I'm using a 2003 Dell laptop running Windows XP.
Lately I have had no new file downloads or other exposures, but it was taking longer to boot up than usual, and sometimes the screen would go black during startup; if I restarted by pushing the power button, it would start normally.
Last night my Symantec scan found 5 viruses; it quaranted 4 of them but could not quarantine the last, Trojan.Vundo. I got a trojan vundo removal tool from the symantec website, downloaded it successfully, and had it scan my comp, but it said it couldn't find trojan vundo, on 2 occasions.
Today when i turned on my computer it didn't show my desktop, only the background picture. I figured out how to get into my files, and rescanned with my normal Symantec scan system. It again found the trojan.vundo, although the specific tool couldn't find it. I started getting lots of popups from internet explorer. I google'd trojan vundo and found a tool on PCtools.com, however after using this I realized it only scanned but didn't remove. I then found another tool that would actually remove it on download3k.com. This downloaded fine, scanned my computer, found several sketching-sounding files (khalicn.exe etc.) which it deleted, and found 2 trojan worms, which it said it deleted. It also told me that I had several restrictive settings, like ones preventing me from making changes ot or accessing my desktop icons; it said it could turn these off and I said okay. This included deleting what may have been a windows desktop startup file, but I don't know the name for sure. It finished scanning, and then restarted my computer.
Upon restarting, I get to the welcome screen, click on my name, and it says "loading your settings." My usual background flashes on the screen, then it immediately returns to the welcome screen with my name and little picture square, saying "Saving your settings" and 'logging off."
It doesn't let me actually get on to my computer, my desk top, or to any of my files. I don't know if this is still a virus, or a file missing that was deleted in the cleanup process. I thought the download3k tool looked legit but what do I know.
Do I have to lose my harddrive and re-install Windows? or pay Dell $130 to save it?
If there was a windows desktop startup file that was deleted, is there any way other than reinstalling everything to get it?
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions!
C
