Laptop seems to have a virus?

Question

My Compaq laptop is 2 years old. The desktop shows no icons. When I want to restart it I get a message that says there are other users logged on to the computer. Restarting might cause them to lose data. Problem is I am the only user on this laptop. No other accounts were created in the Windows Xp OS. If I click on my user name to open the desktop theres only the background and nothing else. No icons. No task bar.

Im afraid I lost all my information. If theres something I can do to fix this please let me know

Answer 1

i'm not exactly sure what kind of virus/hacker could be doing this but it sound like someone hacked/sent a virus to your laptop and created a new account and transfered absolutely everything from yours to their secret one hidden somewhere in windows, if there's no icons or start menu i'm not really sure what you can do you could try booting into safe mode and see if anything different happens, or if you can find some way to get into this secret account that would be great(unlikely)

the only advice i can give you to prevent this from happening again is when you connect to the internet microsoft suggest that you don't log on as administrator cuz if someone hacks into your laptop when your an administrator this will give them administrative right too which will allow them to change settings on your computer or even format your hard drive!!

sorry cant be much more help i just don't see a solution to this??

Answer 2

Sounds like it's time to reload windows. Welcome to the world of Microsoft, could be a virus or a missing .dll file.  

Answer 3

Sounds like Windows Explorer isn't working which probably means a mild virus or some pesky spyware.

When you're at your desktop (I'm assuming you're using XP), press CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up task manager. Sometimes that will start windows explorer. If not, in Task Manager, click on the "Processes" tab and the click on "User Name" just above the listed processes to sort them Select and end each one of them. that should shut down the malware program, also as it restores your desktop.

IF explorer.exe is running, DON'T end that process because your computer will just reboot. That one is Windows Explorer-not to be confused with Internet Explorer Windows Explorer allows you to "surf" your computer and do whatever it is that you do on your PC.

Then download, install and run the free version of superantispyware. http://www.superantispyware.com/superant... That will at least get you started on removing the malware.

If that doesn't work, then using another computer, download ComboFix (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix... Click on "Bleeping Computer" about halfway down the page to download the file) and SuperAntiSpyware. Burn them to CD.

On your computer, boot into "Safe" mode by repeatedly pressing the F8 key as soon as you see the Compaq "splash" screen on bootup. That will bring up your boot options. Select "Safe Mode" or "Safe Mode with Networking" The latter will allow you to still go online if you need to.

Run ComboFix  pressing the space bar everytime it asks for "any key"  It might take a little while but it will rid your computer of most of the c**p. After it finishes, reboot.

You now should be able to install and run Super AntiSpyware. (You cannot install SuperAntiSpyware in safe mode but you can run it there once it's installed.) Run it both in regular and Safe modes to make sure you get everything off  your PC

I know it sounds hard but take your time and stay calm. I do this 10-20 times a week at work, Now it's almost second nature. If you do this, you'll save yourself $70-$100 for a repair.

Best of Luck

J

Answer 4

Restart your PC in safe mode with networking

http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.s...

Download, install and run a full scan with Malwarebytes

http://www.malwarebytes.org

Run a full scan with Micro Trend House Call

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

After the scans, restart the PC and update your anti-virus, remember to only have one anti-virus installed on your PC

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-...  [Free, if you do not have one]