I figured since I have been working as a computer service technician since 1996 I would give some advice for everyone. The most popular repair I see is cleaning up viruses. The problem is that viruses can come in from anywhere these days. As Hams we use computers in a variety of ways, whether for keeping a log book or voice over internet as well as other ways.
If your computer becomes infected do not click on it. Hold the power button in for 10 to 15 seconds and the computer will shut off. If you have access to another computer then go on the internet and look for these programs. Download tdsskiller.exe, combofix(not ready for windows 8 yet), malwarebytes(USE THE FREE VERSION NOT THE TRIAL VERSION), spybot 2.1 and super anti spyware portable. Save them to a flash drive so you can copy them into a temp folder on the root drive of your computer.
You should boot the computer to the safe mode with networking if possible. Run each program in the same order that you downloaded them and do it one at a time. The computer will reboot after some of them are run. Just try and reboot back into the safe mode with networking. Some other programs that are useful are a-squared and eset online scanner.
There are occasions when you can not get into the normal or safe mode. What I do is download a program called Hirens 15.1 which is a iso file, which can be burned to a cdr disk. This is a bootable disk with a wealth of programs on it. When you boot off it choose the mini windows environment. You can then insert your flash drive and copy your saved virus cleaning programs to the root drive which is usually c: drive and put them in a temp folder or whatever folder you choose. The next step is to boot the computer to the safe mode with command prompt. Now this is where some old dos will be used. Type cd\ to get to the c:\ prompt. Now type cd and leave a space, then type the name of your folder and press enter. You will be in the directory (folder) you created. Now you can type for example "combofix.exe" and this will run the program. Just follow the program through and let it run. If it does reboot the system remember to get back to the safe mode with command prompt.
NOTE: To get to the safe mode with command prompt press the F8 key on the keyboard while the computer is first booting up. This is called the post test. You will see a menu with various choices, so you need to use the up down arrows on the keyboard and then press enter.
There are occasions when you can not get into any of these modes. What I do is disconnect the hard drive from the system and connect another hard drive in its place. Use your windows cd and install a fresh load of windows on it. You do not have to activate the software just enter the product key number when asked for it. This is usually on the top or side of the computer and indicates what your operating system is. The next step is to copy the saved virus cleaning files to the fresh loaded hard drive. Next connect the infected hard drive back in the system on one of the free sata ports. You will need and extra sata cable and possibly an extra sata power connector with a molex 4 pin adapter on the other end. I use one with the Y adapter for extra connections. Now just run each of the programs in the safe mode with networking. The safe mode with networking helps so you can update the programs if they need to. NOTE: for malwarebytes just download the free version not the trial version.
If none of these are successful then save your data after all cleaning is done and install a fresh load of windows, install all drivers for the system ,reactivate windows, download and install all current critical updates and then copy your data back to their proper locations. The data is usually pics, documents, favorites, music and any other saved information. All programs, printers, cameras etc.... will have to be reinstalled.
NOTE: For windows 8 I like to go to msconfig and set it for safe boot with networking , so after rebooting it will only go to the safe mode. This can be done for windows 7 and xp as well. Just remember to run msconfig from the run or search box and uncheck safe boot so the system will boot up normally. Also at this time combofix can not be run for windows 8.
I hope this information helps anyone who needs it. If you have questions leave me a comment or email me.
Thanks for reading 73s from KC2YTI.
No comments:
Post a Comment