Virus problems with the computer

i've got a nasty virus on my home laptop. i'm kind of at a loss for what i should do next. here is what the virus has disabled:

-safe mode, start menu, task manager, malware (keeps saying some file i have is outdated), internet, cut/paste capabilities, and probably something else i'm forgetting.

Here is what i have tried so far: Updating Malware, running MRT, running avg, ran RKILL to try and use malware, hitman antivirus and a few other things i've read on some forums from doing some google searches. i'd love to just wipe it clean, but a lot of my stuff is still on the laptop and i can't use cut and paste. i wanted to use combofix, but it says to copy it to the desktop (which i cant do because cut/paste is disabled). i tried running combofix from my usb, but it just froze after about 10 min of trying to run.

it says the internet is disabled, BUT i was able to download updates for that hitman antivirus that was recommended on the one forum i was reading. i'm hesitant to take it to best buy or whatever to have them clean the system of viruses because it would probably be cheaper to buy a new cheap laptop.

any computer gurus have any suggestions on what to try next?

its an older HP, about 6 years old and has windows xp on it.

thanks.

 

crap. i have a lot printed out but i have it at home. i'll have to check when i get off work.

 

i remember part of the topic was saying it was some root kit that infects the windows service.exe or something like that. i ran my AVG (wouldnt let me update it) and it found 26 white listed root kits or something like that. all where in that windows service files

 

could you just take your hard drive out of the laptop and attach it to another computer to copy off the files you want?

 

i could probably google how to do that. this is my only computer, so i would have to bring it to the office and see if i could do it with one of those computers. would i run the risk of infecting those computers doing that?

 

Use the factory restore partition if it has one.

 

if i could get the stupid cut/paste feature to work again, i feel i would be alright from that point.

 

http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/index.aspx They have a root kit remover and use stinger to get rid of viruses.

 

if you cannot find and eliminate the problem right away (and it may be
nearly impossible) stop messing with it, waste of time if you want to save data

when malware takes over the admin accounts and set policies which lock you out,
it is not hopeless, but you need to be MCSE certified to navigate that type of minefield. time consuming as hell

a) get a hard drive USB adapter sata/ide/usb

this lets you power up the drive and connect it to another computer

b) make sure target computer is fully up to date with Microsoft security essentials

c) get your files you need off the drive, do not copy the whole drive,
just the data you need to keep.

d) now rebuild the laptop from factory

e) install the programs you want, fetch the data you copied over


this basically is deterministic approach. You know how long this will take, period... vs trying to clean it as it exists, guess, and it may take days/weeks/months and problem might come right back

 

I wouldn't take it to work and risk infecting one of those computers. I believe some of the malware sites can make bootable discs for you to boot off of to remove the rootkits or maybe you could make a bootable flash drive and put a bunch of tools to run off of that. Unetbootin is a good program to make bootable USB drives btw.

 

i use a free version of malware bytes.

 

Absolutely agree. Download and copy the installer file that you can download and put on a USB drive.

 

If by some chance try installing avast. And then do a boot time scan. If you can get a bulk of it cleaned out you may need to perform some registry changes to fix the other issues.

 

Search the web for tools to remove the virus once you know the name...
Many antivirus companys have free tools that let you can use to zap common issues.
You might need to get into the bios and tell the laptop to boot from a USB / CD.. If the machine will let you setup a dropbox account, you could dump the files you want into dropbox you get a few gigs for free from Dropbox.. Depending on what you need to save it it could work. Once a virus takes hold they are hard to get rid of. Best bet is to wipe it clean and restore it. I'd spend a few bucks and dump XP... :You can get windows 7 for $99 / If you don't mind a learning curve you can pick up windows 8.. (Windows 8 takes some getting use to--You might not like it).. Once you get everything cleaned / up and running.. CHANGE ALL OF YOUR ONLINE PASSWORDS! Good Luck...

 

Bleeping Computer is a good site to help solve virus issues. Malwarebytes has a good rootkit removal tool. Rename the programs you plan on using.

 

the virus has disabled malwarebytes, i installed avast last night and the virus laughed at it. it just said something about cannot run program.

on a good note, i did figure out how to get my stuff off the computer. if i send it all to a .rar file, then when i extract i direct it where to extract to, i can just extract everything to my external hard drive. it worked when i added combofix to my desktop this morning. i have that running now, we'll see if that does anything.

if not, i give up and i'll wipe the stupid thing clean.

 

x2 or better yet, go get another laptop and just copy over your files that you know are not infected to google docs. If the laptop is six years old, you may want to try using ubuntu and forgo Windows altogether.

 

If you got all of the items backed up I would just reload the laptop. It will be easier in the long run. I got hit by one a while back, worked on it for a couple hours and called it quits by formatting and starting fresh.