[keesos]

I need help, fast. I believe that my computer has been under siege by a virus, trojan, worm, SOMETHING for a good month now. I couldn't really tell that it was there. I only started getting major signs last week. I scan everything with McAfee over fifteen times and it turned up nothing except a few unwanted programs (IGetNet being one of them). I told Mcafee to delete them. It didn't, but said it did. The computer began shutting itself down a lot. Upon one restart, McAfee said it had a virus. I scaned again. Nothing. Nothing at all.

This morning, the virus finally comprmised my system. Windows won't start. It says "Operating system not found on any devices. Press any key to try again." I tried F10 and told it to detect the drives (I have 2 drives installed, BTW). It only detected the A drive and the CD-Rom drive. Both of my hard drives were missing. I tried a startup disk. I still couldn't get to C drive or F. I CAN'T EVEN FORMAT THE DANG THING!!!

Can anyone help me? I have a Compaq Presario 5000.

 

[x5dr]

Not sure how you do a clean install on Compaq (if it has the boot OS on the hard drive) but for future info...you need to disable System Restore in XP and ME before cleaning a virus...then you can enable it again.

If you have an XP CD, you can get pictured instructions at www.blackviper.com

 

[jgvernonco]

Can you get it to boot into safe mode?

 

[SuperCub]

First things first, have a look in the bios, see if your hard drive(s) are listed and set-up correctly. Some viruses have the ability to change the bios settings.

Let us know the result.

SuperCub

 

[keesos]

1) I can't startup the computer at all. It can't find Windows.
2) It can't find any HDD. I tried F10 (setup) and told it to detect them. It only found a CD-Rom drive and the floppy drive.
3) If you can tell me how to enter the BIOS, I'll do it.

I was just informed that the original operating system was Windows ME and I need that restore disk (which I don't have. Never did.).

 

[idtent]

Check the ide cables inside connected to the back of your hard drives. Make sure they are securely plugged in.

Try turning on. If it doesn't detect them, unplug one drive at a time to see if maybe one of the drives is dead.

 

[SuperCub]

If your computer is unable to see the hard disk(s) on boot then safe mode or a startup disk is not going to help. You have to get the hardware running correctly first.

I don’t know exactly what has happened to your machine but you will need to examine the BIOS carefully. I think that to enter the BIOS of a Compaq Presario 5000 is normally done by pressing F10 at the startup of the machine. You may be best to get someone to look at the hardware for you if you feel that you lack the knowledge to trouble shoot the problem yourself. As I said in my first post you may have damage to the BIOS or it may just be scrambled and need resetting up (possibly try resetting to the factory defaults and then do a search on your HDs) . Any trouble shooting of this problem needs a careful step by step approach. The hard drives may still be intact but just not accessible at the moment.

One further thing, it is possible that the hardware has developed a problem of it’s own at the same time you had your virus troubles. Did you touch the inside of your computer B4 it crashed?
SuperCub

 

[keesos]

I have touched the inside, but that was a year ago and I grounded myself before doing it.

Will removing a HDD make me lose the partition?

 

[SuperCub]

No the partition will not be lost or changed by removing the HD but you will need to have a basic understanding of how to install or remove the HD B4 you start.

I really believe you may need some physical help to troubleshoot your problem. As I said you have a problem with your hardware. You will need to be able to carry out the recommendations of "idtent" removing and testing the installation of your HD as well as make changes to your BIOS.

If you really wish to troubleshoot this problem on your own then search on "installing a hard drive" in Google you will find a number of useful articles to help with the basics.

SuperCub