Hello All,
I've recently been inspired to work on my Dell Studio 1536 laptop that, from what I believe, is infected with a very nasty virus (rootkit, even?).
Symptoms and issues and progress I can make are:
I'm going to post this in a few different forum types because I don't know if this is hardware related or virus related..Hope this isn't a problem!
Thank you all for your time and help!
A.
I've recently been inspired to work on my Dell Studio 1536 laptop that, from what I believe, is infected with a very nasty virus (rootkit, even?).
Symptoms and issues and progress I can make are:
- Computer will turn on, and load the startup screen where F8 or F12 may be pressed to change boot or enter BIOS (I cannot enter safe mode; I'm given no option to do so throughout the loading process). However, I can select how I would like to boot from F12 or enter BIOS setup by pressing F8
- If I try to boot from my HD, it enters a black screen where it hangs. Nothing.
- If I try to boot from a CD in the DVD drive, it starts loading, but hangs mid-startup. Nothing
- If I try to boot from a USB drive, it hangs. Nothing.
- Reinstalling the OS from a disk -- it feels as if it is stopped; uncompleted
- Deleting the entire HD with a third-party utility -- Failed. Interupted and continues to hang during loadup
- USB drive installation is the same way -- hanging
- I can, however, load into a linux/unix operating system and "see" the drive. Unfortunately, I can't access it. There is an error that occurs.
I'm going to post this in a few different forum types because I don't know if this is hardware related or virus related..Hope this isn't a problem!
Thank you all for your time and help!
A.