eersandbeers wrote: The fact you lose every piece of information on your computer. Then you have to reinstall every program and change all your settings.

If you don't do a lot with your computer I suppose its easier.

Just back everything up..not hard..yes..you have to reinstall everything..but it's not hard..just time consuming.

Computer Tech major here. Here are instructions to get rid of it for sure.

First download driver max on her computer via internet in safe mode if possible. If you get this program installed you need to run it and then make a back of her drivers. put them on a flash drive. It is a simple GUI and is easy to use.

Now,
If it is Windows XP and it most likely is, go on a separate computer and download windows 9 in 1 via torrent. It is all 9 versions of windows xp in one cd. Put it on a cd and the boot to that cd. Reinstall Windows on her computer, Also rather easy to do. Make sure you pick the correct version of XP. If it was installed by a cd bought at a store than it is not the OEM version. If it was already on her PC then use the OEM version. So if it is xp pro use xp pro OEM. Same goes for home.

The 9-1 does not need a product key for one month and hers will work as long as you picked the correct version of xp. Use the product key on the back of her computer and it should work. If not call them and they will activate it for you.

After this is done connect to the internet and download driver max again. then plug in your flash drive or whatever you saved her drivers on and use the GUI to install them all. It takes an hour or 2 to install them all but is a guarantee way to fix your problem.

If you can not use driver max because you can not get it, there is a good chance all of her drivers will get picked up anyway. This just is to make sure.

I had a similar issue 2 times in the past month on one of my computers and had to do this 2 times. Not hard at all and will fix your problem. If she has files or music she wants to keep transfer them to your pc via flash drive or whatever you want.

Good luck and the only hard part is to get that 9-1 via torrent. Even that is not hard.

jmog wrote: I'm surprised no one has suggested system restore yet.

All you have to do is know what day she downloaded this crap and restore to the most recent restore date prior to that.

Not always true. Most of these malware issues wont even let you run that. They tend to block safe mode too.

Any other problems just PM me and I will help you out in the future.

bo shemmy3337 wrote:

jmog wrote: I'm surprised no one has suggested system restore yet.

All you have to do is know what day she downloaded this crap and restore to the most recent restore date prior to that.

Not always true. Most of these malware issues wont even let you run that. They tend to block safe mode too.

I've also dealt with ones that won't let you access the task manager too. Evil stuff

slide22 wrote:

bo shemmy3337 wrote:

jmog wrote: I'm surprised no one has suggested system restore yet.

All you have to do is know what day she downloaded this crap and restore to the most recent restore date prior to that.

Not always true. Most of these malware issues wont even let you run that. They tend to block safe mode too.

I've also dealt with ones that won't let you access the task manager too. Evil stuff

Some are a pain, it is always worth it to have a second pc or a large external hard drive to back up important files when you need to reinstall windows. Really what you are doing is clearing the hard disk and installing window. That is a guaranteed way to get rid of those pesky viruses. That drivermax program is a nice program and I use it regularly when fixing computers. you never have to look up drivers again.

That 9-in-1 CD doesn't work incredibly well, I wouldn't recommend it.

GoChiefs wrote:

eersandbeers wrote: The fact you lose every piece of information on your computer. Then you have to reinstall every program and change all your settings.

If you don't do a lot with your computer I suppose its easier.

Just back everything up..not hard..yes..you have to reinstall everything..but it's not hard..just time consuming.

If you already have the virus its a little late to back things up. If you are smart and do it before hand then its not problem.

Still much easier to just let people clean the virus than going through and formatting.

slide22 wrote:
I've also dealt with ones that won't let you access the task manager too. Evil stuff

The fake AVs pretty much disable everything on your computer. They are outdated now, but the 0 day versions were almost impossible to clean.

dlazz wrote: That 9-in-1 CD doesn't work incredibly well, I wouldn't recommend it.

I have used mine 20 plus times and I have never had a problem. If getting it off a torrent I could see how problems may happen. I got mine threw a buddy at Kent State University. They bought it and I got a copy.