Is this a virus, and if so how can I get rid of it?

January 9, 2009 on 3:52 pm | By | In bluefreesky.com | Is this a virus, and if so how can I get rid of it?
  • We're donating this HP pavilion x1966 computer. There's something screwy with it in that it keeps rebooting itself without warning, either while it's being used or just while it's idle. It actually has a warning message with a giant triangle with a ! inside of it says something about "did your browzer stop working or did you restart your computer without shutting it down ..." that appears UNDER the desktop (as in under all of the other desktop icons). It freezes the screen and all of this, icons and warning message, has burned itself into the monitor screen. I'd like to debug, devirus, whatever it takes, if possible so we can donate it.


  • Dear rhinestone-ga: If you don't have virus protection or virus detection software you can check your computer for free online at places like this one: http://www.jrwhipple.com/freeviruschk.html If it doesn't detect any viruses, my guess would be that one of your RAM sticks is failing under load and at certain points it is causeing your computer to reboot due to being suddenly overwhelmed (a reported problem with some Pavillions). If you can, I recommend you try and borrow some RAM from a friend and plug it in to see if the problem persists. After snapping the new RAM into your computer and running it for a few days you may find the problem doesn't happen anymore. If not, that's your problem. Alternatively you might use a disgnostic program like these but if your problem is intermitent it might not catch it: http://www.simmtester.com/page/products/doc/docinfo.asp http://www.smithmicro.com/checkit/ Let me know if you find that your "bad memory" (no pun intended) is the problem. If so, I will post this as an answer. Regards; tutuzdad-ga


  • rhinestone... The message you have described occurs when Active Desktop has crashed, and this can occur when the browser stops working properly. I would recommend turning off Active Desktop and seeing if the browser still has problems on its own. To do so, right-click the desktop and scroll to Active Desktop, then uncheck 'Display Web Content'. If the browser works okay afterwards, great. If not, bad RAM is certainly something to explore.


  • Whoa! This is worth far less than $25... Maybe you have blaster virus. Symantec has instructions on their website to clean it up Whomever you donate the comptuer to will probably reinstall their own OS and software. Transfering licenses is tricky anyway unless you have all the original CD's and paperwork.


  • rhinestone... I wanted to inquire as to the status of your question. Have we been of assistance, or is there more you need to know?







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