Text 33666, 69 rader
Skriven 2013-02-13 15:22:58 av Stephen Haffly (1:396/45.27)
  Kommentar till text 33569 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: Back on line                                             [1]
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Hello Jim,

On (10 Feb 13) JIM WELLER wrote to ALL...

 JW> I've been away almost two weeks, fighting with computers.

 JW> I neglected to update the 5 year old anti-virus program right away!
 JW> The first time I went on-line I got nailed with the ransomware known
 JW> as the Ukash police virus which locks up a computer completely
 JW> unless you pay a ransom (or know how to get rid of it).

<<snip>>
 JW> My computer guru said it would be difficult to clean up because he
 JW> needed the system password in the BIOS and the restore disks neither
 JW> of which came with the free machine so I gave up and purchased a new
 JW> tower that came with Windows 7 pre-installed. So then I spent a
 JW> couple of days learning the new OS, the new mail program etc. and
 JW> another one transferring my old files and programs (thankfully I
 JW> still had the first machine.)

This is a case where system restore can be your friend. When you boot
up, hit the F8 key when the Windows logo first appears (you may need to
hit it several times quickly).

When you get to the screen where it asks if you want to boot into safe
mode, there should be another option for a system restore. (the other
option is to use a Windows OS disk if you have one to boot. As long as
it is the same version of Windows, it does not need to be the specific
disk for the machine). Select the option to restore and then restore to
a point before the computer got infected (assuming you had not turned
system restore off at some point). It should restore the system to a
workable state. If so, one of the first things to do is to get a working
antivirus/antispyware package installed.

As for the BIOS password, there are a couple of ways to deal with that.
One is to reset the BIOS by unplugging it and then removing the BIOS
backup battery. Leave it for a while, then put the battery back in and
boot it up. On some machines (check the manufacturer's site for
schematics), there is a jumper you can move to reset the BIOS. Once you
do so, it should remove the BIOS password.

If that does not work, download and burn a CD of the Ultimate Boot CD.
It has some utilities on it which should help recover things like BIOS
passwords.

With a little effort, you might be able to get the older system back
into a usable state.

A third alternative is to borrow a Windows XP install CD for a version
which matches the license label on your computer. The install disk seems
to be generic. The installer will ask for the license key when you
install. Just use the key on the label. (that is, assuming that system
had Widows XP).

If all else fails, nuke the drive with Darik's Boot and Nuke from
www.dban.org (also found on the Ultimate Boot CD). Then reinstall XP or
make it into a Linux machine so you don't have to worry about the
malware-du-jour. :)


Regards,

Stephen
Professional Point in DOSBox running on Linux.

... Proverbs 3:13 | Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

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 * Origin: Thunder Mountains Point (1:396/45.27)