Boot Virus

[netsurfer802]

I have worked on a computer with Windows Vista that had an issue booting up which said that there was a problem with the BCD...This computer by the way passed a hard drive test and memory test...after I reformatted Vista and put on Windows 7 I noticed it freezing here and there still.

 

About a couple days later I find out that the computer once again has another error or different error and doesn't load into Windows.

 

So what I'm wondering is, what is the best way to get rid of this boot sector infection.  I have a Kyspersky bootable usb drive and I also know that Avast has a free version with a boot-sector scan.

 

Thanks in advanced for any helpful response/s.

[The Evil Overlord]

Sorry, did you say you have a virus that even after reformatting, it's still infected?

I'm not sure if that's a virus then, possibly something failing in the hardware.

But I can recommend stuff like malware bytes, kaspersky tssd, eset, off the top of my head which are very good antivirus software. I have kaspersky tssd, zonelarm and spybot for my pc.

You could also disconnect the power supply, pull the bios battery, wait a few minutes, refit the battery and supply, that could help if it's something changed in your machine's boot order

(Might not help, but worth a try)

[netsurfer802]

Mine is Kyspersky Rescue Disk 10...is that good? And yes I've check the hard drive and memory tests that came with the computer when you boot up and they have passed...and I had formatted the partition with Windows Vista and loaded Windows 7.

[The Evil Overlord]

In my honest opinion, I do not think it's a virus but I could very well be wrong. I'm leaning more to a failing mobo or hdd. They still pass tests, my 320 gig hdd passed all tests I threw at it, right up until the day it died. And my laptop slowed booting up to a standstill which turned out to be a dying mobo.

The only thing I could suggest is trying another hard drive in that machine, if you happen to have a spare. (One of two things could happen, either the problem solves itself <which would suggest a bad hdd> or it won't, in which case it's more likely your hardware..)

By the by, how much ram is installed? Processor power, numbrr of cores, and is the windows 32 or 64 bit?

[alphamale]

before jumping off a cliff i would suspect the power supply.  it can cause all manner of trouble.

[netsurfer802]

32-bit windows

[netsurfer802]

Just jerry-rigged another power supply and it still freezes but freezes less...did a tune-up with Advanced System care...would seem weird if a virus was able to survive but I'm going to try the Kaspersky usb boot disk since its Linux based and try to do a scan if it freezes with that then it's pretty safe to assume it's a hard-ware issue.

[netsurfer802]

Tried different memory, different power supply, booting in another OS all with issues...took another look at mobo and it looks like it has 4 blown caps...which aren't obvious but if you look in the center of them you see a bit of rust.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,
 
Although some malware can modify the Boot Configuration Datastore, a BCD error does not necessarily imply malware.  It could be an issue of data corruption.
 
What I would suggest doing is properly wiping the hard disk drive and then installing Microsoft Windows 7 to it. This way you can ensure that there are no software-related errors present on the hard disk drive and that if the problem does continue, that you are dealing with either a failing disk drive or your installation media is somehow corrupt.
 
You can use the command-line DiskPart (filename: DISKPART.EXE) utility to erase the hard disk drive.  Here are the steps to do so:

• First of all, unplug any external storage devices such as external USB or FireWire (IEEE-1394) hard disk drives, flash drives, printers with card readers and so forth so you are just working with the computer's internal hard disk drive(s), which makes things a bit simpler (and may help prevent any accidents).
• Boot the computer as you normally would from a Microsoft Windows 7 install DVD/USB flash drive and begin the installation process as you normally would. When you reach the point where you are prompted for which partition to install the operating system to, press Shift+F10 to open the Command Prompt
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "LIST DISK" and press Enter. This will give you a listing of all the mass storage devices attached to your computer. The hard disk drive should be the only storage device attached unless you are installing from USB flash drive, which is identifiable by being quite a bit smaller in capacity than the other disk drive.
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "SELECT DISK n", where n is the disk number associated with the hard disk drive and press Enter.
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "CLEAN ALL" and press Enter. This will wipe (erase) the hard disk drive so that everything on it is overwritten without any chance of recovery.
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY" and press Enter. This will create a new basic disk partition on the hard disk drive.
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK" and press Enter. This will format the hard disk drive using the NTFS file system. If you want to use a different file system such as FAT32, ExFAT, etc. you could specify that, instead.
• At the DISKPART> prompt, type "EXIT" and press Enter. You should now be returned to the Command Prompt.

At this point, you have a blank, freshly-formatted hard disk drive, can close the Command Prompt, and continue with the operating system installation.

For more information about using the DiskPart command, I would suggest reading the DiskPart Command-Line Options article on Microsoft Technet.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky