I'm running my desktop on windows 7 home premium. Until yesterday everything was working fine then suddenly when i turned on my computer, it asked me to start some startip fix to fix a startup issue. After i did this, i logged in and found out that i couldnt connect to the internet. I'm using a TP-link wireless usb and i can see that the computer recognizes and detects the usb but i cant seem to find any networks. I tried troubleshooting but even that doesnt work because apparently my troubleshooting wizard has issues as well. Also, i cant open any files on microsoft office (word, powerpoint, etc.) it says that theres an error with the contents. I'm worried that these few problems are omly the least of my concerns and i really want to know what could be causing this and how to fix this ASAP. Thanks.
Windows 7 desktop going crazy
- Thread starter Ethan Foo
- Start date
Hi Ethan Foo
I would begin with the path of least resistance and that would be checking for viruses, trojans and malware.
Run your antivirus programs and also >
Malwarebytes
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Trojan Remover
http://www.simplysup.com/tremover/download.html
Check in Add & Remove programs for any software you don't recognize that was recently installed to id whether the problem arises from malicious software, if found remove it.
I would begin with the path of least resistance and that would be checking for viruses, trojans and malware.
Run your antivirus programs and also >
Malwarebytes
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Trojan Remover
http://www.simplysup.com/tremover/download.html
Check in Add & Remove programs for any software you don't recognize that was recently installed to id whether the problem arises from malicious software, if found remove it.
Sounds like malware to me too. Start with the Malwarebytes link above. Sometimes it takes more than one approach to get rid of that stuff, so run scans from as many anti-virus vendors as needed till the stuff is gone. Sometimes you need to log onto the computer as a different user even get the software to install and run. Good luck.
Hi guys, thanks for your suggestions. I've tried them and unfortunately its still not working :/ it did get rid of some affected files and after restarting my system when prompted, everything still seems to be the same. Is there anything else i can do? Or do i have to resort to formatting my whole pc?
If you do not have an a infected admin user account, make a new admin account if you can. Then make sure the infected account is set as a user account. If the malware doesn't jump the accounts, you still have an opportunity to save the computer. Try again with malwarebytes, kaspersky, norton and any other tools you can find, running them form the new admin account. It is a tedious process but it can be done. You can Google the name of the malware reported by Malwarebytes and see if there are other suggestions to manually remove it. Sometimes this requires booting from a Linux USB drive and manually hunting down the files.
Assuming you agree the malware diagnosis is correct....The most drastic action is to boot from a Linux usb drive and extract all your files you want to recover. Then reformat and reinstall windows.
Assuming you agree the malware diagnosis is correct....The most drastic action is to boot from a Linux usb drive and extract all your files you want to recover. Then reformat and reinstall windows.
Hi Ethan
Sorry to hear the prescribed medicine hasn't worked yet. Pooneil's suggestions are good and worth pursuing and I could add one or two different one's to the list of approaches, that said it seems we may be at that juncture where it's important to consider how much of a time investment you're willing or able to make. Chasing down the source of these types of problems an fixing them when the standard procedures fail can be involved, and though you will learn a lot from the process, it's important to realize there's no guarantee you'll succeed.
If you want to take it on I'm willing to throw in more suggestions and perhaps Pooneil and others will add even more as well however it may prove simplest to back up everything that's important to you and simply reformat.
Sorry to hear the prescribed medicine hasn't worked yet. Pooneil's suggestions are good and worth pursuing and I could add one or two different one's to the list of approaches, that said it seems we may be at that juncture where it's important to consider how much of a time investment you're willing or able to make. Chasing down the source of these types of problems an fixing them when the standard procedures fail can be involved, and though you will learn a lot from the process, it's important to realize there's no guarantee you'll succeed.
If you want to take it on I'm willing to throw in more suggestions and perhaps Pooneil and others will add even more as well however it may prove simplest to back up everything that's important to you and simply reformat.
It has been 18 months since I've had to recover a machine from this kind of attack. I have been successful with 3 infected XP machines. It took two or three days of off and on attention for recovery. These nasties "improve" at an alarming rate. I never want to say to abandon a computer if the files are not back up and can still be salvaged, but if it is well backed up, a reformat is likely the least time consuming option as it typically takes only one day of the same kind of attention to bring a fresh machine into operation on our work network. If not backed up, then try anything you can. Either way, I'd get a thumb drive and try to recover what you can while the antivirus/antimalware software works it tricks.
The last thing is that you may need to work from safe mode. At least try malwarebytes from an admin account in safe mode. It never hurts.
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