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General discussion

HP 6630 Recovery Disk -- NEED HELP

Feb 12, 2004 4:02AM PST

Hello:

I am attempting to recover a system (Pavillion 6630) from a trojan that has "control" of the system. I boot from the HP Recovery disk, select recover, format & recover, select "yes" to the warning about deleting everything on the HD, and then the computer freezes.

Any suggestions on how to get the recovery disk to work?

Thanks!

Sleel

Discussion is locked

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Re:HP 6630 Recovery Disk -- NEED HELP = Name the trojan.
Feb 12, 2004 4:07AM PST

The Security Forum loves to help people kill such things. But a name helps.

As to the hangup, that could be hardware issues. Try the case cover off (helps alleviate heat issues), use just the RAM that it came with (some add more than 512 Meg and that has its own issues.)

And if you've added CD/DVD or hard disk drives, some restore CDs can't cope with that.

Bob

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Re:Re:HP 6630 Recovery Disk -- NEED HELP = Name the trojan.
Feb 12, 2004 4:35AM PST

Nothing has been changed on that computer since it was purchased. The computer works just fine (albeit infected). I can't access any of the control panel items (the error message is: Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied.

Any suggestions? Should I list the processes that Windows 98 lists as running?

Sleel

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Some questions.
Feb 12, 2004 4:56AM PST

A bad habit of mine, to ask questions in stead of offering help:

- are you sure it's malware and not something else?
- did you run the programs from Bob's Anti Parasite Suite (see http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6618-0.html?forumID=6&threadID=11556&messageID=132330) - they might remove it, or they might at least identify it as a first step to removal
- what happens if you click c:\windows\control.exe, or if you click on any of the cpl-files in c:\windows\system
- does it work in Safe mode (lots of programs aren't loaded then)
- and, indeed, what is the list of running processes, or -maybe even better - what is in the startup tab of msconfig?

It's highly unlikely that the malware on your harddisk will cause the cd not to work. So removing it might be the only option you have if you can't get the recovery cd to work. And, in fact, the best option.

Kees

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Maybe not the trojan.
Feb 12, 2004 5:55AM PST
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Re:HP 6630 Recovery Disk -- NEED HELP
Feb 15, 2004 6:09AM PST

You should completely clean up the system, then reinstall it. My meaning is to wipe out the current partitions running a debug script, after wiping out the partitions, shut down, pull the memory sticks out, restart the system ( you will hear beep message coding to no memory in the system ( this is in case the virus or trojan is resident in memory). Then shut down, reinstall the memory sticks, fdisk new partitions, format the drive, then reinstall the operating system, making certain ALL external devices are disconnected.

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Re:HP 6630 Recovery Disk -- NEED HELP
Feb 15, 2004 3:53PM PST

I used to have the same computer, but not anymore. My reformat and recover disk did the same thing to me! I found that was a common problem for that model. To fix your problem you are going to have to restart your computer in dos mode and reformat from there. Then you will be able to run your recover disk to restore your system. I cant remember exactly what to type in DOS mode to reformat but I have it written down somewhere, it is general command that works with most computers. If you need specific instructions on how to do this I suggest you forward another question here and someone can help you. If you acomplish the reformat I know with out a doubt your recover disk will then work! Good luck!