720 HDMI
Hard Drives
INTEL SSD 730-240 Gb Sata 3.0/
PSU
EVGA Platium 1200W
Case
Phanteks Luxe Tempered Glass 8 fans/ one radiator
Cooling
XSPC/ Water Cooled CPU
Keyboard
Das 4 Professional
Mouse
Logitech M705/MX Anywhere 2-S
Internet Speed
100 mbits
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials/ Malwarebytes Premium 3.0/ SAS
Browser
I.E. 11 default/Firefox/ ISP Time Warner Cable/Spectrum
Other Info
LG BluRay Burner/
Sound system-KLipsch-THX/
Icy Dock ssd Hot Swap bays.
@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 My Computer

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Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
I can see instant email notifications are on for the OP, that's probably all it is.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Win 10 Pro x64Intel I5-2500K @3.3GHz16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X (4x4GB)EVGA GeForce 750 Ti SC 2GB
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self Built
OS
Win 10 Pro x64
CPU
Intel I5-2500K @3.3GHz
Motherboard
Asrock P67 Extreme4
Memory
16GB G.Skill Ripjaws X (4x4GB)
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GeForce 750 Ti SC 2GB
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound
Monitor(s) Displays
auria eq2367
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
1TB WD Blue
1TB Hitachi
PSU
SeaSonic X 650W 80 Plus Gold
Case
Corsair Obsidian 750D
Cooling
Corsair H60, Three 140mm case fans
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless Keyboard K520
Mouse
Logitech Wireless Mouse M310
Internet Speed
Wave Broadband ~ 100 dn 5 up
Antivirus
Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Edge, IE11, Chrome
Other Info
Laptop specs: HP g7-1365dx /
CPU: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics /
RAM: Crucial 8Gb (2x4Gb) /
SSD: Crucial M4-CT128M4SSD2 ATA Device/ FW 000F /
GFX: AMD Radeon HD 6520G /
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64
email notice

Sorry, I screwed up again. :confused: 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. :geek:

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

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Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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.

Shabakthanai,

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

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 :ar: 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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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:

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
An ol' eMachines
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium
Internet Speed
Fine for me...I'm retired!
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. :geek:

Steven

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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Professional 64bitAMD 8 core 8350 Black EditionGSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB ...
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU
AMD 8 core 8350 Black Edition
Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Memory
GSkill 1866 16 GB ddr3
Graphics Card(s)
XFX R7850 Double Dissipation PCI Express 2GB DDR5
Hard Drives
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
TB 6GB/s
TB 3GB/s
Antivirus
ClamAv
Browser
Firefox/Explorer
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