Very Interesting Virus?

[Chrisjc]

I my self find my self stumped at the moment.

About a month ago I fixed my sisters computer was simple just some virus I was able to clear them off and clean it up. Ran grate after... Few weeks later she calls me saying something new is up I go over and take a looksee and to my surprise I found it doing some odd stuff I have never seen before...

Symptoms are the following
Windows XP Home
When started it goes to the login screen and displays 5 users. Select one like normal and load into XP. While loading it will show the desk top with task bar start etc... About 1 minute into the load EVERYTING ICONS, TASK BAR, WINDOWS you had open DISAPREAR COMPLETELY! All you see is a desktop background.

What you can do:

ALT + CTRL + DEL and browse programs that way by "NEW TASK" it allowed me to go there and open the Symantec exe... I did a full system scan and NOTHING.

I even booted in SAFE MODE and the same thing happens did a full scan here too and NOTHING... I used a slick program that Barton suggested the last time I asked a question... and NOTHING

I am rather stuck on this one and I CAN NOT REFORMAT Because I do not have the CD's so my only option is to FIX this issue... anyone have any ideas?

I been working on this for a week I tried everything in my skills that I know as an IT this is a first stump in awhile.

[epots9]

have u done a scan disk to check for bad sectors?

[Chrisjc]

have u done a scan disk to check for bad sectors?

yeah turned out clean... This is why I am rather lost on this one... Doesnt show as a virus doesnt show as a mess up just doing it...

[epots9]

you said that u could open task manager, what happens when u try to open explorer? (from my experience it will load the desktop).

[Chrisjc]

you said that u could open task manager, what happens when u try to open explorer? (from my experience it will load the desktop).

ahh but it does.. but see this is the odd part "explorer" is already running.. it is just not viewable so when I REOPEN it it FLASHES and is gone again... it is VERY ODD

[epots9]

ahh but it does.. but see this is the odd part "explorer" is already running.. it is just not viewable so when I REOPEN it it FLASHES and is gone again... it is VERY ODD

odd...i can't even find anything close to what you're going through, but i'll keep trying.

if u end the explorer process and restart it (not the computer) does it just do the same thing?

did your sis install/uninstall and/or play with the registry/boot.ini?

[Chrisjc]

odd...i can't even find anything close to what you're going through, but i'll keep trying.

if u end the explorer process and restart it (not the computer) does it just do the same thing?

did your sis install/uninstall and/or play with the registry/boot.ini?

She has no idea what she did... It was actaully her husband I asked him... he said he was on some video site like youtube... and it just started doing that... its odd because it will FLASH the screen but it is not any hardware issue couldnt be... becuase the background is always displaying NO FLASH just the ICONS task bar... so I am really stuck on this one and I dont want to have to tell her go buy XP so I can reformat...

[Chrisjc]

PS thanks for the extra help too!

[Chrisjc]

So have hours and hours.. I think I solved this...

The cause I HAVE NO IDEA.

The solution

I opened Task Manager ALT+CTRL+DEL

NEW TASK > and typed "explorer.exe"

now I did this befor however this time while it was FLASHING the icons... I pressed the "PAUSE / BREAK" Key on the keybaord and boom everything stated loaded...

ODD!!!

[bartonc]

So have hours and hours.. I think I solved this...

The cause I HAVE NO IDEA.

The solution

I opened Task Manager ALT+CTRL+DEL

NEW TASK > and typed "explorer.exe"

now I did this befor however this time while it was FLASHING the icons... I pressed the "PAUSE / BREAK" Key on the keybaord and boom everything stated loaded...

ODD!!!

Good to know! I have a friend with the same symptom. Let's keep an eye on this one!

[Ali Rizwan]

I my self find my self stumped at the moment.

About a month ago I fixed my sisters computer was simple just some virus I was able to clear them off and clean it up. Ran grate after... Few weeks later she calls me saying something new is up I go over and take a looksee and to my surprise I found it doing some odd stuff I have never seen before...

Symptoms are the following
Windows XP Home
When started it goes to the login screen and displays 5 users. Select one like normal and load into XP. While loading it will show the desk top with task bar start etc... About 1 minute into the load EVERYTING ICONS, TASK BAR, WINDOWS you had open DISAPREAR COMPLETELY! All you see is a desktop background.

What you can do:

ALT + CTRL + DEL and browse programs that way by "NEW TASK" it allowed me to go there and open the Symantec exe... I did a full system scan and NOTHING.

