Login Problem

[Turkish79]

I was sent here by a buddy who worships you guys. Recently my comp got hit with a virus that stops me from loggin in on XP. What it will do is start up, then log in to where I see my wallpaper, then it will log out and it will change the restart name to comp 2 and only gives me one log in, when I log in with the new one, it logs me right back off. Any ideas on how to fix this?


Thanks in advance.

 

[mechBgon]

Can you do this:

1) remove the hard drive, slave it into a second system, and rescue any important data first.

2) now scan the drive with some good antivirus software while it's still in the rescue computer, so the virus can't fight back.

3) afterwards, put the drive back into its own computer and see if it wants to boot. If not, well frankly I'd just burn that Windows installation to the ground with DBAN and start over but you could also try a repair-installation of WindowsXP if you want.

4) from the type of viruses you find, figure out where your security fell short, and do a better job on it in the future. Use antivirus software and patch all your software routinely, not just Windows et al, but everything else like Adobe Reader, Java, Office, FireFox, Opera, whatever.

 

[Turkish79]

Is there any easier way to try to go in and delete the bad files that are blocking me from logging in? Im kinda a newbie at the whole advanced computer stuff, and would liek to know if theres an easier way around this. Thanks very much.

 

[mechBgon]

Will it start in Safe Mode? If you haven't started a system in Safe Mode before, what you do is you begin tapping the F8 key when you know the first WindowsXP boot screen is about to appear, the one with the scrollie bar. Then a menu appears and you can choose Safe Mode.

If it'll start in Safe Mode (and lets you log on), then next try Safe Mode With Networking. If that works, try this routine: http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/scan.txt. Once you're set up to run the scan, reboot and use the Safe Mode With Command Prompt like it says to.

Don't freak out at the dire warning about backing up your files, it's just me covering my tail It doesn't usually cause any problems beyond what you've got already.

 

[Turkish79]

I get the same problem in safe mode, but it brings up an admin log in, but doesnt take passwords, and freezes at random.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Turkish79
I get the same problem in safe mode, but it brings up an admin log in, but doesnt take passwords, and freezes at random.

Harsh. Ok, what sort of system are you posting from right now, does it have a CD burner and do you have some blank CDs?

 

[Turkish79]

At work, nothin, I can type and read, thats about all the access I have here, I may have a second system hiding under some dust with a burner at home...

 

[mechBgon]

From the description, I don't think any course of action is really justifiable except for complete victory-by-annihilation. Rescue your data, run DBAN, reinstall Windows. And if your WinXP CD isn't already at SP2 level, then don't let the computer get any sort of network connection until you've manually installed Service Pack 2 offline. That enables the Windows Firewall, plus eliminates a lot of known vulnerabilities.

offline Service Pack 2 installation file, download here. It'll fit on a 256MB USB drive if you have one of those handy.

More suggestions for getting it set up The free 30-day trial of Kaspersky Antivirus Personal 5 is a good idea, make sure it's set up and updated before you try copying back any stuff from your virus-infected installation.

Rescuing your data first is the fun part What I'd do, is to do a parallel installation of WinXP to some non-default folder such as C:\Windows_2, then take NTFS Ownership of your old installation's C:\Documents and Settings\your_username directory so you can get stuff out of it. Save anything that matters onto a USB drive. After that you can DBAN with abandon. If you have so much stuff that it won't fit on a USB drive, then go out and buy an 80GB hard drive to stash it on.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the Forums

 

[Harvey]

If the virus did any damage to crictical files, the fastest way may be to re-install windows from the ground up. I just had to help two friends do that this past week.

If you have another drive, start the build on it, and if you're lucky, you'll be able to slave up your drive and read your data files from it. Any drive over 10 GB will do for this first set of steps. Don't even think about attaching the infected drive until you've installed your anti-virus and spyware removal progs.

I build drives in this order:

1. Base install of Win XP. Do NOT go for any updates.

2. Ad-Aware and Spybot.

3. Anti-virus prog. I use Norton System Works so I can clean up the errors after each new program.

If you have a registry cleaner like WinDoctor (in System Works), Registry Mechanic, etc., use it now.

Next, go for your AV and spyware removal updates first. Even Microsoft leaves stuff the other progs see as spyware.

Once your protected and you've cleaned up the loose ends of your basic install, get all of the Windows updates. Then, run the cleanup prog, and AV and spyware sweeps again.

At this point, if you have yet another drive, clone it using Norton Ghost or any other drive cloning prog. Do this after installing and cleaning EVERY new program. It takes only minutes, and it can save you hours of another rebuild if the next installation screws up your drive.

After you've backed up your installation to this point, you can attach your virus-infected drive and scan it for whatever bit it. Once you've done that, you can try to copy your files.

Once you have all your files cleaned and copied, you can ghost back to your original drive and continue. I repeat -- Clean and Ghost after each successful step.

Good luck.