[flintstone]

Dell inspiron 1545 laptop.
I was surfing the web and fed up with popups reminding me of things I had previously looked for I clicked on private browsing on the toolbar, thinking this might stop it. Back toi the web, changed pages and the whole screen went white. All that was left was a hand icon in the middle. I tried alt-ctrl-del without any result. So I turned the laptop off and rebooted. It boot the "welcome to windows 7 screen then went on to the white screen, where it remains.
There is no border, no taskbar, nothing except a white screen.
If I press alt-ctrl-del I get the page showing :- "lock this computer, switch user etc and start task manager." None of them work, it just reverts to the white screen, however, on the bottom left is the "Ease of Access" Button. If I activate one of these commands I can now alt-tab between the command I have activated e.g.Magnifier and (apparently) Windows Logon, which is the white screen. It doesn't always go to windows logon though, it sometimes stays on the Access page.
When it does go to win logon and I alt-tab there one of the icons in the middle, in the alt-tab box, now says "Win Locker".?
On the bottom right of the alt-ctrl-del page is a red "Shut Down/Shut Down options" button. I can use this to shut it down and that is pretty much it.
When it does shut down, it goes to the screensaver page and hangs for a while with the message "Waiting for programs to shut down" and shows the "Force shutdown" buttons. Then eventually it closes the box, and the "Start" button on the taskbar appears briefly, but I can't do anything with that. The laptop then shuts down.
I have gone into the BIOS and turned off the wireless adaptor and reset the boot options to select cd and memory stick first.
Have I been hijacked or did I just press the wrong button somewhere?
I can't load anything straight through the cd or memory stick while this white page is there but I did get a copy of the AVG rescue cd which I can load, but I am not sure what I am looking at.
I haven't yet tried the manufacturers rescue disk as I am kind of hoping it will be something stupid.
All and any help appreciated.
Thanks

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Hi, flintstone! My nick name is CompCav and I will be assisting you with your Malware/Security problems. Please make sure you read all of the instructions and fixes thoroughly before continuing with them. If you have any questions or you are unsure about anything, just ask and I will help you out.

If you have resolved the issues you were originally experiencing, or have received help elsewhere, please let me know so that this topic can be closed.

Please make sure you are saving and printing the instructions out prior to each fix, this way you will have them on hand just in case you are unable to access this site. One of the steps I will be asking you to do requires you to boot into Safe Mode and this process will be much easier for you to perform if the instructions are printed out for you to follow.

If you are ready to get started, please review and follow these guidelines so that we resolve your issues in a timely and effective manner:

• Logs from malware removal programs (OTL is one of them) can take some time to analyze. I need you to be patient while I analyze any logs you post.
• Please make sure to carefully read any instructions that I give you. Since I cannot see or directly interact with your computer I am dependent on you to "be my eyes" and provide as much information as you can regarding the current state of your computer.
• If you're not sure, or if something unexpected happens, do NOT continue! Stop and ask!
• These instructions have been specifically tailored to your computer and the issues you are experiencing with your computer. These instructions are not suitable for any other computer, even if the issues are fairly similar.
• Do not do things I do not ask for, such as running a spyware scan on your computer. However, the one thing that you should always do, is to make sure your anti-virus definitions are up-to-date!
• Please do not use the Attachment feature for any log file. Just do a Copy/Paste of the entire contents of the log file inside your post and submit.
• You must reply within four days failure to reply will result in the topic being closed!
• Please do not PM me directly for help. If you have any questions, post them in this topic. PM me only if I have not responded to your last post in 2 days.
• Lastly, I am no magician. I will try very hard to fix your issues, but no promises can be made. Also be aware that some infections are so severe that you might need to ultimately reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
  Don't worry, this only happens in severe cases, but it sadly does happen. Please have the software and storage media for backing up your data available.

Do you have another computer we can use to download files? If so what is the operating system (i . e. XP, Vista, Windows 7)

Do you have a small USB flash drive to transfer files?

Do you have some blank CD's to make CD's on the good machine?


For x32 (x86) bit systems download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to a flash drive.
For x64 bit systems download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool x64 and save it to a flash drive.

Plug the flashdrive into the infected PC.

Enter System Recovery Options.

To enter System Recovery Options from the Advanced Boot Options:

• Restart the computer.
• As soon as the BIOS is loaded begin tapping the F8 key until Advanced Boot Options appears.
• Use the arrow keys to select the Repair your computer menu item.
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
• Select your user account an click Next.

