XP malware virus

[veblen]

Last night, I was not thinking when downloading a Russian movie from a questionable site and now have my first real virus.

(The PC is running XP.)

Post-download all that I have running is firefox, though I'm surprised that this they left me with the net and a working browser.

* File extensions (e.g., exe, reg, com, etc) are no longer registered and are not working.

* No ability to open or run apps from the desktop via files.

* Navigation to system restore and other xp system help is not working.

I can download fixes but have no ability to run them.

Is there any fix that I can run off of a usb drive?

Any help will be highly appreciated.

Please let me know if any additional info is required.

THANKS!!!

 

[veblen]

Additional info: Uninstall.lnk is found on my machine.

 

[nhasian]

you cannot get a virus from a data file like a music, document, or video. if you tried to play a wmv through windows media player and it prompted you to download some codec to watch the video, then thats when you downloaded the virus. You cannot remove the virus while windows is running. you must boot from a virus scan disk to clean the drive.

 

[veblen]

THANKS nhaisan!!!

I never stated that I received it directly from a music, document or video file.

Anyway, the question is not how it was received but how to correct the problem.

I guess your last sentence answers that question in general terms, but it's not what I was looking for as an answer or resolution.

I shall do some more research.

THANKS again!!!

 

[nhasian]

for example FreeAVG provides an ISO image you can download and burn to a CD or usb thumbdrive. boot off this media to clean your pc.

 

[Emerald]

does it open the "Open With" window?

 

[veblen]

nhasian: Thanks, that's what I've been trying. A drweb cd is not being read on boot and the avg cd appears to have been deleted. It looked fine after burning the iso to cd on another machine, but after booting the infected machine the cd now appears to be blank.

Emerald: When trying to open files with a tainted extension I receive the window stating that windows cannot open this file so what do you want to do: select an app to run the file or check the web.

THANKS to both of you!!!

 

[veblen]

Does anyone have any additional ideas on this problem?

Update:

* system restore is blocked.

* Running virus scans from cd is blocked.

* booting linux from a cd appears to be blocked as well.

My goal is to get ubuntu installed and running, though I'm wondering if it is time to begin picking the machine for parts.

Please let me know if any additional info is required.

THANKS!!!

 

[Emerald]

will this work

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/fix-or-restore-broken-exe-lnk-com-association-caused-by-virus/

 

[veblen]

Best answer selected by veblen.

 

[veblen]

THANKS Emerald!!!

My apologies for being slow on the response, but the link provided a way to change my file registrations, which has basically got me up-and-running again. I ended-up having to go through the task manager to get a command window, since I could not run or save anything in safe mode. Once I ran "access" I was able to see how the file extensions had been changed to junk.

I still need to get a drive to work in order to install linux but if nothing else, a restore should handle that.

I am left with only a single question: what joy does someone get out of ruining someone's computer?

THANKS nhasian for your help as well!!!