Trial version destroyed windows files

Discussion in 'ESET Smart Security' started by Gil Carleton, Aug 2, 2008.

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  1. Gil Carleton

    Gil Carleton Registered Member

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    I downloaded the trial version of ESET Smart Security for Win XP. It found I had two viruses and 55 total invasions. I deleted the invasions but I have no idea if they were spyware or viruses. At this point I was happy that I made the switch from CA to Eset.

    I tried to open Windows Explorer in order to copy your download from my desktop to a memory stick and install your software on my wife’s laptop. When I tried Explorer would not open. I got a message asking if I had spelled the command correctly. I then thought that maybe I should restart my computer. When I did my computer will not completely boot. It reaches a point where my background picture will show but it will not load my desktop. None of my toolbars will load so I cannot enter even a single command or even click on “Start”.

    Can anyone please tell me how to get my computer working again?
     
  2. GAN

    GAN Registered Member

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    If some critical files required by windows where infected and removed because of the infection maybe a restore (if you have a backup created before the infection) or a windows repair install will solve the problem.
    Since you might not be 100% sure your computer is clean maybe a full reinstall of Windows is the safest/best option, but probably the most painful one.
    I'm not sure what those 55 invasions are and maybe they are easy to remove and not very dangerous, but with that many infections i would recommend to consider a complete reinstall of Windows. It really depend what kind of virus and infections we are talking about. Some is easy to remove and not very dangerous while other are hard to remove and might cause a lot of damage. Also since you had 57 kind of infections what if you have 1-2 more that nod32 have still not identified. Before you try to fix Windows you should make sure you have no more infections.
     
  3. Marcos

    Marcos Eset Staff Account

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    As GAN has mentioned, some malware can affect the system to such an extent that only a reinstallation of the OS can fix it. Unfortunately, you didn't mention what exact malware ESET has found so it's impossible to tell whether that's the case or not. When a virus (malware infecting other files) is found in the system folder, the program never tries to clean the files without user's consent. I'm curious if you're able to boot to safe mode and run a full system scan as well as create a log from ESET SysInspector which might shed more light. Please let us know.
     
  4. PaulB2005

    PaulB2005 Registered Member

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    There is a fix. I repaired a PC with the same problem once...

    Hang on...
    Link to file on McAfee "FixSwen"

    Right click and Save Target As, Save to Desktop, then right click file and select Install.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2008
  5. Gil Carleton

    Gil Carleton Registered Member

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    Thanks for the help with my down computer. One important thing I forgot to mention is the fact that I scanned my computer with CA less than two weeks ago. I thought it odd that Eset could find so many invasions. Two of the so called infections were in the wild and not named but showed a dll file that was infected.

    At the time, I assumed that maybe CA was not doing a good job but I have never had anything this serious. Eset support will not respond to my questions at all. I had heard that they have great support but I think I am going with Norton now.

    What I hoped they could help me with is, can I boot from my xp upgrade disk? Then, do they keep all of the files in a place were I can re-install them if I choose? I honestly question if my computer was so infected since I scanned fairly regularly with CA.
     
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