Help PC keeps re booting

[Edmond]

Please help guys

My pc crashed this morning so i shut down via task manager, it re booted but once all the apps were up and running it shut down, it didnt go through the log off screen, just shut off, then re started

the desktop comes up and all the usual things start running, but once its up and ready for me to use, it goes off, and keeps doing this in a continuous loop. To turn it off i have to wait for the desktop and the Start>shut down b4 it has chance to turn itself off, and then it stays off

I checked the bios for overheating, but its fine, its running at 50c and my cut out is 60c

Any ideas???

Cheers

Ed

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

what OS is it?

get it in safemode and look at the event viewer for anything dodgy (or cut and paste a bit here from the time it resets its self)

could be a virus/spyware

malwarebyes is really good at kiling the little spyware critters, if you can get it into safemode without it restarting then its a most likely malware/spyware, just run this program to kill it.

try safemode with networking first as the malware program needs to update its self.

Malwarebytes.org

another good site is the Trend Micro housecall site that does a free online virus scan

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/


if it restarts in safemode then its most likely hardware

give the anti spyware route a go first and let us know what occurs

good luck

 

[Jupitus]

It could also still be a heat issue... CPU temp in BIOS is going to be lower than when the OS is running. Perhaps open the case and see if you have much dust buildup, hoover it out and try again?

 

[inactionman]

Don't literally use a hoover though, it could fry the comp. Best to use a compressed air canister, people like rymans/maplin/pcworld should sell them.

Does it give an error, or just restart? This will help determine if it's a hardware or software problem.

 

[Edmond]

Inactionman, no it doesn't give a error message, it just goes off, not even 'windows shutting down' screen. Spoke to deebs, he thought it was power supply, but it stays on when i look at the bios b4 it boots up, so he thought it was a trojan that AVG couldn't beat, so it was shutting down to save any problems

Jup, i thought it was a heat issue, cos i never turn it off, but it had about 4 hours off earlier and it still did the same thng

DOC, i will try those links you mentioned, if i can make it work in safemode (not sure how safemode works) thanks

I'm on russells pc at the moment, so when i get home i will boot in safe mode and see if i can sort it, so thanks for all your help guys

 

[Jupitus]

Jup, i thought it was a heat issue, cos i never turn it off, but it had about 4 hours off earlier and it still did the same thng

Eddy - the CPU temp will change in fractions of a second... 4 hours off will make no difference at all... SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer can show you temps whilst running, but of course you need to get it running first

 

[russell]

Dark Orb chair.
Help!!! Ed can get it into safe mode- but he cant get online to click on any of your links to run Malware.
When in safemode it boots up and stays on- hE has run AVG but it doesnt seem to do a full scan.
In safemode he has gone to 'system restore point' on Tuesday 8.30 pm, but when he clicks 'next' to let it reboot at that point- it does nothing and then wont shut down(it is not freezing - just not re- booting at selected restore pooint). Pooh bums!!!!!!

 

[Edmond]

Ok, i'm on, but in safe mode/networking????

really s.....l....o....w as well, fucking computers Arrrgghhhhhhh

Gonna try the links now



I said 'Poo Bums' btw


OS is XP service pk 3

 

[Kryten]

hmm - definitely a vote for malwarebytes if you can get it down and running.
not sure what else to suggest really, could be many things. If it stays up and running in Windows though it could well be a software error more than a hardware problem which may be of some relief.
If you get stuck feel free to lob me a remote desktop invite and I can have a rootle around in your porn in the settings to see if i can spot anything.

 

[Edmond]

Thanks kryten, does remote work in safe?

trying to get into malwarebytes, but haveing trouble connecting to certain sites??

 

[Kryten]

Hmmm. Can you get to most normal sites ok, but having trouble getting to anything like Symantec - AntiVirus, Anti-Spyware, Endpoint Security, Backup, Storage Solutions AVG Antivirus and Security Software - Real-time protection against viruses, spyware and malicious websites Antivirus, AntiSpam, Anti-Spyware Software For Your PC | McAfee etc?

If so, that's a viral infection which is a *pain* to shift.

Failing that remote assistance should work in safe mode yeah - i'll pm the email if you want me to give it a go.

 

[Jupitus]

latest ones will stop access to the update sites for virus cleansing software, which IS a major pain in the arse. If you can get on another machine and figure out how to d/l the core defenition files to update manually rathar than through the automated anti virus updater then try that...

