I think I have a Virus or something

2009-10-12 06:28:55

#1

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Okay so I don't know what's going on here but it's happening very regularly now. It usually happens when my PC first boots up and all of a sudden my screen freezes and the screen is covered in dots on the screen. Nothing responds at all, the only way to get out of it is to press the power button on the PC.

I'm no Tech guy or anything, but I'm pretty sure it's a virus. Thing is, McAfee hasn't detected anything yet it now shows this:

https://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t231/Kptk92/mcafee.jpg

Need some expert help on how to solve this please

I use Windows Vista if that is of any help!

Xfire wrote:
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4400 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 483 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Sound Card: Speakers / Headphones (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)

<3<3<3

EDIT: Oh and my McAfee 1 year subscription has convieniently run out

Last edited by Kez (2009-10-12 06:29:42)

2009-10-12 06:29:59

#2

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6699|King Of The Islands

Kez wrote:
McAfee hasn't detected anything

Stop the presses!

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2009-10-12 06:32:03

#3

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

thanks relevant solution to my problem right there

2009-10-12 06:38:58

#4

Hakei: Banned; +295|6255

Boot it safe mode, scan again, google the problem

Back up everything, reinstall.

2009-10-12 06:44:47

#5

Cheez: Herman is a warmaphrodite; +1,027|6699|King Of The Islands

Kez wrote:
thanks relevant solution to my problem right there

Oh, sorry.

Cheez wrote:
McAfee is a piece of shit; don't waste your time and uninstall it straight away

Howzat?

Start > "sys" > System Configuration. Untick all of Startup. Gradually retick them.

Also, ComboFix.

My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.

2009-10-12 06:48:15

#6

baggs: Member; +732|6464

Kez wrote:
Okay so I don't know what's going on here but it's happening very regularly now. It usually happens when my PC first boots up and all of a sudden my screen freezes and the screen is covered in dots on the screen. Nothing responds at all, the only way to get out of it is to press the power button on the PC.

I'm no Tech guy or anything, but I'm pretty sure it's a virus. Thing is, McAfee hasn't detected anything yet it now shows this:
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t231 … mcafee.jpg

Need some expert help on how to solve this please

I use Windows Vista if that is of any help!
Xfire wrote:
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4400 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 483 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Sound Card: Speakers / Headphones (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
<3<3<3

EDIT: Oh and my McAfee 1 year subscription has convieniently run out

too bad.

2009-10-12 06:48:24

#7

King_County_Downy: shitfaced; +2,791|6857|Seattle

Combofix sucks. It fixes one problem and causes another... I think that's where it got it's name.
Use malwarebytes.org if anything.

If you're going to renew your subscription or are willing to pay for something, I would highly recomend switching AV to Spysweeper w/ Antivirus.

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it

2009-10-12 08:13:25

#8

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Do you guys think it could be a video card problem rather than a virus?

I just tried opening Movie Maker for some apparant reason and a message said "Windows Movie Maker cannot start because your video card does not support the required level of hardware acceleration or hardware acceleration is not available."

Although I'm running it in Safe Mode so that could be why it isn't opening. Anyway I'm scanning with that Malwarebytes that KCD showed me and it's detected precisely 1 infected object.

2009-10-12 08:16:33

#9

Zimmer: Un Moderador; +1,688|7016|Scotland

Yeah, that sounds like a GFX problem.

2009-10-12 08:25:45

#10

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Okay, going to update drivers and see what happens.

2009-10-12 08:27:49

#11

Zimmer: Un Moderador; +1,688|7016|Scotland

Usually when dots appear on the screen like that it means your GFX is screwed and you need a new one.

2009-10-12 09:42:45

#12

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Fuck, problem still persists. Okay, gonna get someone to have a look at it, seeing as I'll probably break it even more.

Any recommendations for a GFX card if the problem is down to a GFX error? I have a 8800GT, I don't know how old that is nowadays..

2009-10-12 09:57:41

#13

King_County_Downy: shitfaced; +2,791|6857|Seattle

I have an 8800gt and it works great for me. I'm not really up-to-date on the latest and greatest stuff though. You could probably find 88oogt's for cheap nowadays. Do you have onboard video or someone else's video card to borrow for testing purposes?

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it

2009-10-12 10:34:02

#14

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Just tried a Video card stress test or whatever it's called, here's what the results said:

Changing video mode to 640x480x16...OK
[12/10/2009 18:32:07] Test started for "Primary Display Driver ()"...
Trying 16bpp RGB:565 mode...NOT SUPPORTED (Code: 88760233)
Trying 16bpp RGB:555 mode...NOT SUPPORTED (Code: 88760233)
Trying 16bpp BGR:565 mode...NOT SUPPORTED (Code: 88760233)
Trying 32bpp RGB:888 mode...NOT SUPPORTED (Code: 88760233)
Trying 32bpp BGR:888 mode...NOT SUPPORTED (Code: 88760233)
NO PASS COMPLETED

Looks like the card has just died on me?

2009-10-12 12:39:14

#15

Benzin: Member; +576|6258

Seems like the card is dead. Buy a new one.

Did MBAM clean whatever you found? Do a FULL SCAN. Clean whatever it finds. Do another FULL SCAN. If the second scan comes back clean, you're good to go.

Do not run ComboFix ever, though. You should only ever run Combo Fix as a last resort because that program can screw your machine up really good. Also a good idea if you've got a tough infection to go to the MBAM forums and get help there. They'll also write you CF scripts to clean the machine better that are customized for your machine.

2009-10-12 12:50:45

#16

Kez: Member; +778|5963|London, UK

Found 2 things on the first scan and MBAM deleted them. I'll do a double scan like you said, just in case it is a virus.