I even booted in SAFE MODE and the same thing happens did a full scan here too and NOTHING... I used a slick program that Barton suggested the last time I asked a question... and NOTHING

I am rather stuck on this one and I CAN NOT REFORMAT Because I do not have the CD's so my only option is to FIX this issue... anyone have any ideas?

I been working on this for a week I tried everything in my skills that I know as an IT this is a first stump in awhile.

Are you saying that your start menu is not working as well as icons Right then
tell me because i have also this problem.

[bartonc]

Are you saying that your start menu is not working as well as icons Right then
tell me because i have also this problem.

That's right (as I read it). No Start menu, no desktop icons, no (anything).
Please try the solution

I opened Task Manager ALT+CTRL+DEL

NEW TASK > and typed "explorer.exe"

now I did this befor however this time while it was FLASHING the icons... I pressed the "PAUSE / BREAK" Key on the keybaord and boom everything stated loaded...

and let us know how it works for you.

[Ali Rizwan]

That's right (as I read it). No Start menu, no desktop icons, no (anything).
Please try the solutionand let us know how it works for you.

Hi
Problem is that there is no solution for this problem but one.
When i have this problem then i use this thing
press Ctrl+Alt+Del
Terminate Explorer
and then go to file new task and type c: or explorer in the textbox and press ok.
Your startmenu and icons will enabled you think you have solved the problem but not whenever you restart your computer you will find the problem again.
I have done one thing more i set password to my account by this my start menu and icons do not stuck after rebooting.

After all i use Aston shell and now i have made my own explorer.

Check these all and reply

[Chrisjc]

Ahh well see this worked about 4 times for me pressing "PAUSE" however after about the 4th time rebooting it still didn’t LOAD explorer.exe

I was getting really pissed last night when finally I simply opened "mmc" in New Task opened Computer Management snap in and backed up some of my sister’s photos and some other stuff she had... Put my WinXP Pro in and hit DELETE PARTITION reloaded windows and well no more whatever issue I was having...

I am guessing by the number of people replying to this, That this is a common issue I also have a feeling playing with the shell some that this is indeed a virus one that has not been found yet.

I have tried everything in my power to make this work including a fellow IT from my office and a good time friend who is also an IT and neither one could help me we where all shocked by this...

FULL DICRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM SYMTOPMS:
==================================================
Windows XP "All Version"
Windows will boot as normal and proceed to the login screen "Pick the user Depending on your PC if no user it will load right in"

While loading into windows you will only see your Desktop Background and maybe see you’re "Start menu and your desk top Icons flash once or twice"

You will then be looking at a completely BLANK SCREEN with whatever background picture you may have had there.

You may use the following commands

ALT+CTRL+DEL "New Task" For RUN

You may browse around your PC from "New Task" and open applications and programs with no issues at all. The windows Shell will continue to stay hidden and not useable.

To get control of personal settings use "New Task" and type in "mmc" This will bring windows consol control up, you may add a new "Snap in" and choice which you would like to work with.

I tried CHKDSK /"your drive letter" /F

My Hard Drive was FINE no issues. You might want to try it.

I also loaded up windows Signature Verification, in "New Task” type "sigverif" hit enter.

On my end everything looked normal nothing out of the ordinary I also did DELL Recovery and NOTHING!!! It did not work at all. So I tried windows recovery and rolled it back 2 months didn’t work.

I tried a system repair with the windows CD however I was locked out of administrator. When I wasn’t… What I mean is I could login windows on administrator but for whatever reason when the repair tool booted in DOS and asked what drive I want to fix then ask for the admin PW it said it was wrong… And yet I knew it wasn’t.

Also a side notes I noticed something a little odd. In one of the USER FOLDERS in “My Documents” I noticed a WINDOWS folder I forget the subdirectory it had in it and I was very tired and pissed by this time I had been working on the PC for over 5 hours and everything I tried failed so I forgot to check the folder for hidden files. My point being is when I tried deleting it; it stated that Windows was using this folder… I found this rather odd but being in the mood I was in and it also being my sisters computer and she needed it back I decided to do what I knew will solve this issue, I deleted the partition from the windows xp cd and installed a fresh copy.

This solves the issue. If It wasn’t my sister computer I would have kept playing with this to figure it out.

But something else I want to bring up.

If you look in your Task Manager under the Processes tap you will notice that explorer.exe is not loaded it will not load at the start of windows and if you type in “explorer.exe” in “New Task” you will experience you desktop flashing a few times as explorer closes and opens 3 to 5 times. In this little time window of it FLASHING here is something that worked for me 4 times. Press the “Pause / Break” Key on you keyboard it should freeze explorer in place and allow you to work with you PC like nothing ever happened! I suggest if this works for you backup any files you may have and Zero out your Hard Drive and start with a new copy of windows. This will surely fix your issue.

