Laptop virus help!!!!

[dio83]

My laptop has a virus and 9/10 it is stopping me from starting windows and merely restarts the computer again. On the odd occasions that it does load and i try to run a virus scanner it eventually switches itself off again saying there is an error with windows. Is there any way i can run a anti-virus cd before windows loads. any help would be much appreciated as i have alot of important work on there :-(

[syphus]

Norton Antivirus has a bootable CD for sub windows scanning, and McAfee (who I’d normally not recommend) have a program called Stinger.

Usually, the best way to deal with this sort of problem however, is remove the hard drive from your system, put it in another and run an Antivirus scan. This is more complete, and in the long run, easier where possible. Unfortunately, the fact you have a laptop makes this more difficult, especially if you don't have a mini-IDE adaptor, or 2.5" USB adaptor.

In this situation, you may have to resort to seeking professional help, or use the restore discs. Some laptops (ASUS for example) have several restore modes, and can be non-destructive or selective, ie, not result in complete and total data loss. In most situations, a restore does mean a complete format.

This is a lesson in regular data backups anyway.

[dio83]

its come to the point where i dont mind formatting my comp but how do i go about it. it doesn't seem to go into dos

[delboy]

Before formatting your Hard drive try turning off your systen restore and running the virus scan in safe mode.

[dio83]

the virus scan isn't working whatsoever. im just gonna reformat it, but how do i do this

[syphus]

Originally Posted by dio83

the virus scan isn't working whatsoever. im just gonna reformat it, but how do i do this

Your notebook should have come with bootable Restore/Recovery CDs. They automate the format and Windows installation.

[dio83]

used the system restore cd and when i start the computer up now it just says ntldr missing. and tells me to restart the computer which in turn just brings up the same message.

[syphus]

NTLDR is the Windows NT Loader. This message comes up when the boot drive has been formatted and a boot sector written, but the drive is blank.

It sounds like the restore disc didn’t to it’s job properly, or you made a mistake somewhere. Make sure you follow instructions carefully. You make need to make sure that your boot priority is set to boot from the optical drive before the hard disk drive, in the BIOS.

[dio83]

i followed everything exactly as i was supposed to. my cdrom is priority in bios and still won't boot my windows cd.

[syphus]

Well, you're either doing something wrong, using the wrong discs, or there's something wrong with the media or hardware.

What is the model and manufacturer of the notebook in question?