Internet Security 2010 killed my comp

[MarAmmo]

My son was using my comp and when he got the message that I was infected and had to run IS 2010 he had no idea that it was a virus. By the time I got home my comp had a green screen saying I was infected. I shut everything down but when I turned it back on. NADA.
I can turn it on but it won't start in any mode. Not safe, not last known config.etc.

This comp was custom built and the company is now out of business.I was never given a recovery disc for it. I have a recovery disc from my last comp which also had Windows XP. I don't want to lose any of my programs. This one is my dream comp with so many programs I've always wanted..Can I use the recovery disc from my former PC? I've located instructions in how to get everything going again so I think I know what to do-but just afraid to use a dif. comps recovery disc.

HELP!

 

[rf6647]

A word of caution - a Recovery CD from a branded computer, such as, HP, Dell, etc., is tied to the bios of the machine it was bundled with. As Tmagic said (in your other thread), in this case it won’t work.

Here is a link that includes a way to create a CD with xp recovery console
Here is - picking a restore point

For a dead computer, this sub-forum has guidance for using a Live CD. You will be able to back up your personal files before undertaking major work for recovery.

If you lack an Installation CD for XP, I think Ultimate Boot CD for Windows gives you a fair shot at recovery. For starters, you will know if the hardware is working. From there you can recover the registry hives (files that together are the registry).

Additionally, I believe it comes with a tool that can scan for malware. In a no-boot situation it will handle files, but it will not repair the registry. Big caution here - if drivers or windoze system32 files are infected, their deletion further hobbles your system. If you cloned the infected system, you can at least get back to square zero.

 

[MarAmmo]

Thanks so much

I think I'm way in over my head and now I'm afraid to try any of these fixes myself because I don't want to lose anything on my comp. My friend had brought her comp to the "Geek Squad" but they didn't do much of anything and charged her quite a bit of money. Any suggestions about who is reliable.. should I trust my comp to a local comp repair service? Is what has happened to me a common problem that should be easily done by a professional?

 

[rf6647]

Based on your description, a geek service will sell you a new drive, sell you a volume licensed copy of xp (no media given to you), load xp on the new drive, and copy your infected files to the new drive. From there you reload all your favorite applications.

If they indicate a willingness to attempt recovery of the old drive, pay them to back up your infected drive.

The steps suggested here will establish if the disk is readable. A few more steps can extract a registry from a copy of system restore predating the virus attack. This would be the first look at the damaged caused by the virus attack. Perhaps there is enough working to use system restore to recover the damaged system files.