[jane13434]

My other laptop must have a virus (windows xp). Tried superantispyware, malwarebytes' antimalware, and hijackthis. Each will start to run but won't continue. I have avg 2012 installed but it apparently didn't stop the virus.

Any suggestions? I'm not an expert nor a novice - somewhere in between.

I'm willing to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows as a last resort

[coastie65]

jane13434, on 09 October 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

My other laptop must have a virus (windows xp). Tried superantispyware, malwarebytes' antimalware, and hijackthis. Each will start to run but won't continue. I have avg 2012 installed but it apparently didn't stop the virus.

Any suggestions? I'm not an expert nor a novice - somewhere in between.

I'm willing to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows as a last resort

Hi and welcome to the forums. Ok. You might want to Boot into Safe Mode and see if you can run them that way. Reformat and reinstall is definitely a last resort. If we knew what the Virus was, we could probably find a manuel way of removing it.

[A41202813]

@jane13434

Before The Last Resort, Install Micro$oft Security Essentials.

It Is Free.

Test As Many AVs As You Like, But Only Have One Installed At A Time.

AVs Are Very Territorial And Can Clash With Each Other.

[coastie65]

Hi Jane, Here is something else to try : http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit?lng=en . Just download the FREE home version ( the one on the left ) and run it.

[LiveBrianD]

I've heard that sometimes you get an "error" (actually the virus) when you try to run av. When you get that, try leaving the error dialog open, and running your av again (sometimes that works). Safe mode is also a good thing to try.

[Rommel]

Should safe mode not allow your scan to complete, this has worked for me in the past.
Create another user account, do it in safe mode if needed, then reboot into that new account and run your scan.

Perhaps it depends on the type of virus but this method worked twice for me so far when the virus was stopping my scans even in safe mode.
Like you, couldn't install another spyware utility eigther.

[LincolnSpector]

jane13434, on 09 October 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

My other laptop must have a virus (windows xp). Tried superantispyware, malwarebytes' antimalware, and hijackthis. Each will start to run but won't continue. I have avg 2012 installed but it apparently didn't stop the virus.

Any suggestions? I'm not an expert nor a novice - somewhere in between.

I'm willing to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows as a last resort

Hi, Jane, and welcome to the forums.

You say that your laptop "must have a virus." Why do you think so? What problem are you having that suggests malware?

And what happens to these programs when they don't continue?

The reason I ask is because people often assume that malware is causing whatever problem their computer is having, when it's actually something else--even a hardware issue.

Which isn't to say that a malware scan isn't a good idea. If malware really easy keeping all these programs from scanning your PC, your best bet is to do a scan outside of Windows. Try the AVG Rescue CD. It boots into a live Linux environment and scans for malware.

Lincoln

[coastie65]

LincolnSpector, on 10 October 2011 - 07:38 AM, said:

jane13434, on 09 October 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

My other laptop must have a virus (windows xp). Tried superantispyware, malwarebytes' antimalware, and hijackthis. Each will start to run but won't continue. I have avg 2012 installed but it apparently didn't stop the virus.

Any suggestions? I'm not an expert nor a novice - somewhere in between.

I'm willing to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows as a last resort

Hi, Jane, and welcome to the forums.

You say that your laptop "must have a virus." Why do you think so? What problem are you having that suggests malware?

And what happens to these programs when they don't continue?

The reason I ask is because people often assume that malware is causing whatever problem their computer is having, when it's actually something else--even a hardware issue.

Which isn't to say that a malware scan isn't a good idea. If malware really easy keeping all these programs from scanning your PC, your best bet is to do a scan outside of Windows. Try the AVG Rescue CD. It boots into a live Linux environment and scans for malware.

Lincoln

Hey Lincoln, That is why I put that link to Dr.Web Cure it. It scans from outside and is always up to date.

[SpiritWind]

Hi Jane :

Having a security program like Malwarebytes Anti-malware
starting, but not continuing is a symptom of malware ;
in this Situation, I recommend you 1st Start by seeing IF
running the FREE ExeHelper program, available at
http://www.raktor.ne...r/exeHelper.com OR the
FREE AntiExeHijack program, available at
http://www.saferetur...m/download.html will permit
the security program(s) to continue to the end. IF NOT,
then I recommend you seek the help of an experienced,
trained, certified, VOLUNTEER "Malware Removal Specialist"
found on many advanced malware removal forums; the one I
recommend is at http://www.geekstogo.com/forum .

This post has been edited by SpiritWind: 10 October 2011 - 08:07 AM

[LincolnSpector]

coastie65, on 10 October 2011 - 07:46 AM, said:

Hey Lincoln, That is why I put that link to Dr.Web Cure it. It scans from outside and is always up to date.

Thanks. I didn't know about that one.

Anyway, it's always good to have more than one in a situation like this.


Lincoln

[coastie65]

LincolnSpector, on 11 October 2011 - 08:33 AM, said:

coastie65, on 10 October 2011 - 07:46 AM, said:

Hey Lincoln, That is why I put that link to Dr.Web Cure it. It scans from outside and is always up to date.

Anyway, it's always good to have more than one in a situation like this.


Lincoln

Yeah, I agree. I hadn't heard of the one you linked to, but have used Dr. Web in the past.

This post has been edited by coastie65: 12 October 2011 - 06:18 AM

[mjd420nova]

In my past experience, booting into SAFE mose and running Malwarebytes would find the problem and eliminate it. A worst case scenario would be a virus that inserted itself into the BIOS. Entering the BIOS and setting it all to factory reset will prevent the virus from loading from the flash BIOS and allow your anti-virus software to complete its job.

[amphi]

jane13434, on 09 October 2011 - 01:27 PM, said:

My other laptop must have a virus (windows xp). Tried superantispyware, malwarebytes' antimalware, and hijackthis. Each will start to run but won't continue. I have avg 2012 installed but it apparently didn't stop the virus.

Any suggestions? I'm not an expert nor a novice - somewhere in between.

I'm willing to reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows as a last resort

What is the virus? Maybe for AVG, you should make sure the AVG scan is set to clean all (as in all) folders and subfolders of all your disks. Even the recyclers bin. Sometimes viruses are hiding in those folders we seldom use.

[sksinghsanjeet]

Restart You Computer Safe Mode

1. Reboot your machine.

2. When the machine starts the reboot sequence, press the F8 key repeatedly.

3. Select Safe Mode with Networking from the resulting menu.

4. Login. If the malware has changed your password, try logging in as
Administrator. By default, Administrator has no password.

5. The machine will continue booting, but the Windows desktop will look different.

ReInstal Operating system is a last option for virus deletion

[dude91]

I have a neat little trick which works well most of the time. Just restore your computer to a time when everything was fine. More often than not it solves the problem.