Black Screen Virus?

Discussion in 'malware problems & news' started by Brandonn2010, Oct 2, 2012.

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  1. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Today my Mom is bringing home a friend's computer. Her son was just browsing online when the computer either shut down or something, and turning it on has a blank screen or won't turn on at all?

    For some reason she believes it is some Black/Blank Screen Virus her friend had not long ago.

    If such a thing exists, what is the best way to get rid of it?
     
  2. Cudni

    Cudni Global Moderator

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    sounds more like hardware issue
     
  3. Is it possible that some component overheated? My hardware experience is rather limited, but from what I've seen, tripping a thermal shutdown switch may result in temporary inability to boot.
     
  4. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    Well I was lucky: It was dust. About a millimeter of dust covering the bottom, and EVERYTHING was caked. I hooked it up in my room afterwards and it works fine.

    Now I just need to remove all the adware and junk, Yahoo Desktop, Weatherbug, Weather Channel, etc. (they have little boys that use the PC freely).

    Also I noticed they use dial-up. They currently use AVG Free 2011 (which I would update), but is there an AV better for slow Internet connections?
     
  5. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

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    For Dial Up you want more frequent updates that usually means smaller.I would try avast free or ESET Nod32 if they dont mind paying.The initial set up updates may be slow but after that they should be frequent enough to keep the updates smaller.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2012
  6. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    They need a free option so Avast! it is. I would have recommended it over AVG anyways. The auto-sandbox should come in handy for their kids as well.
     
  7. encus

    encus Registered Member

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    I recommend Eset Smart Security.
     
  8. Techwiz

    Techwiz Registered Member

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    In my experience, it's usually the bulb in the monitor that needs to be replaced. Although I can think of a couple products that are available free online that could cause something like this. In fact, one of them is a free security application. Very amusing when used as a prank.
     
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