Boot virus software?

[Andy in Sig]

I suspect I may have some sort of virus in my boot wotsit as the computer is taking at least 3 dozen goes at kicking off. Is there anything I can download or buy commercially which you would recommend to sort it out?

In the meantime I am just going to leave the machine switched on.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

when is it hanging and what is it doing?
*presume windows machine* does it get to the windows logo or not?

 

[ASC1951]

Kaspersky got rid of my boot sector virus, downloaded at work and run from a stick.

AVG had detected and 'removed' it ok but failed to stop it re-loading on bootup.

 

[Andy in Sig]

when is it hanging and what is it doing?
*presume windows machine* does it get to the windows logo or not?

It is windows and it shows the very first windows logo (where the dots run from left to right in the box) for between, say, two and four seconds (which suggests more than one problem to me) then it goes back to the black PC screen with the 30 sec count down to trying again.

A friend over here has recommended Kaspersky so I might give that a bash. I hope it's simple because I'm an IT biff.

 

[2Loose]

This could be unrelated to a virus. Infinite reboot loops are sometimes related to mup.sys failing...repeatedly tap F8 when the computer is first started will enable the Safe Boot option menu, from which you can choose 'Safe with Networking'. When the PC is allowed to carry on booting you will be able to see the small programs being loaded, kind of like watching the credits at the end of a TV program. Watch out for the last one that is seen before the pc restarts again and post it on here, or google where that particular program fits into the grand scheme of things.

 

[ASC1951]

A friend over here has recommended Kaspersky so I might give that a bash. I hope it's simple because I'm an IT biff.

It is. A child of 60 can work it.

 

[Andy in Sig]

This could be unrelated to a virus. Infinite reboot loops are sometimes related to mup.sys failing...repeatedly tap F8 when the computer is first started will enable the Safe Boot option menu, from which you can choose 'Safe with Networking'. When the PC is allowed to carry on booting you will be able to see the small programs being loaded, kind of like watching the credits at the end of a TV program. Watch out for the last one that is seen before the pc restarts again and post it on here, or google where that particular program fits into the grand scheme of things.

2Loose,

it looks like you are a genius. I followed your advice and the thing at the bottom of the list did indeed end in mup.sys. So what do I do now?

 

[2Loose]

Could be many things...
Do try the plain SAFE mode option (without Networking) to see if that gets you in...
If it works, go into control panel Device manager and delete devices related to soundvideoUSBNetworking, then reboot. It will add them again as it finds them and may well fix the issue.

It can also be caused by things plugged into your computer when it is switched on - usb hub, flash drives etc. So remove any attached devices before you do this.

If not, try resetting your BIOS as this problem is often attributed to odd or corrupted settings.

There is a last resort procedure here, but it would be only be preferable to a complete reinstall. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545

 

[Andy in Sig]

Thanks for all your help. I shall get on with that.

 

[2Loose]

Just a thought, but if you installed something before you had this issue, removing it while in safe mode (if you can get that far) may also remove the cause. I had a similar issue once after changing my firewall software. The symptom showed with mup.sys, but it was not the direct cause.

 

[ian turner]

Boot into safe mode and try a system restore to a date before the problem occurred. (look it up in help and support, if it's XP it's in there anyway, if it's 7 or vista it will have a link to launch it)