Expert: Lorry - 1/27/2011

Question
Hi,

My laptop has a virus that started with a pop-up window that said 'Windows Security Alert - Your computer is infected... Do you want to run a scan now...' or something along those lines.

Then, I couldn't open any files at all! I'd just get a message that said something like, 'The file whateveritscalled.exe is infected. Do you want to perform a scan now?'

At this next stage, I can't even log on to my laptop! When I get to the logon page where I need to enter my password, the same pop-up comes up that says 'logon.exe is infected...blah blah' and it won't let me do anything. It just pops up time and time again, every time I say 'No'.

This means I can't even log in to my laptop to run an anti-virus program.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Kim,

Am assuming that you cannot start Windows in Safe Mode, is that correct? If you can start Windows in Safe Mode, do so and run the virus scan, again, I'm assuming that there is an anti-virus program installed. Another thing you could try, that is if you can start Windows in Safe Mode, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, click on System Restore and restore Windows to a date when it was working correctly.

One thing you could do is use the Windows installation CD and selecting Repair Install when asked.If this doesn't do the trick, take it down to the local repair shop where they have the software to backup anything of importance and reinstall Windows for you.

Hope this helps!
Lorry