Sounds like what you need to do is wipe out that hard drive completely and start over with a fresh install of your OS. “Most” computers in today’s time comes with a CD to help you restore the system to brand new but I strongly suggest formatting the system.
To do this you just need to reorder your Boot Sequence in your BIOS so that the optical drive is first in the order of bootable devices. If you are using Windows the put your Windows CD in the drive and the system should boot of the CD and walk you through reinstalling everything. You can also format with the Windows CD.
Don’t forget to get all your drivers installed as well and there should be a CD for that as well.
A system restore will not work as a matter of fact it will make things worse…turn-off system restore and leave it off…only use it when you have to…reason: once a virus is located and terminated some of them use the system restore to get back on your computer…this is from a Microsoft Security blog i read…mine is off permanetly……remove all the viruses and such from the computer with your anti-virus product and these two which can be downloaded at CNet.com/downloads..these products are free and have no trial period and they will clean up the mess on your pc…if you have to download them in safe mode by all means do so… >>>> Malwarebytes anti-Malware and Super anti-spyware free home editions……..
First, make sure you have all the Windows Security updates. Then (This worked for me) download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (I can’t remember the correct website, but you can google it.) Do a quick scan first and see if anything comes up. The full scan will take about two hours, but will go faster if anything is discovered in the initial quick scan. The system will prompt you to restart. After the restart, re-scan the system with McAfee or Norton Anti-virus. Normally, the trojans are hidden in the Windows system files, so the standard virus programs don’t touch them. Yahoo also offers a spyware removal tool, but I’m not sure how well it works.
If what Peter told you to do doesn’t help, or there is no restore point earlier then when your problems started (try the earliest one possible, if you must), I recommend a formatting of the HDD.
I know this is extremely drastic, but your computer seems to be well beyond help from anti-virus programs according to your description, however, I will direct you to some FREE anti-virus software that you may try:
Pick and choose, if you must. Don’t install all of them. They aren’t made to run together and you’ll start getting lots of false positives from each one as they cross with each other. However, I recommend installing Malwarebytes. It’s the most versatile, and is probably more suited to your situation.
Restart your computer and boot into safe mode; the one place that malware can’t touch. Do this by pressing the F8 key while your computer starts up and you should get to a black screen. Choose “Safe Mode”, enter, wait for it to load, go to the Administrator account, run the software, scan, and delete everything that needs to be deleted.
If you’re still having problems, format may be the best way to go. Sorry.
NOTE: If you plan to format, make sure you have a copy of Windows to install the OS again. Formatting deletes EVERY single file. And if possible, back up all the files you want to keep, although that may not even apply as you say that most of your applications, if not all, are corrupt and/or infected.
Sounds like what you need to do is wipe out that hard drive completely and start over with a fresh install of your OS. “Most” computers in today’s time comes with a CD to help you restore the system to brand new but I strongly suggest formatting the system.
To do this you just need to reorder your Boot Sequence in your BIOS so that the optical drive is first in the order of bootable devices. If you are using Windows the put your Windows CD in the drive and the system should boot of the CD and walk you through reinstalling everything. You can also format with the Windows CD.
Don’t forget to get all your drivers installed as well and there should be a CD for that as well.
A system restore will not work as a matter of fact it will make things worse…turn-off system restore and leave it off…only use it when you have to…reason: once a virus is located and terminated some of them use the system restore to get back on your computer…this is from a Microsoft Security blog i read…mine is off permanetly……remove all the viruses and such from the computer with your anti-virus product and these two which can be downloaded at CNet.com/downloads..these products are free and have no trial period and they will clean up the mess on your pc…if you have to download them in safe mode by all means do so… >>>> Malwarebytes anti-Malware and Super anti-spyware free home editions……..
First, make sure you have all the Windows Security updates. Then (This worked for me) download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (I can’t remember the correct website, but you can google it.) Do a quick scan first and see if anything comes up. The full scan will take about two hours, but will go faster if anything is discovered in the initial quick scan. The system will prompt you to restart. After the restart, re-scan the system with McAfee or Norton Anti-virus. Normally, the trojans are hidden in the Windows system files, so the standard virus programs don’t touch them. Yahoo also offers a spyware removal tool, but I’m not sure how well it works.
If what Peter told you to do doesn’t help, or there is no restore point earlier then when your problems started (try the earliest one possible, if you must), I recommend a formatting of the HDD.
I know this is extremely drastic, but your computer seems to be well beyond help from anti-virus programs according to your description, however, I will direct you to some FREE anti-virus software that you may try:
http://free.avg.com/
http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
http://www.free-av.com/
http://malwarebytes.org/
Pick and choose, if you must. Don’t install all of them. They aren’t made to run together and you’ll start getting lots of false positives from each one as they cross with each other. However, I recommend installing Malwarebytes. It’s the most versatile, and is probably more suited to your situation.
Restart your computer and boot into safe mode; the one place that malware can’t touch. Do this by pressing the F8 key while your computer starts up and you should get to a black screen. Choose “Safe Mode”, enter, wait for it to load, go to the Administrator account, run the software, scan, and delete everything that needs to be deleted.
If you’re still having problems, format may be the best way to go. Sorry.
NOTE: If you plan to format, make sure you have a copy of Windows to install the OS again. Formatting deletes EVERY single file. And if possible, back up all the files you want to keep, although that may not even apply as you say that most of your applications, if not all, are corrupt and/or infected.