fake spyware, now windows wont boot

dusting · 09-19-2008, 07:09 AM

hopefully someone can help me with this issue. i looked at some similar problems but they didn't seem to go as far as mine.

i have a gateway laptop running windows xp. yesterday, i had a fake spyware alert on my desktop screen as well as a pop-up fake spyware alert. i then proceeded to run my own actual spyware scan which found some stuff so i started to immunize my machine from whatever the spyware had found. during that process my laptop seemed to freeze so i powered it off. when i power it back on it acts like its going to boot up but then at the black windows xp screen with the loading bar at the bottom it goes into a bsod with only stays on the screen for about a second and i cant really even read it. it did say something about not being able to locate some "system32" file i believe. then it goes to a screen that says windows couldnt load properly and gives me the options of booting in safe mode or booting with last known good config. either way it does the same thing every time. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Billy O'Neal · 11-16-2008, 09:42 AM

Hello, dusting
Welcome to TSF

My name is Billy O'Neal and I will be helping you. (Billy or Bill is fine, if you like.)
Please give me some time to look over your computer's log(s).
Please take note of the following:

In the meantime, please refrain from making any changes to your computer.
Also, even if things appear to be running better, there is no guarantee that everything is finished. Please continue to check this forum post in order to ensure we get your system completely clean. We do not want to clean you part-way up, only to have the system re-infect itself. :)
If you do not understand any step(s) provided, please do not hesitate to ask before continuing. I would much rather clarify instructions or explain them differently than have something important broken.
Finally, please reply using the button in the lower left hand corner of your screen.
Old topics are closed after 3 days with no reply, and working topics are closed after 5 days. If for any reason you cannot complete instructions within that time, that's fine, just put a post here so that I know you're still here. We get a lot of people who simply leave, and if there is no contact for that amount of time I will have to assume you have "vanished" .

Unfortunately it appears that whichever tool you used to deal with the infection has deleted several of the registry files from the running system.

Which scanner did you use?

Did you back up your data?

Billy3

09-19-2008, 07:09 AM	#1 (permalink)
dusting Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	fake spyware, now windows wont boot hopefully someone can help me with this issue. i looked at some similar problems but they didn't seem to go as far as mine. i have a gateway laptop running windows xp. yesterday, i had a fake spyware alert on my desktop screen as well as a pop-up fake spyware alert. i then proceeded to run my own actual spyware scan which found some stuff so i started to immunize my machine from whatever the spyware had found. during that process my laptop seemed to freeze so i powered it off. when i power it back on it acts like its going to boot up but then at the black windows xp screen with the loading bar at the bottom it goes into a bsod with only stays on the screen for about a second and i cant really even read it. it did say something about not being able to locate some "system32" file i believe. then it goes to a screen that says windows couldnt load properly and gives me the options of booting in safe mode or booting with last known good config. either way it does the same thing every time. any help would be greatly appreciated.

11-16-2008, 09:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
Billy O'Neal Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Northfield, Ohio, United States Posts: 202 OS: XPSP3, Vista Ultimate SP1, Ubuntu Server	Re: fake spyware, now windows wont boot Hello, dusting Welcome to TSF My name is Billy O'Neal and I will be helping you. (Billy or Bill is fine, if you like.) Please give me some time to look over your computer's log(s). Please take note of the following: In the meantime, please refrain from making any changes to your computer. Also, even if things appear to be running better, there is no guarantee that everything is finished. Please continue to check this forum post in order to ensure we get your system completely clean. We do not want to clean you part-way up, only to have the system re-infect itself. :) If you do not understand any step(s) provided, please do not hesitate to ask before continuing. I would much rather clarify instructions or explain them differently than have something important broken. Finally, please reply using the button in the lower left hand corner of your screen. Old topics are closed after 3 days with no reply, and working topics are closed after 5 days. If for any reason you cannot complete instructions within that time, that's fine, just put a post here so that I know you're still here. We get a lot of people who simply leave, and if there is no contact for that amount of time I will have to assume you have "vanished" . Unfortunately it appears that whichever tool you used to deal with the infection has deleted several of the registry files from the running system. Which scanner did you use? Did you back up your data? Billy3 __________________ If I fail to reply for more than 24 hours, please feel free to send me a PM. Don't want you to be overlooked