Restart XP and I got a Suprise

[bdww00]

ok i restarted xp and before it got to the xp boot screen a zero with a smilie face in it next to appears to be a underscore and if u try to type something or hit f8 to try to get into dafe mode it jumps all around the screen (the underscore) im thinking this is a virus but i hope i can recover the pictures and data on it!

help

 

[mechBgon]

Think back, does this coincide with any risky behavior?

What I would do, is take the drive out, put it into a different computer, and start by doing a full virus scan with several antivirus products using the healthy computer. Then rescue important stuff and save it on the other computer. If stuff is in your \Documents and Settings\yourusername directory, you'll probably need to take NTFS ownership of it.

 

[bdww00]

thnx mech first ofall its not my computer thnk god cuz that thing is so full of crap and spyware lol

have u heard of this b4?


ive taken data from hds before but what is this ntfs ownership you speak of?

 

[mechBgon]

If you try to access the folder and you get an Access denied, foo' prompt, then y0, it's time to take><0r teh NTFS pwnership. :evil:

To do that, you right-click the folder that you can't get into, choose the Security tab*, and then click the Advanced button, go to the Ownership tab in the new panel that appears, and give Ownership to the account you're using on the rescue computer.



* to get the Security tab on WinXP Pro, click Tools > Folder Options, go to the View tab, and at the bottom of the list, disable File Sharing For Simpletons. To get the Security tab on WinXP Home, you must boot the rescue computer in Safe Mode. There might be a command-line method, I haven't bothered to learn it if there is.




BTW no I haven't heard of this specific symptom as a virus thing, but there are over 170,000 known viruses/etc out there, so it probably is the case, specially if it's loaded with spyware and stuff.

 

[RebateMonger]

If I saw that, the first thing I'd do is TURN OFF the computer and then:
A) Boot to an XP, Linux, or other recovery CD
or
B) Move the hard drive to a USB housing and plug it into another XP computer.

Then I'd copy anything important to another hard drive or to some other media.

Now you have choices. You can either start scanning and try to remove/fix whatever damage has been done. Or you can simply re-install Windows and your applications and move your data back onto the computer when you are done. (After scanning the data for viruses and worms, of course).

 

[bdww00]

its been only a few months since i installed pro on there im going to get the files of and then reformat it

man the owner just cannot keep her hands off the spyware and other bs!

 

[RebateMonger]

Next time:
1) Make an image of the final installed system using Ghost or something similar.
2) Limit the User rights of the owner. Keep a separate Administrator account and don't use it except when absolutely necessary.
3) Have the user read some security web sites. Microsoft's Security Site is a good starting place.

 

[bdww00]

thnx you think the same way as i do but she IS the owner of the computer and she knows what spyware and everything but she sometimes doesnt listen and you know how girls are any way and she doesnt back stuff up of course maybe this will be a hard lesson!

maybe she might get one of those maxtor 1 touch back ups


i hate to change the subject but do those maxtor 1 touch backup hds work good?

 

[bdww00]

you know what it was it was a FU***** FLOPPY DISK who even uses those anymore!

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: bdww00
you know what it was it was a FU***** FLOPPY DISK who even uses those anymore!

You didn't check that first?

 

[Slowlearner]

A smiley face was bouncing around the screen because the floppy drive was bad.

Please explain what the problem was and how it was resolved in detail.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: Slowlearner
A smiley face was bouncing around the screen because the floppy drive was bad.

Please explain what the problem was and how it was resolved in detail.

Apparently there was something on the floppy disk causing this.

Now...what I'm wondering is...what was on that disk and why was it in his computer?

 

[bdww00]

it was from a digi camera using floppies lol 1.3 mp lol anyway floppy drive is good else it wouldnt cause this


but idk why it made a zero with a smilie face!



anyone have any info or reviews on thiose maxtor one touch backup hds

 

[QueBert]

Maxtor makes a 1 touch back up, that's comedy. Maxtor has the highest drive failure rate in the industry. If you do buy one of these, might I suggest you buy a backup drive for the backup drive

seriously, all that 1 button crap does is launch some software that does a backup. For cheaper, you could buy a HD, then an enclosure, and make it yourself. Then put some software on the PC to back up, make a shortcut and have it back up when clicked. Vantec makes some killer enclosures, the Nexstar 3's are sweet.

 

[bdww00]

If you do buy one of these, might I suggest you buy a backup drive for the backup drive



oh hex naw! lol where are the statistics for maxtors failure rate i have a maxtor that smart errors and it still works idk how well lol



but ive had 2 wds fail on me

 

[QueBert]

WD's are death traps, I just had one die on me. As for numbers, I don't have a link for the Maxtor info. Infact, I'm sure the % isn't much higher then WD. Maxtor sells tons of drives. What I said was a joke, I appoligize

 

[bdww00]

np qbert we all hate mechanic storage devices
and i guess we have to live with it

i will never buy a wd

maxtors are fast

seagates are fast and reliable