[W.L.]

Hi!!

I'm new here!
I recently encountered a problem with my computer and was wondering if there's anybody here who also has this issue or might be able help.

ISSUE:
1. When my computer powers up, it freezes at either the blue "Welcome" Windows screen or right after my Desktop icons appear. The mouse moves, click click, no response. I keep having to manually power down the computer. What's strange is that it does NOT ALWAYS happen, estimate about 2 out of every 3 times the computer powers up or restarts, also happens in SafeMode.

2. When it does power up okay, Explorer messages appear once in a while to say that it failed to connect to some Internet site. I wasn't connected to the Internet or asked to be connected.

3. When I do connect my computer to the Interenet, Explorer can't access websites. The connection is working but Explorer keeps telling me page not found even after I type in something like yahoo.com. Fake pop-ups for Antivirus 2009 is also showing up.

All 3 issues have started in the last few days, they seem to be related somehow. I ran virus scans using McAfee, ESET, and AVG. None of them found anything. Then I used AdAware, it found 5 Virtumonde files. I keep hitting REMOVE but it still shows up in the second scan.

QUESTIONS:
1. Does Virtumonde cause StartUp problems? Could there be something else causing these issues?
2. Would it help if I try System Recover to a previous date? I tried to initiate the job but it keeps getting stuck - after I choose System Recover and select a date for the system to go back to and hit NEXT. NOTHING happens. The computer doesn't go to the next step or show any error messages. The System Recovery window just sits there.
3. Thanks to those who posted info on how to remove Virtumonde, I'll try those steps. To prevent this moving foreward, does anybody have any recommendations as to which antivirus, anitspyware, firewall, etc. software is the best? I used to use McAfee but it didn't detect this and it's also takes way too long to scan, about 2.5 hours!

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated!

WL