Two solutions
One if this is a Dell do this
Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec
NOTICE: Using Dell PC Restore permanently deletes all data on the hard drive and removes any applications or
drivers installed after you received your computer. If possible, back up the data before using PC Restore. Use PC
Restore only if System Restore did not resolve your operating system problem.
NOTE: Dell PC Restore by Symantec is not available in all countries or on all computers.
Use Dell PC Restore by Symantec only as the last method to restore your operating system.
PC Restore restores your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer.
Any programs or files added since you received your computer—including data files—are permanently
deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos,
music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC Restore.
To use PC Restore:
1 Turn on the computer.
During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.
2 Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press
.
IF YOU DO NOT PRESS IN TIME, LET THE COMPUTER FINISH STARTING, AND THEN RESTART THE
COMPUTER AGAIN.
NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.
3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
56 Troubleshooting Tools
5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.
NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot.
6 When prompted, click Yes.
The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the screens that
appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that appeared the first time the
computer was turned on.
7 Click Next.
The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
8 After the computer restarts, click OK.
Go to Microsoft Updates as you now will be WAY out of date.
IF NOT
Step 1) DON'T PANIC! Take a deep breath and go grab a cup of your favorite beverage. This may take awhile.
Step 2) Clean up your pc. Remove programs you don't use via the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. In Vista, you remove programs by clicking Programs and Features in the Control Panel. If you are unsure of a particular program, you can check it against a list of offenders here: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread....
Clean your hard drive of unnecessary files using CCleaner here: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/...
Save to your desktop, install it, then run the cleaner. Simple, yet it will free up tons of space on your hard drive. While you have the program open, run the Registry Checker as well. This will fix invalid registry entries safely. Note that you should run CCleaner for ALL accounts on your pc.
Step 3) Create a new System Restore point. Click Start>All Programs> Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Create a restore point. Now delete all but this most recent restore point. Click Start>All Programs>Accessories> System Tools>Disk Cleanup. Click More Options tab, and then under System Restore, click Clean up. Click Yes to remove all but the most recent restore point. Click OK, click Yes, and then click OK.
Step 4) Now let's start to get rid of those nasties. Download the following programs to your Desktop. You should then install each one, but don't run them yet. Patience...patience.
Lavasoft's Ad-Aware from here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_a...
AVG Anti-Spyware from here:
http://www.ewido.net/en/download/...
Spybot Search and Destroy from here:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/downl...
SUPERAntiSpyware from here:
http://www.superantispyware.com/...
I know this seems like overkill, but until someone can come up with one program that can detect everything in the wild, we need to use programs from several reputable sources.
Step 5) Use them safely. Once these programs are installed on your pc, their effectiveness may be negated by running scans normally. You need to reboot your pc into Safe Mode. Shut down your pc, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on. As your computer restarts but before Windows launches, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, and press Enter. If Windows launches before you can choose a safe mode, restart your computer and try again. Now it's time to start each program you installed and run scans. First, open Ad-Aware, update to the latest signatures, and run a full system scan. Delete any malware found, close the program and move on to AVG Anti-Spyware. Again, update, run complete scan, and delete the baddies. Do the same for Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware. When you are finished, restart the computer normally.
Step 6) Clean up and protect. I would recommend leaving AVG and Ad-Aware on your system, and delete the other two. These anti-spyware programs do not conflict and offer good future protection. If you happen to like the interface of the others, then by all means keep the ones you want, just so long as you have at least one solid stand-alone on your system. Uninstall the others via Add/Remove in the Control Panel.
Step 7) Not done yet. We've taken care of the spyware, but there still may be viruses and trojans lurking on your pc. If there is an anti-virus program running on your pc, shut it down. Yes, you read right, end the program. We need to run a few online scans that may conflict with the anti-virus installed. Go to Trend Micro: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/... to download and run their free online scanner. Take whatever action the scanner tells you for any virus found. Finally, do the same with the Panda Online ActiveScan : http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ac...
Restart your computer.
Step 8) Peace at last. Make sure your anti-virus program of choice is running again and is up-to-date. If you do not have one, I suggest AVG Free Antivirus here: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/ or Avast 4 Home:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-...
Be sure you have at least one of the anti-spyware programs running, and also make sure you have a good firewall. PC Tools Firewall Plus is free and works on XP and Vista: http://www.pctools.com/firewall/... , as does WinPatrol 2007:
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html...
This procedure will remove MOST malware. However, it may not catch some really nasty buggers. If you've followed all the steps and still believe you have something not right on your pc, you need some extra help. Go here: http://www.tomcoyote.org/hijackthis... to download a program called HijackThis. It examines certain key areas of the Registry and Hard Drive and lists their contents. Install, run and save a logfile which you may post on one of the forums listed on that same page as above. Some kind soul will then come along and examine your logfile and give you recommendations in order to wipe any remaining buggers away.
Please email me with comments, suggestions, and errors. If you like it, feel free to pass it on to other infected folks.