Any more recommendations on new cards then? Preferably cheap but I've got enough for a decent card too.

2009-10-12 13:01:59

#17

Benzin: Member; +576|6258

Kez wrote:
Found 2 things on the first scan and MBAM deleted them. I'll do a double scan like you said, just in case it is a virus.

Any more recommendations on new cards then? Preferably cheap but I've got enough for a decent card too.

A 4890 should do you quite nice if you don't want to take the step up to DX11. I think Nvidia's comparable cards are still more expensive at this point, but I haven't looked in a bit, so I'm not sure. I know the 4890 has dropped like a stone since the 5xxx's came out, though.

If you want to take a step up to DX11, I've been reading the 5850 commands a pretty sweet price/performance point at the moment. Check out the Tech Report's review of it. They do a good job breaking it down and showing what other cards are doing.

Last edited by CapnNismo (2009-10-12 13:02:55)

2009-10-12 13:27:47

#18

HaiBai: Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me; +304|5744|Bolingbrook, Illinois

King_County_Downy wrote:
Combofix sucks. It fixes one problem and causes another... I think that's where it got it's name.
Use malwarebytes.org if anything.

If you're going to renew your subscription or are willing to pay for something, I would highly recomend switching AV to Spysweeper w/ Antivirus.

You aren't supposed to use ComboFix unless you know what you're doing. It's not a simple case of pressing 'Fix' or 'Scan', don't use ComboFix without someone telling you exactly what to do.

Also, all anti-viruses are useless. Use your common sense instead.

2009-10-12 13:42:15

#19

King_County_Downy: shitfaced; +2,791|6857|Seattle

HaiBai wrote:
King_County_Downy wrote:
Combofix sucks. It fixes one problem and causes another... I think that's where it got it's name.
Use malwarebytes.org if anything.

If you're going to renew your subscription or are willing to pay for something, I would highly recomend switching AV to Spysweeper w/ Antivirus.
You aren't supposed to use ComboFix unless you know what you're doing. It's not a simple case of pressing 'Fix' or 'Scan', don't use ComboFix without someone telling you exactly what to do.

Also, all anti-viruses are useless. Use your common sense instead.

I agree with the combofix thing. I've only had it help once. It's pretty much worthless unless it's used in conjunction with another AV program and like you said, used by someone who knows what they're doing.

On the other hand...
Antivirus is extremely useful. Ever heard of a worm? Just being online makes you vulnerable.

I would even go as far as to say only a fool would NOT use AV protection. Unless you don't mind reinstalling everything once a week or so. Some people get a kick out of that though so whatever floats your boat I guess.

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it

2009-10-12 16:39:08

#20

HaiBai: Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me; +304|5744|Bolingbrook, Illinois

King_County_Downy wrote:
HaiBai wrote:
King_County_Downy wrote:
Combofix sucks. It fixes one problem and causes another... I think that's where it got it's name.
Use malwarebytes.org if anything.

If you're going to renew your subscription or are willing to pay for something, I would highly recomend switching AV to Spysweeper w/ Antivirus.
You aren't supposed to use ComboFix unless you know what you're doing. It's not a simple case of pressing 'Fix' or 'Scan', don't use ComboFix without someone telling you exactly what to do.

Also, all anti-viruses are useless. Use your common sense instead.
I agree with the combofix thing. I've only had it help once. It's pretty much worthless unless it's used in conjunction with another AV program and like you said, used by someone who knows what they're doing.

On the other hand...
Antivirus is extremely useful. Ever heard of a worm? Just being online makes you vulnerable.

I would even go as far as to say only a fool would NOT use AV protection. Unless you don't mind reinstalling everything once a week or so. Some people get a kick out of that though so whatever floats your boat I guess.

I've never had a virus before. Well, not counting the ones I installed on VMWare to debug them for educational purposes. Actually, I have a few viruses on my computer at the moment, but I haven't executed them. In fact, I built them.

2009-10-12 22:50:19

#21

Benzin: Member; +576|6258

Another helpful thing to install on your computer: Comodo Firewall. It saved my ass when I was cleaning up the viruses on my computer last month (when I had that nasty rootkit). It at least stopped them from spreading and multiplying.

2009-10-13 09:37:10

#22

King_County_Downy: shitfaced; +2,791|6857|Seattle

HaiBai wrote:
King_County_Downy wrote:
HaiBai wrote:

You aren't supposed to use ComboFix unless you know what you're doing. It's not a simple case of pressing 'Fix' or 'Scan', don't use ComboFix without someone telling you exactly what to do.

Also, all anti-viruses are useless. Use your common sense instead.
I agree with the combofix thing. I've only had it help once. It's pretty much worthless unless it's used in conjunction with another AV program and like you said, used by someone who knows what they're doing.

On the other hand...
Antivirus is extremely useful. Ever heard of a worm? Just being online makes you vulnerable.

I would even go as far as to say only a fool would NOT use AV protection. Unless you don't mind reinstalling everything once a week or so. Some people get a kick out of that though so whatever floats your boat I guess.
I've never had a virus before. Well, not counting the ones I installed on VMWare to debug them for educational purposes. Actually, I have a few viruses on my computer at the moment, but I haven't executed them. In fact, I built them.

If you make viruses for malicious purposes, I'd really like to kick your ass. Srsly.

If you work for an AV company, then nm.

Sober enough to know what I'm doing, drunk enough to really enjoy doing it

BF2S Forums I think I have a Virus or something

Xfire wrote:

Kez wrote:

Kez wrote:

Cheez wrote:

Kez wrote:

Xfire wrote:

Kez wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

HaiBai wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

HaiBai wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

HaiBai wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

HaiBai wrote:

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