I believe I have a boot sector virus but can't get rid of it

[Simplici7y]

So, there are some "minor" problems like all of my USB ports misbehaving (mouse randomly stopping to work, keyboard & internet as well; transferring data to my Galaxy S2 is usually super slow...), but the main thing is that if my external hard-drive is connected to PC when I turn it on, it's stuck at the first BIOS screen (I can't even press f2, del or f11 to go in boot options).

I scanned with Avira (which crashed twice in a row at 11% so I just deleted her), Malwarebyte's anti-malware (all scan types) and Microsoft Security Essentials (full scan); they found and cleaned up some minor viruses but nothing that solved any of my problems. I know exactly on which disk it is yet I can't find it Help, please?

 

[mohit9206]

Backup your important data and format windows and then do a clean install.

 

[Simplici7y]

Backup your important data and format windows and then do a clean install.

Since the external disk holds the virus that is NOT the solution, read the post before "answering" please.

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Boot-Sector-Virus

How to Remove a Boot Sector Virus

I know how to google that myself and it's obviously not helping:
"Option 1: Take the drive to a pro" Really, that is your advice on how to get rid of a virus?
It also advises I use "trusted software" to remove the virus. I obviously tried with numerous antiviruses and it failed, which you'd know, if you read the post.

And I can't just format the disk since it contains data valuable to me.

 

[Hawkeye22]

I don't know if spybot can remove boot sector viruses, but it's pretty good at most everything else.

http://www.safer-networking.org/private/

 

[Simplici7y]

I don't know if spybot can remove boot sector viruses, but it's pretty good at most everything else.

http://www.safer-networking.org/private/

The only thing it did was clean some cookies...and I'm certainly not buying the full version just to try it out

 

[Simplici7y]

So, up to this point I've tried Avira, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, Kaspersky & Microsoft Security Essentials but the problem still persists. I need a better idea other than "change antivirus & scan".

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.surfright.nl/en/home/

Try this ^

 

[Simplici7y]

http://www.surfright.nl/en/home/

Try this ^

I just scanned with it and it found no threats (except tracking cookies).

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

Run this see what it finds.

 

[JDFan]

IF it truly is a boot sector virus pretty much the only solution is to perform a LOW LEVEL format of the drive (figure that is why the hackers use the boot sector files for the virus as these are loaded prior to the AV software thus have control of the system prior to the AV loading and thus AV products are pretty much unable to remove them) -- since you can still access the drive make a backup of any personal info (txt jpg etc. are safe to retain as they can not carry virus files but best to just reinstall any programs etc. from originals as they may be carriers of the virus and may reinfect the system after the formatting) Once you have the safe files copied to a back up source perform a low level format of the HDD and then reinstall windows and the other programs (FROM ORIGINAL installation disks) Doing this is a PITA but is the only way to ensure that you are rid of the virus completely.

 

[Hawkeye22]

So, up to this point I've tried Avira, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, Kaspersky & Microsoft Security Essentials but the problem still persists. I need a better idea other than "change antivirus & scan".

The only 100% guaranteed fix is to delete all partitions and start from scratch, otherwise it's just a complete trial & error of using different scanners.

 

[Simplici7y]

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

Run this see what it finds.

Ran it and it found 0 threats.

And I REALLY want to save formatting the drive as a last resort, it's a huge pain to do and currently I'd rather boot up the PC by removing my HDD every time I want to boot it up.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I recommend , just as stated above to backup , format , and reinstall.

 

[JDFan]

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

Run this see what it finds.

Ran it and it found 0 threats.

And I REALLY want to save formatting the drive as a last resort, it's a huge pain to do and currently I'd rather boot up the PC by removing my HDD every time I want to boot it up.

IF you can boot the system without the HDD installed then it is not a boot sector virus !!! --- Boot sector virii effect the BOOT SECTOR which is where the Boot files are located and the system uses the BOOT files to boot with so they have to be on the HDD that the system boots from and can not be the cause if it is a different HDD. What exactly makes you think it is a boot sector or some other VIRUS causing the problem ?? (Since you've run many AV programs and none are finding anything and you say it is on an external drive and not the boot drive - I don't see how you are concluding that the problem is a boot sector virus )

 

[Simplici7y]

http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/tdsskiller

Run this see what it finds.

Ran it and it found 0 threats.

And I REALLY want to save formatting the drive as a last resort, it's a huge pain to do and currently I'd rather boot up the PC by removing my HDD every time I want to boot it up.

IF you can boot the system without the HDD installed then it is not a boot sector virus !!! --- Boot sector virii effect the BOOT SECTOR which is where the Boot files are located and the system uses the BOOT files to boot with so they have to be on the HDD that the system boots from and can not be the cause if it is a different HDD. What exactly makes you think it is a boot sector or some other VIRUS causing the problem ?? (Since you've run many AV programs and none are finding anything and you say it is on an external drive and not the boot drive - I don't see how you are concluding that the problem is a boot sector virus )

I thought it was a boot sector virus since it behaved like one. Every time I would try to boot with HDD attached to the computer, it would get stuck at the very first screen (can't even go into boot options). I really don't know what could be the other cause for a behavior like that.

 

[JDFan]

SO do both the external and the internal HDDS have copies of windows installed and are you booting from the copy on the internal normally or the external copy ? Could be you have the BIOS settings set to boot from the external drive (USB) before the internal (SATA\IDE) and the copy of windows on the external drive may be corrupted so the system can not boot into that copy of windows -- and the reason it is freezing is that it is trying to boot from the non working copy of windows installed on the external drive rather than the working copy on the internal drive when the external is connected.

 

[Simplici7y]

SO do both the external and the internal HDDS have copies of windows installed and are you booting from the copy on the internal normally or the external copy ? Could be you have the BIOS settings set to boot from the external drive (USB) before the internal (SATA\IDE) and the copy of windows on the external drive may be corrupted so the system can not boot into that copy of windows -- and the reason it is freezing is that it is trying to boot from the non working copy of windows installed on the external drive rather than the working copy on the internal drive when the external is connected.

I got Windows on my internal HDD, but the problem is with the external HDD (which does not have windows), and I'm pretty sure it's set to boot on the internal one first (up until last month never had any problems+never changed any settings).