Totally screwed up my PC

[KillerHERTZ]

The other day I downloaded an ahem crack for my copy of XP to remove the annoyling geniune noticifcation screen - I know I know its naughty.

Once downloaded it sucessfully removed it, but has caused no end in grief. The computer has been completely taken over by spyware and the like and it completely crashes if I attempt to virus scan it.

I have tried to 'roll' back the system but the eariest time I can do this is after the new software install

Im thinking I need to get into safe mode and reinstall windows? - according to some sites XPs safe mode is accessed by pressing F8 upon start, this doesnt seem to work - any ideas?

Yes yes, I know piracy doesnt pay! the PC was 2nd hand with the dodgy XP already installed...

 

[Gollom]

The other day I downloaded an ahem crack for my copy of XP to remove the annoyling geniune noticifcation screen - I know I know its naughty.

Once downloaded it sucessfully removed it, but has caused no end in grief. The computer has been completely taken over by spyware and the like and it completely crashes if I attempt to virus scan it.

I have tried to 'roll' back the system but the eariest time I can do this is after the new software install

Im thinking I need to get into safe mode and reinstall windows? - according to some sites XPs safe mode is accessed by pressing F8 upon start, this doesnt seem to work - any ideas?

Yes yes, I know piracy does pay! the PC was 2nd hand with the dodgy XP already installed...

In my experience there is really only 1 thing that works in this scenario - burn the data you need to keep onto a CD or something then reformat and install from scratch. There are all sorts of workarounds but they never really work!

You can pick up a genuine copy of XP for around £60'ish (let me know if you don't know where) You may well be able to find a cracked copy that works - but that will only be for a short time as MS constantly close the doors

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Yeah, I was thinking the same TBH, the trouble is I have soooo much installed on there it will take me at least a week backing everything up as it is terriblely slow and crashes after around 5mins!

 

[verytalldave]

I am not saying this WILL fix your problem, but it has as much a chance as anything.
When my PC became badly infected with spyware that simply would NOT delete using normal antispyware software, this is what I was told to do.
I did this and it worked.
Follow the instructions EXACTLY to the letter and you stand a good chance of ending up with a clean machine.
The instructions below have been cut and and pasted as I received them.
Printing it out makes it easier........
After you have done everything, reboot.
Good luck.



First, please download 'Combofix' to your desktop from the link below:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/sectools/sUBs/ComboFix.exe

Once the 'Combofix' file is on your desktop, please reboot your computer into 'Safe Mode':

Please reboot your computer into "Safe Mode" by restarting your computer and tapping the F8 key. After that, you should see a startup menu. Select "Safe Mode" and hit Log in to your username and follow these instructions after the black desktop loads.

Finally, please follow these instructions using the 'Combofix' file:

Close all open windows.

Double-Click combofix.exe. NOTE: MAKE SURE THAT COMBOFIX.EXE IS ON YOUR DESKTOP. A blue window will appear. Wait a few moments while the application loads.

Once the application changes prompts press the ‘1’ key and press <ENTER>. The window will ask you to wait while the application processes the infection. This may take several minutes to complete.

Once complete, you may or may not be prompted to reboot. If you are not prompted a window will appear with the ComboFix.txt log. If you are prompted, simply reboot and the ComboFix.txt log should appear on your desktop.



In addition, please do the following:

1.) Open 'My Computer'
2.) Open 'Local Disk C:'
3.) Find the 'Qoobox' folder and delete it from your system
4.) Empty your 'Recycle Bin'

 

[ibrar]

tried uninstalling the program? What virus-scanning program do u have?

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Thanks I will try it at home tonight.

I cant uninstall it as its changed all the registerys etc etc

I only have ad-aware & AVG - not the greatest but they havent let me down until now

 

[Gollom]

Yeah, I was thinking the same TBH, the trouble is I have soooo much installed on there it will take me at least a week backing everything up as it is terriblely slow and crashes after around 5mins!

Just back up the actual data you need to keep and reinstall the programmes (you do have the disks I presume?) when rebuilt.

Another idea (but will cost a little bit more) - buy a new hard disk, install XP on it and add your existing disk as a slave which means you can transfer data at your leisure. If I were closer I'd take care of it for you

As I said, in my experience when you get to this stage, nothing ever actually fixes the root problem. More knowledgeable heads will be along soon and may be able to suggest other avenues.

P.S. And you would be amazed how much faster your system will be after a clean install

HTH

 

[BTB 500]

You can get XP Home for £51:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Software/Operating+Systems/Microsoft+XP+Home+OEM+SP2?productId=25139

(I bought a copy from them last year)

 

[stevesey]

Try running online virus/spyware scanners - I find www.bitdefender.com one of the best for cleaning up bad machines, also trendmicro housecall (although I have found this won't run sometimes on badly infected machines).

Also have you tried a system restore, to before you had the problem (n.b. if needs be this can be done manually from the recovery console, incase any of the infections have attached themselves to the system restore process and are causing problems with it.

 

[GrahamC230K]

The other day I downloaded an ahem crack for my copy of XP to remove the annoyling geniune noticifcation screen - I know I know its naughty.

Once downloaded it sucessfully removed it, but has caused no end in grief. The computer has been completely taken over by spyware and the like and it completely crashes if I attempt to virus scan it.

......

Yes yes, I know piracy doesnt pay! the PC was 2nd hand with the dodgy XP already installed...

AS you say you have got what you asked for really. You know we can't condone it, so locked.