IMPORTANT!
There's a new virus on the net, and I was lucky enough to tango with it for the past three days. I'm making this post to inform all of you to keep your eyes open for it and I strongly suggest you print this thread and keep it near your computer just to be on the safe side.
How do you contract this virus?
These are the three methods that I'm aware of. The top is what got me in this mess, but hey, that's what I get for using my computer in bad ways:
(1) Illegally downloading movies (woops!), music, programs, or product keys using Bearshare, Kazaa, or probably any other P2P network
(2) Looking at pornographic websites
(3) Opening e-mails from unknown sources (I hope that's a given, though)
What does it do?
This virus infects and duplicates itself in files that pretend they belong to your operating system. From what I can tell, this is only a problem for XP users with SP2 installed. The virus de-activates (or otherwise tampers with) an old program packaged with XP called the Doctor Watson Postmortem Debugger. When the virus strikes, it locks your desktop, freezes the taskbar (from start to the system clock... the whole thing!) and continuously attempts to send an error report to Microsoft about the postmortem debugger. Even *if* you can run your anti-virus, and your anti-spyware/ adware stuff, the virus duplicates itself again and stays infested!
How do you get rid of it?
It took me forever to find the steps to get rid of this virus. Luckily I found a thread that speaks specifically about it. I'll give you all a link to said thread, but for some people who get this virus they can't access the internet in the first place (or anything else), so here's how to get back online, and what to do when you gain temporary control:
(1) on the desktop press ctrl+alt+del
(2) Under the "applications" tab (which should be open already), click "New Task"
(3) Type in "msconfig" (without the "" of course), and hit enter
(4) click on the "boot.ini" tab
(5) click SAFEBOOT, then click "networking" (this will boot your computer in safe mode, but give you access to the internet, which you will need!)
(6) When it asks you to reboot, say "yes"
(7) Go to the thread I posted below, read it in its entirety, and perform the steps they listed to remove the virus. It's somewhat complicated for less-experienced individuals, but it really is the only option you have. No virus detection/ deletion service or software can get rid of the nasty little bugger, so you'll have to stay on your toes when performing the tasks they explain to you. The link is:
http://www.thenerdnetwork.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3086&highlight=
I really hope this helps some of you if your PC gets sick with this virus! I figured all of you should be forwarned about the virus, seeing as how this site is full of tech-savvy individuals who spend far too much time on the net, hehe. Hopefully none of you will ever need this thread, but in the event you do, I hope I helped you in some way!
- Matt Rock
"Hell is an Irish Pub where it's St. Patrick's Day all of the time." ~ Christopher, *The Soprano's*
