t410s and trojan virus

Hi,
I just found out that my beloved t410s is infected with trojan virus. I am running scans and virus removal programs but I am not sure if some one can help me answer a few questions:
-now, every time I turn on my computer, it would say "there was a problem starting c:// ...PWMTR32V.DLL which is a thinkpad program
-many of my applications/programs (even microsoft word) do not function any more but I checked at their folders and the information of those softwares still exist => so I am wondering if they are merely malfunctioning or are they deleted?
-thinkvantage toolbox and thinkpad icons as well as the battery bar are gone. How do I recover those?

PS: I am still running virus programs so my t410s has yet to be cured.

 

Alot of malware these days mess up the .exe reg file so you can't run anything. You can go to a working computer's Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and get the registry key and when you double click it, it should replace the corrupt one/replace whatever is missing.

But given how bad the infection is, you may want to just back up your data and reformat. When you boot up your machine, spam F11, that is Lenovo's recovery partition.

 

but I bought my laptop with window pre-installed in it. How can I reformat?

 

When you've backed up the data you need, reboot the machine and spam F11, that is Lenovo's recovery partition, Rescue and Recovery. Reimage your machine to factory settings and it will do the rest for you.

 

CMD has a format command and if the repair disk doesnt, the system disk will have a diskpart.

I keep telling people that a regular backup schedule is invaluable

Renee

 

You're not going to be able to format C: from within Windows. Nor is that most advisable.

 

This.. is such terrible advice..

 

That's excellent advice. If you have an issue with it, say what it is.

Renee

 

"You're not going to be able to format C: from within Windows. Nor is that most advisable."

I wasn't advising doing it from within windows. A repair disk is it's own bootable system.

 

Your advice, while technically correct, isn't really great advice in whole. Lenovo already provides a restore partition, and the UX there avoids things like entering commands into a prompt. Even in a bog-standard Windows installer disc, basic operations like partitioning and formatting are handled inside setup and not as a initial step at a naked command prompt before even starting the install process.

unknownrebel, I concur with Tsunade_Hime; unless you have access to software tools and expertise in dealing with all of the little things that tend to go wrong with Windows after a pervasive, rootkit-style virus infection, you're better off just backing up your data and reinstalling Windows. If you want to take a stab at it, after your virus scans are done, you can find .reg files on the 'net that you can use to restore the proper .exe extension handling. Usually you'll double click the .reg file, Windows will ask if you want to add the information to the registry, and then you'll have to restart the machine. Naturally, you do that at your own risk.

Renee does have the right of it when they point out that certain backup solutions make this situation pretty painless and a minor irritant at worst.