My computer is infected with a trojan virus that I can't get rid of. Please Help!!! (laptop, hard drive)

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

My wife was using our computer this weekend and somehow she downloaded a virus. Our PC has become infected with various trojan viruses. We have Mcafee virus scan software and I regularly use spybot and ad-aware to check for spyware. None of this has helped. We keep getting warning windows popping up (from our McAfee software) for a "Fake-alert" trojan, "Vundo.gen.bp" trojan, and "Downloader-BVU" trojan.

Fixing this is beyond my capabilities. At this point I can't even get virus scan to run on my PC and it will no longer connect to the internet (I'm using a neighbor's laptop to post this). I can't even start my PC "Safe Mode".

Any tips on what I can do to fix this problem? I am at the point where I think I need to pay somebody to come to my house to fix this.

[swagger]

If you have a decent computer store around, get yourself either an external hard drive enclosure, or something similar. I use something like this for these tasks.

You'd use that to connect the affected drive to another PC as an external drive, which you can scan using the host PCs antivirus. Since you're not booting off the affected drive, the malware doesn't have a chance to execute and circumvent your antivirus software.

[Jimrob1]

I got one of these trojans 2 years ago. I had to take the PC to a computer repair store. The employee told me I actually did not have a virus. He felt I had anwered a pop up add for a Virus and it triggered all these spyware warnings. I kept answering the popups telling me to install this thing and that thing. I had the computer so messed up from answering all these popups it would not function any more. He told me he scrubbed mine and it has worked fine since. I paid him $75.00.

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by swagger

If you have a decent computer store around, get yourself either an external hard drive enclosure, or something similar. I use something like this for these tasks.

You'd use that to connect the affected drive to another PC as an external drive, which you can scan using the host PCs antivirus. Since you're not booting off the affected drive, the malware doesn't have a chance to execute and circumvent your antivirus software.

Swagger got the right idea.

Get an external hard drive enclosure that way you can read the affected drive and attempt to repair it that way.

The BYTECC enclosures are nice. The older ones were ideal. You can take off the top cover and use it like a lab setup playing around with problem hard drives. They also had an on - off switch, very easy plug in to mess with the hard drives. You can buy one of the newer BYTECC enclosures on EBAY for $20. If you want I can look up the site. Again you can set it up in a lab configuration, got to be a lil more careful. Make sure not to short out the drive, if not fully assembling it, which usually you do not.

Boot up the other computer and see if it will detect the external drive.

If not, down load XCLONE, it is a freebie. Load it on the other computer.

It has a feature that allows you to go in and attempt to get it recognized and assigned a drive letter. I'm not home right now but I can walk you thru how to do it. Should be home tomorrow. Got to be careful not to destroy the data on the drive.

Once you get that far it is nice to make a clone of the problem drive before going any further. XCLONE can do that. Nice to have two of those external enclosures and a few spare drives laying around when you get into playing with this stuff. Once you have a cloned drive can then attempt a risk free fix on the clone. If you mess up no danger, still have the original sort of hurting drive as a master.

Once you have a clone drive, then go into XCLONE "Tools" and make it bootable. Windows will pop up to guide you. Also copy the original Volume ID.

At that point can flop the clone back into the original computer and attempt to boot from it. Many times you can. Then can do a virus clean up.

I like these freebie programs / tools

Programs to load and run:

MalwareBytes
SpyBot
XClone
CCleaner
Defraggler

Programs to run on line

Windows Line One Care
Free Eset On line
Trend Micro
Scan Now On line

Can give you a link to any of them

Those will usually fix any problems, if it is really nasty they will mark it for a reboot fix and get it that way. Just about never have them fail. Even works on old Win98 really messed up drives. Lots of troubleshooting programs will no longer work on Win98 as the Drive C.

I do this sort of regular for folks in my hood who have messed up their computers big time, lot of them older computers and they can not justify a big repair bill. Just about always have success in fixing it. These techniques also are very useful to know with older computers / drives. The drive does not exactly fail completely but gets sort of wobbly, doesn't boot right, getting error message, can be fixed / new clone made to a newer drive. Nice to know how to do, have the right hardware around to do it. You can just reload the OS but that gets old and you may lose data and there is time involved in getting everything set back up the way you had it.

My computers all have drawers / tray systems and it is a piece of cake to set them up into lab configurations to play with a drive out of somebody's elses computer.

Might treat this as a learning experience instead of just trying to fix one problem. After you understand what is happening can have back up clones as Masters on the shelf in case something happens in future. The expense is about that of a repair in a shop. Hard drives are cheap, you just about zero expense for the software. You never have to reload the OS, pretty immune to most things that can really totally destroy your computing both hardware / software, including lightning strikes. It is not that difficult to do.

