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Spyware, viruses, & security forum: black screen virus vista

by: waring25 December 16, 2011 8:21 AM PST

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black screen virus vista

by waring25 - 12/16/11 8:21 AM

Hi:

Last night I got a virus. Firefox windows closed, my computer restarted and I had a black desktop. I did a system restore. I then had my desktop back but various Word documents I had saved to the desktop were gone. I know they are still there. When I ran a Malwarebytes scan I could see the file names in the running list of items being scanned. Firefox won't open now. And everything else is really slow. So I think I still have some kind of active virus. Any suggestions for what to do next to restore my laptop to full functionality and get my docs back?


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It would help to know..

by Carol~ Moderator - 12/16/11 10:22 AM

In Reply to: black screen virus vista by waring25

As a start..

It would help to know the name of the virus. You stated you ran Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (MBAM) after a restore. Did MBAM find anything? Is Firefox the only program which won't open? Does Firefox open in Safe Mode?

Additionally, read "Unhide.exe - A introduction as to what this program does".

For the time being, try scanning with:

ESET's Online Scanner - Their FAQ and Help sections should answer any questions you might have. (Temporarily disable your A/V prior to running the scan)

http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner

Keep us informed..
Carol


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You say you "got a virus" but ...

by Edward ODaniel - 12/17/11 9:24 AM

In Reply to: black screen virus vista by waring25

the few symptoms you tell indicate a probable hardware fault.

Your Event logs (look at them using your Event Viewer) will likely tell you what caused the reboot (system and application logs).

MalwareBytes scanning is a good idea BUT while it will find some types of malware it doesn't locate viruses (that is why you should have a resident Anti Virus application such as Avast, AVG, McAfee, Norton, etc.). A virus scan is necessary to identify any supposed virus and you didn't indicate what if anything Mal3wareBytes found.

You mention doing a system restore but some Word documents you had on your desktop are "gone". This is normal if the documents were not there at the time the restore point was created. You just need to locate them (search the computer for the files) then move them or create shortcuts to them on the existing desktop.

Follow Carol's advice to use the online virus scanner then download RKILL http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/rkill

Boot to SAFE MODE then run RKILL (kills potential malware processes) and after it completes run MalwareBytes while still in SAFE MODE. Then let us know what is found and what you did about what you found. Also let us know what problems your system and application event logs show.


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