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Resolved Question

Can anyone help me remove a virus from my desktop?

Nov 29, 2011 12:30AM PST

I believe I have a virus on my computer causing my icons to disappear and my start menu to be empty. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Discussion is locked

chrruss has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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System Restore
Dec 1, 2011 3:42AM PST

Good to know, thanks. I won't try to restore. Any ideas how I can get my icons and my start menu contents back? I ran rkill, malwarebytes and unhide but I still just have a blue screen with no icons, only a few items in my start menu, and when I try to control alt delet to get to task manager, I get an error that says it has been disabled by my adminstrator. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks, Chrissy

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Sounds Like Malware Is Still There...
Dec 1, 2011 5:07AM PST

As suggested above, try running Malwarebytes again till it finds nothing.. In addition, download, install, update, then run a second tool below. Delete anything it finds as well.

SUPERAntispyware Removal Tool

Next, to fix the Task manager issue, follow the steps in the link below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555480

Hope this helps.

Grif

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As To The Icons...
Dec 1, 2011 5:13AM PST

After rescanning the computer to confirm it is entirely clean, then run "unhide.exe" again, please try RIGHT clicking on the desktop, select "Arrange icons by", then choose "Show desktop icons". If that doesn't get it done, then RIGHT click on the desktop again, select "Properties", then click on the "Desktop" tab, then the "Customize" button, then the "Web" tab. UNCHECK all items there and "Delete" all but "My Current Home Page" listing.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Tonight
Dec 1, 2011 6:00AM PST

I will follow all of your advice tonight when I get home and report back with the results. Thanks so much for taking the time to help!!! Chrissy

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Thanks Grif!!!!
Dec 8, 2011 12:09AM PST

Grif,

I had to run Malwarebytes 3 times to get everything but that did the trick. After I deleted all of the viruses and rebooted, I had everything back. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me! I truly appreciate it!!!

Chrissy

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Answer
Re: removing virus
Nov 29, 2011 12:44AM PST

This is rather vague.

TUo check for a virus try one (or more) of the bootable antivirus CD's from http://www.techmixer.com/free-bootable-antivirus-rescue-cds-download-list/ (but DON'T) click on the advertisement that's trying to sell you cleaners and such).

But it could be something else also. Post back if 2 of these CD's find nothing and System Restore back to before this started doesn't help.

Kees

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More Details
Nov 29, 2011 12:59AM PST

Sorry, that was pretty vague. Below is what I am experiencing.

I am running Windows XP and my desktop is just a blue screen. All of my icons are missing. My start menu is there but when I click on it, it is empty. I searched the internet for this issue and a couple of people said they have fixed it by pressing cntl alt dlt and clicking on task manager but my computer won't allow me to get to task manager. I booted up in safe mode and tried to run malwarebytes as other people seem to think it is a virus but I get the error message "access denied" when I try to run it.

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Looks similar
Nov 29, 2011 4:38AM PST
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Access Denied
Nov 30, 2011 10:00AM PST

That is the error I get when I get to the step that tells me to download and run malewarebytes. I get the malewarebytes icon on my desktop but when I try to run it I get an error that says "Access Denied". How do I get around that?

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Try running it
Nov 30, 2011 7:43PM PST

in Safe Mode.

Mark

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Safe Mode
Nov 30, 2011 11:14PM PST

I was also getting the error in safe mode but I finally did get Malwarebytes to run and it found 2 errors. I removed both and rebooted in normal mode. It brought back some things in my start menu but not all and I still have no icons. Any ideas?

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Run Unhide.exe From The Link Provided Earlier
Dec 1, 2011 12:09AM PST

Here's that link again.. The instructions tell you to run "rkill.exe" first, then run Malwarebytes, then afterwards, run "unhide.exe" to bring up those icons again. If you haven't followed the complete procedure in the link, please give it a try... The rkill" program shuts down the malware so Malwarebytes can run effectively. It's a good idea to run Malwarebytes repeatedly till it finds nothing after a restart to normal Windows.. Running "unhide.exe" afterward should help as well.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-system-fix

Hope this helps.

Grif

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rkill
Dec 1, 2011 3:37AM PST

I ran rkill before running malwarebytes and I also ran unhide.exe. I followed all of the instructions and rebooted but it only brought back some items in my start menu and all of my icons are still missing. I will run malwarebytes again when I get home tonight and see if it finds anything else. Thanks for your help.

Chrissy

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Answer
virus on desktop, how to get rid of it
Nov 30, 2011 8:06PM PST

Hi Chrruss, If you don't have a good virus remover like Super Anti Spyware, free edition, this is the best software for getting rid of viruses...But, if you don't, depending on when you got the virus, you could do a System Restore and pick a date BEFORE the virus...This should take care of it...Good luck Becky

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Answer
System Restore
Nov 30, 2011 11:16PM PST

Thanks for your reply, it is driving me nuts not having my computer up and running. I have tried to run system restore in safe mode but it won't restore. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Thanks!

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System Restore Probably Not A Good Idea At This Point..
Dec 1, 2011 12:16AM PST

Remember that SR stores many of the previous files and settings.. Restoring backwards after an infection will frequently re-infect the computer with the files that were saved previously.. Instead, IF you can remove the malware completely and get the computer and System Restore up and running, it's a good idea to ELIMINATE all previous system restore points and start from scratch. To delete those restore points on Windows XP, RIGHT click on "My Computer", choose "Properties", then select the System Restore tab. Once there, place a CHECK mark in the "Turn OFF System Restore" box, wait for a minute or two, then restart the computer. The old restore points will be removed.. After the restart, return to the same location and UNCHECK the box to start System Restore again.

Hope this helps.

Grif