Bonnie,
Before buying another drive, see if you can get PC to boot from CD or floppy. Some antivirus programs provide bootable CD to let you recover and remove a virus. If you don't have antivirus software with bootable CD, this might be a cheaper first investment.
You have to go into BIOS and change boot order so CD (or floppy) is first on list. What function key you press to enter BIOS depends on which system you have but there should be a prompt on screen before it starts to boot. You just have to watch and hit that key as soon as you see the prompt. If you don't see it, ask Dell what the BIOS setup key is for your system. Change only the boot order, save the change and exit. Put the CD (or floppy) in the drive and boot.
Even if you can only boot to the C:\ prompt the antivirus software might be able to clean your system. Or at worst, you can copy the files off onto blank disk (assuming you have CD burner) or at least onto a floppy or zip disk. But be sure to scan them on the CD or floppy before moving them back onto the reformatted hard drive, in case one of them is infected -or you'll be back where you started! And don't forget to reset the BIOS boot order when you're finished recovering.
Purchase a new hard drive, and disconnect the original. Install WIndows, patch it fully, INSTALL AND UPDATE A GOOD ANTIVIRUS/FIREWALL package. Shut down and install the original drive in as a slave and copy your data.
Chances are at least some of the data is recoverable, and that's about the least expensive way to get the data back.
Thank you, What CD are you talking about? Is this the recovery CD for windows xp? because I need to know which one to put in the drive before I try to boot again.
Here is a sample of your message. see if you can get PC to boot from CD or floppy. Some anti virus programs provide bootable CD to let you recover and remove a virus. If you don't have anti virus software with bootable CD. And how do I change the boot order, does the cd take you there?
Bonnie,
Go back and read the 2nd paragraph of my previous messasge about how to change the boot order. All the info is there. If you're unsure, maybe some computer savvy friend can come over to help you? Changing the boot order has to be done first.
I was referring to the bootable CD that some antivirus programs supply with their software. But, if you have the Windows Recovery CD, try it (after changing the boot order) and choose the repair option to see if you get to a position where the PC will boot properly from the hard drive. Remember that after you do the Windows Restore, you'll have to undo the change to the boot order in BIOS so that the PC will boot from the hard drive again.
If Windows Restore fixes the boot problem, you'll still have to run antiviral software, and probably ad-aware and spy-bot (both free downloads), to clean up anything that's infected.
You may eventually want to erase the hard drive and do a full Windows install, but at least you should be able to get your important files off first. And then get in the habit of backing these fies up onto CD, DVD, Zip, somewhere on a regular basis so you don't end up in this mess again!
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
December 20th, 2004 18:00
Before buying another drive, see if you can get PC to boot from CD or floppy. Some antivirus programs provide bootable CD to let you recover and remove a virus. If you don't have antivirus software with bootable CD, this might be a cheaper first investment.
You have to go into BIOS and change boot order so CD (or floppy) is first on list. What function key you press to enter BIOS depends on which system you have but there should be a prompt on screen before it starts to boot. You just have to watch and hit that key as soon as you see the prompt. If you don't see it, ask Dell what the BIOS setup key is for your system. Change only the boot order, save the change and exit. Put the CD (or floppy) in the drive and boot.
Even if you can only boot to the C:\ prompt the antivirus software might be able to clean your system. Or at worst, you can copy the files off onto blank disk (assuming you have CD burner) or at least onto a floppy or zip disk. But be sure to scan them on the CD or floppy before moving them back onto the reformatted hard drive, in case one of them is infected -or you'll be back where you started! And don't forget to reset the BIOS boot order when you're finished recovering.
RoHe
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
December 20th, 2004 18:00
Do the following:
Purchase a new hard drive, and disconnect the original. Install WIndows, patch it fully, INSTALL AND UPDATE A GOOD ANTIVIRUS/FIREWALL package. Shut down and install the original drive in as a slave and copy your data.
Chances are at least some of the data is recoverable, and that's about the least expensive way to get the data back.
hauglid
13 Posts
0
December 20th, 2004 20:00
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
December 20th, 2004 21:00
Go back and read the 2nd paragraph of my previous messasge about how to change the boot order. All the info is there. If you're unsure, maybe some computer savvy friend can come over to help you? Changing the boot order has to be done first.
I was referring to the bootable CD that some antivirus programs supply with their software. But, if you have the Windows Recovery CD, try it (after changing the boot order) and choose the repair option to see if you get to a position where the PC will boot properly from the hard drive. Remember that after you do the Windows Restore, you'll have to undo the change to the boot order in BIOS so that the PC will boot from the hard drive again.
If Windows Restore fixes the boot problem, you'll still have to run antiviral software, and probably ad-aware and spy-bot (both free downloads), to clean up anything that's infected.
You may eventually want to erase the hard drive and do a full Windows install, but at least you should be able to get your important files off first. And then get in the habit of backing these fies up onto CD, DVD, Zip, somewhere on a regular basis so you don't end up in this mess again!
RoHe