OS = Windows XP Professional with Asus P5LD2 and Windows 7 Home Premium with Acer 5250 Hello, I have installed 'Panda Anti-virus Free' version in Windows XP Professional. In Panda there is a function called 'USB Vaccine'. I selected that option and it messed up two of my USB Sticks. Panda installed a file called "AUTORUN.INF" in both the USB Sticks and this is what happens after that. (N.B. I use the USBs in Windows XP and Windows 7 both) The AutoPlay menu (of the system), stopped appearing when USB stick is connected. The names of the USB sticks (Lexar and Kingston) are not displayed as they used to, and instead 'Removable Drive' is displayed for both of them. The USB Ports do not display properly in 'My Computer' page. All attempts to delete the file or open it is blocked. Deactivated the 'USB Vaccine' function and tried with the same result. When USB is connected Panda interface says 'Drive already vaccinated'! The file is not dispayed when USB is opened in Windows 7 (only shows up in XP), but all other problems are common to both computers) These and many other behaviour changes have made it difficult to manage the USB sticks any more. I have a few screenshots saved in my computer but I am not sure how to post them. There is no "attachment" icon here. Panda help forum and other contact facilities with them are blocked to free users. Please help to resolve this. I almost forgot; the file is not traceable with Windows search. XP search says 'no results to display', while it is showing in the inserted USB. Thank you
Why would you format the system? If you cannot manually delete the autorun.inf file, which is protected, you can format the usb which should remove the autorun.inf file placed there by Panda. Make sure to move all your files off of the usb before formatting or you will never see them again. Melita, please read here. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-autoplay-settings#1TC=windows-7
Have a look at this Code: http://www.trishtech.com/2013/03/removing-panda-usb-vaccination-without-formatting-usb-disk/ Simply changing autoplay settings won't work. But you don't need to format your system either. If worst come to worst you can format your usb sticks.
Greetings, Thank you phalanaxus, it worked beautifully. I was a little nervous at first but there was no call for alarm. Everything in both computers is back to normal. Just for the record; You are right, changing Autoplay settings did'nt work. It was set to open Autoplay anyway. Kind regards,
I had to reformat 2 computers after Panda Cloud as it killed the internet connection on both on removal. Of course Kaspersky Pure also killed my ability to reinstall Avira. After installing Avira it saying I needed admin rights to update it. PC is setup as a admin. I did this 3 times to make sure Pure caused it. Folks, clean your computer up, pick one product and enjoy your PC. You never truly uninstall any product. F-Secure, McAfee and Webroot leave the most crap of all in your registry.
No problem, glad to be of help. As for removing AV products, lots of the programs leave half of their drivers and related registry keys on the computer after an installation. Is it just a sloppy job or a way to interfere with installation of other AV products, I don't know. Using the official removal tool after an un-installation is a good practice in case these products. A quick google search would probably direct you to the removal tool, just be careful that it is from an official source.
