HELP! Virus on my Asus, now my networking is dead!

Firstly, I don't know where else to post this, so my apologies if this is off-topic. Mind you, this is happening on my z70Va and appears to be related to the drivers.

I came home today to see that Norton had quarantined several files (mentioning hacktool.rootkit, trojans, downloaders, winlogon32.exe, and others). Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was still scanning, and I did as the program suggested and hit the Reboot button. Here's where the fun begins...

Windows refused to start up normally, so I had to get in using safe mode. In safe mode, I ran Norton again and did a full scan. After over three hours, it quarantined more files, but it then got stuck scanning a specific file (an old file that I doubt is actually causing any problems). I had to force a reboot, and this time Windows started up without having to go into safe mode. Upon startup, I was prompted with an error message from Norton saying something about how the TCP/IP transport is not installed. That was really unusual, so I tried hitting the wireless button on my notebook. Instead of turning on, it gave me the following error message:

"Unable to load the INTEL Muroc API, This function need to install INTEL Proset utility"

Odd (and yes, it was in that broken English), but that didn't seem too difficult (fortunately, I had access to a desktop computer). I went to the Asus site and downloaded the Proset utility and tried to do a repair. It went along, but got stuck when repairing 802.1x Supplicant. I tried cancelling, but then it got stuck on the "Program Cancellation in Progress... Please wait..." window. I eventually forced it to quit, and did some more searching on the net. Meanwhile, I ran a custom scan in Norton (starting after the file that it would get stuck on), and it quarantined a few more files again. Since then, the scans haven't turned up anything, though I must admit I haven't yet done a second full scan.

Anyway, back to the networking problem. Someone on a forum with a similar problem (although his didn't start with a virus) suggested that using the original drivers did the trick. I popped in my original laptop drivers CD, had it uninstall the drivers, and then reintall them. Again, it got stuck on 802.1x Supplicant. I tried this a few more times, and now it's starting to auto-cancel my attempts to install the drivers. It then gives me a report saying that the components that it installed have an error.

I should also mention that my Device Manager looks pretty ugly, with my Infrared Device, and all of my Network adapters showing up as being either corrupted or missing (Code 39).

Please help! I need my computer back!

 

Ok, when the midget porn site says do you want to install this active x, you click no.

What you need to do is reformat.

 

It does sound like you need to reformat and reinstall everything. I would get AVG or Avast anti-virus, instead of using Norton. They're free, and use less resources. Good luck.

 

See, I haven't installed/run any new programs recently, and I know better than to click on random links. That's why I was pretty shocked when Norton reported the infections.

Any other ideas? I dread the idea of having to reformat, but if I have to...

EDIT: It seems like things just keep getting worse. Was running a full scan and I got an error message about lsass.exe, and it automatically shut down my computer after a 60 second countdown. Once it got back into Windows, my laptop made this ugly beeping noise and a message popped up saying that my system.log file is corrupt (and I should run checkdsk). Then some System Busy message kept popping up, and my computer eventually froze up. I'm trying to reboot as I type. What a nightmare... Considering that I do take a number of precautions when it comes to viruses, I can't believe this is happening! I just rebooted and I'm crossing my fingers that Windows will even start...

 

it can also be hard drive failure

 

It's looking more and more likely that I'm going to have to reformat. Any suggestions on the best way to perform a thorough diagnostics on the hardware? It'd be pointless for me to start anew, only to have the hardware fail on me.

Windows started up again, so I'm trying to salvage my personal files and anything else that I can. Anyone have any tips for backing up a computer on the fritz due to a virus? What should I do to ensure that I don't end up backing up the virus as well? Know of any good backup "checklists" so I don't forget anything?

Thanks for all your help guys, I REALLY appreciate it.

 

LOL... I had to learn that the hard way! J/k...

Yes, it sounds like reformatting is the best thing to do. Even if you can somehow recover whatever drivers have been hosed, you still have that virus/worm issue to deal with.
Best to just reformat (thoroughly) and start over... try backing up your data on a separate medium if possible in case your files are still infected. Then when you fully recover and reformat... scan the files again to make sure they're ok.

 

You might try using a LiveCD or a DOS boot disk based scanner to scan your PC from outside of Windows.

Download the HD manufacturers health testing tool and run it to rule out HD failure.

 

Sorry to hear you're having this problem. To minimize any losses, I'd recommend reformatting as well. Here are some steps to take (and you'll be glad if your HDD is on the fritz):

1. Copy the files you want to keep to a flash drive or external drive (don't try scanning anything for viruses at this point, since it looks like Norton may be hosed). If you use MS Office products, run the Save My Settings Wizard and save the file (usually has an .OPS extension) to the flash/external drive. Also be sure to keep any emails or documents you have with program registration info.

2. Reformat and do a clean install.

3. Use an AV/anti-malware program like AVG, Avast, Kasperskey, and Spybot Search & Destroy to scan the files on your flash drive/external drive that you copied from the laptop. You can scan them on any computer.

4. If they're clean fine, if they're not you can try cleaning them or deleting them. I would not copy any file that can't be cleaned back to the hard drive.

AVG, MS and a couple of others have rootkit detection apps now. Rootkits have become more sophisticated and you can pick one up just by visiting a website - you don't even need to click on links any more. (The rootkit detectors aren't great yet. So, you should use a couple of them periodically.) This might have been what happened.

If you run into problems with the reformat/install, then your HDD may be on its way out.