Virus on my laptop, bluescreen after logging in

E.T.

I got a virus on my laptop a few days ago - I was just using google search when Avast popped up saying something about a Win32 virus, but it didn't stop whatever got on to my system. Since then when I used google search, the results were redirected to malware/porn sites. I googled on another laptop and installed all the programmes I could find that dealt with this virus but they only turned up a few low priority tracking cookies.

I tried opening windows/system32/etc/hosts (or something along those lines) but it wouldn't access it. I went in through the folders and found an icalendar file in the etc folder, which had a host name on it and was created the other day. I deleted this, but it reappears every time I turn on the laptop.

At this stage when I turn on the laptop and login, I get a bluescreen. Nothing on it. I can alt/ctrl/del and there are processes and services running but no programmes. I've tried turning it on in safe mode but now it's just basically the same - black screen with "safe mode" in white in all 4 corners.

Is there anything I can do or is it time to bring it to a pc clinic? Downloading and installing new software is about the limit of my knowledge - I don't mind going through things if I have instructions, but with the blank screen I really feel it's beyond me at this stage!

bhickey

So can you do anything at all even in Safe Mode?

If you can do nothing and you have another computer available, then all you can try at this stage is something like the BitDefender Rescue CD. Download the .ISO image, burn it to a CD and then boot the infected laptop from the CD. Scan the computer and let us know how it goes.

E.T.

Can't do anything at all. When the system starts up it's all as normal. I can press F8 and start in safe mode, and I can choose the different options here. It's after I put in my password that everything goes blank. I thought at first that they system was totally gone, but when I alt/ctrl/del to get the task manager up to shut down, the shut down screen shows as normal in both modes. Just going to download the bitdefender rescue CD now and give it a go.

E.T.

Just to update this - as I was trying to reboot the computer with the bitdefender CD, Hitman Pro popped up in programmes in the task manager, saying it had detected and dealt with 3 trojans. I hadn't started running it, I had downloaded it the previous day and it hadn't found anything. I have my laptop up and running again. Ran malwarebytes in safe mode and it found some more trojans which I deleted. Tried it again there and it's not finding anything.

The only thing that still seems odd is the ical hosts file located in the etc folder. From what I've read, I should only have one hosts file, but this one is also there. I've tried deleting it, but it reappears every time I restart the computer. Is this another trojan or is it something normal?

bhickey

E.T. wrote: »

The only thing that still seems odd is the ical hosts file located in the etc folder. From what I've read, I should only have one hosts file, but this one is also there. I've tried deleting it, but it reappears every time I restart the computer. Is this another trojan or is it something normal?

1. So is the machine behaving properly now apart from the fact that it has an extra hosts file? Can you attach the normal hosts file and the ical hosts file?

2. Did you actually run the BitDefender CD scan and if so what were the results?

3. Is your Avast antivirus software up-to-date?