To enter System Recovery Options by using Windows installation disc:

• Insert the installation disc.
• Restart your computer.
• If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc. If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check your BIOS settings.
• Click Repair your computer.
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
• Select your user account and click Next.

On the System Recovery Options menu you will get the following options:
Startup Repair
System Restore
Windows Complete PC Restore
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Command Prompt[*]Select Command Prompt
[*]In the command window type in notepad and press Enter.
[*]The notepad opens. Under File menu select Open.
[*]Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad.
[*]In the command window type e:\frst.exe (for x64 bit version type e:\frst64) and press Enter
Note: Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive.
[*]The tool will start to run.
[*]When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.

[*]Press Scan button.
[*]It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.[/list]

[CompCav]

Hi, flintstone! My nick name is CompCav and I will be assisting you with your Malware/Security problems. Please make sure you read all of the instructions and fixes thoroughly before continuing with them. If you have any questions or you are unsure about anything, just ask and I will help you out.

If you have resolved the issues you were originally experiencing, or have received help elsewhere, please let me know so that this topic can be closed.

Please make sure you are saving and printing the instructions out prior to each fix, this way you will have them on hand just in case you are unable to access this site. One of the steps I will be asking you to do requires you to boot into Safe Mode and this process will be much easier for you to perform if the instructions are printed out for you to follow.

If you are ready to get started, please review and follow these guidelines so that we resolve your issues in a timely and effective manner:

• Logs from malware removal programs (OTL is one of them) can take some time to analyze. I need you to be patient while I analyze any logs you post.
• Please make sure to carefully read any instructions that I give you. Since I cannot see or directly interact with your computer I am dependent on you to "be my eyes" and provide as much information as you can regarding the current state of your computer.
• If you're not sure, or if something unexpected happens, do NOT continue! Stop and ask!
• These instructions have been specifically tailored to your computer and the issues you are experiencing with your computer. These instructions are not suitable for any other computer, even if the issues are fairly similar.
• Do not do things I do not ask for, such as running a spyware scan on your computer. However, the one thing that you should always do, is to make sure your anti-virus definitions are up-to-date!
• Please do not use the Attachment feature for any log file. Just do a Copy/Paste of the entire contents of the log file inside your post and submit.
• You must reply within four days failure to reply will result in the topic being closed!
• Please do not PM me directly for help. If you have any questions, post them in this topic. PM me only if I have not responded to your last post in 2 days.
• Lastly, I am no magician. I will try very hard to fix your issues, but no promises can be made. Also be aware that some infections are so severe that you might need to ultimately reformat your hard drive and reinstall the operating system.
  Don't worry, this only happens in severe cases, but it sadly does happen. Please have the software and storage media for backing up your data available.

Do you have another computer we can use to download files? If so what is the operating system (i . e. XP, Vista, Windows 7)

Do you have a small USB flash drive to transfer files?

Do you have some blank CD's to make CD's on the good machine?


For x32 (x86) bit systems download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to a flash drive.
For x64 bit systems download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool x64 and save it to a flash drive.

Plug the flashdrive into the infected PC.

Enter System Recovery Options.

To enter System Recovery Options from the Advanced Boot Options:

• Restart the computer.
• As soon as the BIOS is loaded begin tapping the F8 key until Advanced Boot Options appears.
• Use the arrow keys to select the Repair your computer menu item.
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
• Select your user account an click Next.

To enter System Recovery Options by using Windows installation disc:

• Insert the installation disc.
• Restart your computer.
• If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc. If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check your BIOS settings.
• Click Repair your computer.
• Select English as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
• Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
• Select your user account and click Next.

On the System Recovery Options menu you will get the following options:
Startup Repair
System Restore
Windows Complete PC Restore
Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
Command Prompt[*]Select Command Prompt
[*]In the command window type in notepad and press Enter.
[*]The notepad opens. Under File menu select Open.
[*]Select "Computer" and find your flash drive letter and close the notepad.
[*]In the command window type e:\frst.exe (for x64 bit version type e:\frst64) and press Enter
Note: Replace letter e with the drive letter of your flash drive.
[*]The tool will start to run.
[*]When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.

[*]Press Scan button.
[*]It will make a log (FRST.txt) on the flash drive. Please copy and paste it to your reply.[/list]

[flintstone]

Thanks for replying,
I have had this problem for a week or so before I put in on the forum and was fed up so I have formatted the hard disk and reinstalled win 7 from the manufavturers disc.

[CompCav]

Since this issue appears to be resolved ... this Topic has been closed. Glad we could help.

If you're the topic starter, and need this topic reopened, please contact a staff member with the address of the thread.

Everyone else please begin a New Topic.