Expert: Keith Davis - 9/2/2009

Question
I think iv come across a virus,i cant access my desktop to run programs,i can only do it by the task manager,it occasionally turns itself off and doesnt run smoothly at all,iv downloaded many virus detectors and cant install any of them because of whats effecting my computer,what can i do!?i really dont want to reboot the system as i will lose everything.

please help!

Answer
Marcus,
You should try to boot the system in safe mode. According to what OS you have, most of the time you press F5 or F8 repeatedly when the machine is starting up. It will then give you the option of starting in safe mode. From safe mode you may be able to install and run anti-spyware and anti-virus programs.
According to how bad your system is and it sounds bad, you may want to try and get everything off that you can on a thumbdrive or external hard drive and do a complete system recovery. I don't know how long you've had your system? If it is over a year and you use it a lot, you are due.

Keith