Virus-Cant boot Laptop?

[nottus45]

Hello,

I tried streaming the football the other day, at which point Internet explorer crashed and I received a "Firewall breach" warning.

I decided to shut down the computer.

Aftering shutting down, I tried to restart the PC, but I have a problem:
-The system starts to load (shows the screen where you can press F2 to enter the BIOS).
-Next it goes to a completely black screen, with a white underscore flashing in the top left hand corner.

I can't get past this screen.

I tried pressing the keyboard on this screen and it just beeps at me everytime I press a keyboard key. This would imply to me that it hasnt crashed completely??

After doing a bit of searching, I saw a recommendation to boot in safe mode, by pressing F8 repeatedly on start up. I tried this but didnt get any response.

Anyone have any ideas what I should be doing here??

Possible useful info:
-OS:Windows Vista
-Laptop: Acer Aspire 5735

 

[arges86]

If you have the Vista disk, i woud boot to that and do a Repair.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

reinstall os!

 

[nottus45]

Thanks for your responses!

Will the reinstall of the OS delete my personal data or will I need to backup my data (by removing HDD and connecting to another PC) if I want to keep it?

Also, if I backup the data by connecting the HDD to another PC, is there a risk of this other PC becoming infected by the virus as well?

Thanks for your help

 

[arges86]

reinstalling the OS will wipe EVERYTHING.
You'll need 2 back up your data. There is little risk that you'll transfer the virus, just don't run any executables from the infected HD.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

this virus is in the bios!you will need to reflash the bios and then reinstall or it will show up even after clean install!

backup all important data then perform these steps!