I've got lots of clones of each master, which just stays on the shelf. I use different ones for different things, lots of security built in. Anything that gets really messed up is one that is a completely separate physical drive.

At some point if the effort is not worth it or it has outlived its usefulness just reclone it from the Master or another clone. Nothing illegal, the same OS is always being used on the same machine, one drive at a time, all the clones are dedicated to that machine. Essentially many back ups of varying degrees / ages / functions, only they all are setting on different physical drives.

The two machines that I use the most are now about 7 years old, using these methods I never have had to reload any OS. Been lots of foobaas along the way but each computer was always been able to be restored to pristine working condition no matter what happened. Lots of software came and went, fair amount of drive failures of varying types. Minor Hardware failure, just keep upgrading the memory, buying more hard drives. Recently got like twenty 80 G IDE drives for like $8 each new in the case. Should be good for the next hundred years.

In cases like yours, if you ever did get a really nasty virus that ate up the hard drive, who cares, re-clone it or ditch it, use a back up one. Does make life a lot more simple and secure. Even Murphy's Laws might not get you on a dark night.

Hopefully it all makes sense. Drawers and trays make it so I never have to actually go inside the computer for just about anything. Can be any configuration desired for any purpose. Is worth it over time, especially if you run the computer until it drops.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by swagger

If you have a decent computer store around, get yourself either an external hard drive enclosure, or something similar. I use something like this for these tasks.

You'd use that to connect the affected drive to another PC as an external drive, which you can scan using the host PCs antivirus. Since you're not booting off the affected drive, the malware doesn't have a chance to execute and circumvent your antivirus software.

One thing to be aware of though is that some malware will create an autorun.inf file in the root of the drive which launches a copy of itself from a hidden folder. I've seen this a few times. Be sure to disable autorun on the host PC before attaching any suspect drive.

[Moonwalkr]

If you don't have any files you need I would just reformat and re-install your OS. Kills everything that way, and a good lesson learned.

[Tek_Freek]

Good Lord. Go to Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.41 - FileHippo.com download Malwarebytes from the link at the top right. During the download don't bother copying it, just install and run it. Reboot when it finishes and run it again from the icon installed on your desktop.

Run the PC for a while and see if it's OK.

[Cosmic]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Good Lord. Go to Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.41 - FileHippo.com download Malwarebytes from the link at the top right. During the download don't bother copying it, just install and run it. Reboot when it finishes and run it again from the icon installed on your desktop.

Run the PC for a while and see if it's OK.

Duh, it will not run, won't boot.

Could just reload the OS but you learn nothing in that way. Many folks have nothing to reload it with. They don't even have clue what the Product Key Code was, they always ask (the what). The basic problem here is lack of knowledge, equipment and experience. Plus having to use another person's computer. Sort of a deadly combination.

Once you are into the problem it usually is too late. But still could be done using what I described above. The one thing that does happen in some of those cases, especially with Spybot it can take forever to fix the problem and looks like nothing is happening on a number of reboots, just have to let it know to let it run what seems forever with nothing happening on the screen.

Some of these new trojans are not written by some kid in a basement.

Nice to get some extra external hard drives and play around a bit before the wheels actually fall off.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by Cosmic

Duh, it will not run, won't boot.

Could just reload the OS but you learn nothing in that way. Many folks have nothing to reload it with. They don't even have clue what the Product Key Code was, they always ask (the what). The basic problem here is lack of knowledge, equipment and experience. Plus having to use another person's computer. Sort of a deadly combination.

Once you are into the problem it usually is too late. But still could be done using what I described above. The one thing that does happen in some of those cases, especially with Spybot it can take forever to fix the problem and looks like nothing is happening on a number of reboots, just have to let it know to let it run what seems forever with nothing happening on the screen.

Some of these new trojans are not written by some kid in a basement.

Nice to get some extra external hard drives and play around a bit before the wheels actually fall off.

I don't see anything in the OP that says it won't boot. OP says it won't go into Safe Mode. Most people are using Malwarebytes in preference to Spybot these days. Malwarebytes can do a quick scan that often solves problems.

That being said, a quick search for Vundo Removal gives pages and pages of results. The answer is out there.

[Cosmic]

What ever his exact situation is, does not sound good.

At this point I can't even get virus scan to run on my PC and it will no longer connect to the internet (I'm using a neighbor's laptop to post this). I can't even start my PC "Safe Mode".

Will not be downloading Malwarebytes but still be good to try it from a flashdrive, if it will turn over at all.

If possible I always try to go in the sequence of:

Defraggler
CCleaner
MalwareBytes
SpyBot
Then all the on line scanners.

Some of these puppies have never been defrag'd in their life. Don't run all that great without the virus. I sure ain't going to try to predict what he got. They do get some dandy(s) from those FaceBook and P2P sites.

I would make me a copy of the drive before starting to mess around. Reloading is never my cup of tea.