I think I had a Nasty One

Okay, I was on a forum at Discover Vancouver, when my AV popped up with a threat and quarantined it. Unfortunately, didn't pay too much attention to it. Went to turn off the computer, and it would not, tried to bring up task manager and it would not open, tried to run Malwarebytes, and it would not run, nor would any other application other than the web browsers, Firefox and IE. No popups, no redirects, no obvious signs of malware. Manually turned off computer with the power button.

Now the fun begins. Turned on the computer, started loading XP, gets past the logo, usb drivers load, mouse pointer on black screen, and that's all folks.

No safe mode, no normal. Any ideas?

LL

 

Greetings, laughinglizard...

Can you start the machine in Safe Mode, and if so, can you then run your antivirus software?
If not, can you boot to your Windows or Restore CD?

 

As I said no boot in any mode. Solved the issue by re-installing windows using the repair option, backing up data, reformatting and then doing a clean install.

It was time for a fresh install anyway, been a couple of years since last install on this laptop.

 

Glad you got it - I've never seen a parasite that could survive a format...