How to repair virus damage on an XP computer
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There are some powerful tools to repair virus damage on an XP machine. Though Microsoft have for some reason neglected to tell anyone what they are. So I thought I would.
If your XP computer is fucked in the Asshole then the solution is simple.
[There is some virus damage that this will not fix, such as viruses in the boot sector. The boot sector being the first part of your hard drive where the information about how to open XP is. MEANING, if you can't get into any part of windows at all, not even the first loading screen. Then you're buggered and should use a better firewall in future or download a free Linux hacker resistant operating system instead, I reccomend Simply Mepis, if you have an internet connection through an Ethernet port or wireless then you'll probably be back online with 1 cd, and you dont need to install anything if you dont want to.
You could also try a boot disk with a virus cleaner on it like this one from McAfee]
Basically to fix a fucked up XP box and at least get it working again, all you have to do is reboot and go into safe mode.
Safe Mode is a stripped down part of Windows where viruses cannot work. And basically all you can do in it is do virus scans and uninstall programs. And you can burn CDs and DVDs to backup your data.
To get into safe mode (and you want 'Safe Mode' and nothing else, you do not want the set of options for 'Restore Factory Settings') you reboot your computer. Then when your computer is in the first stages of booting up you press F8 repeatedly before it gets into Windows at all.
What you deffinitely dont want is to go into your BIOS which is a set of options with a basic coloured graphical screen on it, if you do, exit and do not change any settings. And don't panic, its not a big deal.
On some PCs you hit F10, on others Im sure it will be a different F key. You want it to go into a set of options in basic text on a black background with 'Safe Mode' at the top, and you select the basic 'Safe Mode' option.
You computer will boot up into a funky kind of XP, it will ask you if you want to go into it and you need to agree. It's no big deal.
Then its simply a matter of either doing a virus scan, or simpler you click on your 'Start' menu in the bottom corner and choose 'Help and Support' then 'Undo Changes to my Computer With System Restore'.
And choose:'Take my computer back to an earlier time'.
You select a time when your computer was working correctly in the calendar (you can also go back to a previous month). It's very simple to use, and it works very well.
You click okay or next or whatever and XP will be taken back to a previous state, viruses installed after the time you restored it to will no longer be active.
Although please note that viruses you were infected with at the time of the restore date and have later removed - will be reinstalled. It is the same with ordinary programs (which may not work flawlessly if you have uninstalled them after the time you restored to and XP has reinstalled them).
[update on page] I did a big system restore recently and Zonealarm firewall flipped out, was a whore trying to reinstall, make sure you have the latest version downloaded previously, and use this zlfix.zip file to clean your registry if it wont install[/update]
So once youre back up and running in Windows.. UPDATE!
Update your antivirus, your firewall and your XP! And do a virus scan as soon as you can, just to make sure.
If your PC still isn't working, it could be your hardware is ill or you still have the virus as you didnt go back far enough.
As a note to people, you can have an up to date Linux or XP with high tech firewall and fully updated everything. But if you download programs from strange sites or use dodgy cracked software, then you are going to get trojans.
Nick.Eliot[at]Cannotfindserver.net
you may want to print this for future reference
links:
http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Windows/Create_a_Windows_Boot_CD_%10_Rescue_CD.html
http://www.Mepis.org