Technical Assistance

timsinister · 06 Apr 2011, 20:24

Technicalch heads. My netbook got a Trojan, I've cleared it out...but its caused a Windows activation bug to fire up. I know its a bug because its actually a legit copy, and the activation tool doesn't do anything. Any advice?

mh · 06 Apr 2011, 20:59

Phone Microsoft.

Really; they're actually quite good and helpful with this kind of thing and will sort you out.

timsinister · 07 Apr 2011, 07:47

Not the advice I was expecting - but cheers!

07 Apr 2011, 12:16

Get a Mac?

Or Linux.

timsinister · 07 Apr 2011, 15:20

Oh, har har

Does anyone have an external CD drive? I'm going to have to format/reinstall - but it's a netbook, so no drives!

Doktor Gott · 07 Apr 2011, 15:23

timsinister wrote:Oh, har har

Does anyone have an external CD drive? I'm going to have to format/reinstall - but it's a netbook, so no drives!

Can you not boot/reinstall from a flash drive???

hallucienate · 08 Apr 2011, 09:21

Your netbook should have a hidden recovery partition that you can boot off and re-install from. No External media required.

08 Apr 2011, 09:22

yep. just keep hitting F6 (or is it F8?) during the boot process to get your windows boot menu

you'll probably see an option like "recovery" or "fix" and from that menu you can usually do a factory restore using the hidden recovery partition as hal mentions.

hallucienate · 08 Apr 2011, 09:54

Yeah, which F-Key you press depends on what make of netbook you have.

Sita · 08 Apr 2011, 14:30

Does it make a difference which kind of Trojan? I had one last year and learnt that it was a rootkit, and the bugger was still there after reinstalling windows. It was kind of annoying, he really wanted to stay with me

CellThree · 09 Apr 2011, 20:07

Download, Update and Run a full Malwarebytes scan : http://www.filehippo.com/download_malwa ... i_malware/

Ideally install and run it in Safe Mode With Networking (after the POST screen when you turn on the PC, tap F8 then choose the option).

Then reboot, download and install Superantispyware : http://www.filehippo.com/download_superantispyware/

Update and run a full scan.

If your problem still isn't fixed then download and run Combofix : http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/downloa ... s/combofix

If it is still f**ked, then you'll probably need to backup all your data and carry out a reinstall. Bear in mind, if you use the built in recovery ALL your data and programs will be erased. Being a Netbook, you may have to have a USB DVD drive to run the recovery from the DVD that came with the netbook as there is a possibility that there may not be an onboard recovery.

gudge · 10 Apr 2011, 11:36

CellThree wrote:Download, Update and Run a full Malwarebytes scan : http://www.filehippo.com/download_malwa ... i_malware/

Ideally install and run it in Safe Mode With Networking (after the POST screen when you turn on the PC, tap F8 then choose the option).

Then reboot, download and install Superantispyware : http://www.filehippo.com/download_superantispyware/

Update and run a full scan.

If your problem still isn't fixed then download and run Combofix : http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/downloa ... s/combofix

If it is still f**ked, then you'll probably need to backup all your data and carry out a reinstall. Bear in mind, if you use the built in recovery ALL your data and programs will be erased. Being a Netbook, you may have to have a USB DVD drive to run the recovery from the DVD that came with the netbook as there is a possibility that there may not be an onboard recovery.

Before doing the above,turn off System Restore-you will lose any restore points you already have -as the little buggers like to hide in there,usually in hidden form.System Restore is a way of getting back into a working windows but it may not be a clean version.

timsinister · 11 Apr 2011, 22:34

Ah thanks everyone - got furious and resorted to a format/reinstall of Windows. We're back, minus My Documents - but we're back.

You're all lovely people.