Good luck I will follow this thread if anyone else can find a solution. I am very interested to know about it.

[epots9]

I'm glad you were able to fix it, i guess...sorry to hear that it required a format

[Chrisjc]

I'm glad you were able to fix it, i guess...sorry to hear that it required a format

Yeah if I had more time I would have found a solution at one point or another but like I said being my sisters computer and she needed it and I knew all along backing up all her stuff and an easy format would be the EASY way out of this but I wanted to find a solution to this... but hopefully someone else can find it.

I was almost tempted to keep her harddrive and give her a new one just for a challange for me to play with when I got some more free time lol

[epots9]

<snip>
almost tempted to keep her harddrive and give her a new one just for a challange for me to play with when I got some more free time lol

i say that too but i never get around to it.

[bartonc]

Could it be that someone (virus) is messing with the Themes registry key?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes

mine has the values in it (my system is not affected by this problem):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes]
"Drop Shadow"="FALSE"
"Flat Menus"="FALSE"
"SetupVersion"="7"
"InstallTheme"="%ResourceDir%\\themes\\Luna.theme"
"InstallVisualStyle"="%SystemRoot%\\Resources\\themes\\Luna\\Luna.msstyles"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DownloadSites]
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DownloadSites\100]
"DisplayName"="@themeui.dll,-2015"
"URL"="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=488"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\VisualStyleDirs]
"1"=hex(2):25,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,44,00,69,00,\
  72,00,25,00,5c,00,54,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,00,00
 
 

[Chrisjc]

Could it be that someone (virus) is messing with the Themes registry key?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes

mine has the values in it (my system is not affected by this problem):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes]
"Drop Shadow"="FALSE"
"Flat Menus"="FALSE"
"SetupVersion"="7"
"InstallTheme"="%ResourceDir%\\themes\\Luna.theme"
"InstallVisualStyle"="%SystemRoot%\\Resources\\themes\\Luna\\Luna.msstyles"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DownloadSites]
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DownloadSites\100]
"DisplayName"="@themeui.dll,-2015"
"URL"="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=488"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\VisualStyleDirs]
"1"=hex(2):25,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,44,00,69,00,\
  72,00,25,00,5c,00,54,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,00,00
 
 

wish you had asked me this befor I formated lol we will have to get an answer from someone else now. Anyone match this with the issue of it not showing ICONS.????

[dlando1960]

My son let one of his friends on our family computer. within minutes he called me claiming the Icons were flasing on and off...and that along with the task bar are staying on for 5 or so seconds and the off. I can not get to the internet. I am not that savy so after running AVG Found Trojan dropper)and such it still does the same thing as well as in Safe Mode. My bro-in-law took out hard drive, installed in anthother computer scanned and removed what he thought was the problem, and thought he had it fixed. but still doing the same thing. My sons friend insists that there was nothing on the screen indicating an alert or warning and that he recalls touching one of the keys on the lower right hand side of the keyboard just prior to it starting.
I am lost........spent hours trying to fix. also on start up I get Windows Turr error

[drhowarddrfine]

I don't even mess with this stuff anymore. My sons know how to avoid virii and I run FreeBSD which is virtually immune. It's my wife's relatives who have all the problems. I will make minor attempts at trying to get rid of them but, if I start getting anxious, I format/re-install.

I don't mess with trying to save anything unless they really need it. I usually spend less time reinstalling Windows than trying to eradicate a virus.

[smee]

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

It seems this virus is a very bad nasty as i also have recieved the same virus and has totaly messed up my pc. I am a novice pc user so an easy solution would be helpfull.
I have loads of course work installed on my computer and cannot afford to format it as all will be lost HELLLLLLLLLP!

Anyone know how i can get rid of this virus?

[Ali Rizwan]

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

It seems this virus is a very bad nasty as i also have recieved the same virus and has totaly messed up my pc. I am a novice pc user so an easy solution would be helpfull.
I have loads of course work installed on my computer and cannot afford to format it as all will be lost HELLLLLLLLLP!

Anyone know how i can get rid of this virus?

Which virus messed up your pc?

>> ALI <<

[ted880]

Hey guys, I got the same problem last night and I am still trying to figure it out...
Any help would be great. Icons and start menu flashing,also when I ran adaware it it got to the registry part the comp just reboots itself with the same problem.