 

[Kryten]

aye, it's often easier to backup (it wont cross-infect files so you're safe doing this whilst infected as long as you dont copy the source) and format

 

[Edmond]

I'm gonna take a hammer to this pc in a minute, kryten, i can get to the links you have put up, just not the malwarebytes one for some reason

Another thing that might help, my google is acting very strange, has been for the last few days, i search, then click on the link, but it totally takes me elsewhere. For instance i typed in a search last night and when i clicked on it, it opened up eBay? Now eBay is in my favorites, do you think its trying to hack my favorite menu to get to ebay for my paypal stuff, luckely i wasn't logged into eBay, so hopefully it got no where

 

[Edmond]

and yes the offer of remote would be appreciated

 

[Kryten]

certainly sounds like there's something iffy going on, Edmond: i'd avoid any sites with confidential or personal information for the time being :/

 

[Jupitus]

Yup - I had the same shite at work. Its very like a DNS hack but it doesn't do it via the hosts file as the old ones did, it's a fucking shitty bastard evil nasty gotcha that's very hard to get rid of.

If it helps, I dont think it's malicious in that your data should be safe, but I did end up getting a full re-install done after backing up about 10Gb of work related stuff...

 

[Edmond]

fuck, just did a re-instal a couple of months ago, altough because of the last one i have everything backed up on the external HD

 

[Jupitus]

hold on a min - you might be able to get the latest malwarebytes stuff directly rather than dns/google

 

[Jupitus]

can you get on irc ed?

 

[Edmond]

Yes, i'm in irc, where are you?

 

[Edmond]

Well with the help of Jupitus and Kryten (and a late night)......oh hang on, that sounds wrong!!!! Its all ok

Thanks everyone for all your help, really saved my skin......again

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

Dark Orb Chair here (rofl at your typo)


glad to hear you got it sorted, that malwarebytes really is the dogs gonads

 

[Insane]

Sounds a lot like you had gotten one of the early versions of the Conficker/Downadup worm which is currently doing the rounds.

For some reason the early versions were capable of BSOD'ing windows via the NTFS.SYS dll, that is why your computer would automatically restart itself.

get your anti-virus updated and run a scan on your external drive, part of the conficker distribution is to affect autorun on any drive installed to pass itself around. chances are if you had your external drive plugged in at the time it will have the conficker payload loaded on it.

My friend had the identical problem with his machine and went through a rebuild (we originally thought the hard drive was knackered) but when he went onto his 2nd drive to install some apps it popped up with autorun instead. Of course this meant his computer got infected a 2nd time (the kicker being, he was going to install his anti-virus at the time which was AVG)

more info on conficker available from F-Secure Virus Descriptions or any other AV companies website

Also run windows update (if you don't download updates automatically) to get some recent patches which will slow down the network spread of conficker.

 

[russell]

You guys are really quite clever aren't you.

 

[Edmond]

Dark Orb Chair here (rofl at your typo)


glad to hear you got it sorted, that malwarebytes really is the dogs gonads

LOL, russell's typo, just seen it, made me chuckle. Yes that malwarebytes is superb, once again, thanks for you help

Sounds a lot like you had gotten one of the early versions of the Conficker/Downadup worm which is currently doing the rounds.

For some reason the early versions were capable of BSOD'ing windows via the NTFS.SYS dll, that is why your computer would automatically restart itself.

get your anti-virus updated and run a scan on your external drive, part of the conficker distribution is to affect autorun on any drive installed to pass itself around. chances are if you had your external drive plugged in at the time it will have the conficker payload loaded on it.

My friend had the identical problem with his machine and went through a rebuild (we originally thought the hard drive was knackered) but when he went onto his 2nd drive to install some apps it popped up with autorun instead. Of course this meant his computer got infected a 2nd time (the kicker being, he was going to install his anti-virus at the time which was AVG)

more info on conficker available from F-Secure Virus Descriptions or any other AV companies website

Also run windows update (if you don't download updates automatically) to get some recent patches which will slow down the network spread of conficker.

Thanks Insane, update does download automatically and when i rebooted last night (well about 2.00am this morning to be precise) it kicked in straight away. HD was plugged in, but ran the malwarebytes through that as well, and have since done a full AVG on the whole thing. Seems to be runnig a bit quicker to?, but that might just be me on a bit of a high

It picked up 26 files in total, most of them Trojans

 

[Deebs]

Glad to hear you have it fixed Edmond, sorry I didn't answer your call, couldn't hear the phone for working and then today I was in London all day.

I did say it could be the power supply but to boot up in safe mode and see if it rebooted within the normal timescales and if it didn't I would suspect a software problem and not hardware.

Lots of malware, visit many pr0n sites?

 

[Jupitus]

Lots of malware, visit many pr0n sites?

Like.... well...DUH!!!!!!....

It's Ed we're talking about here, Deebs!

 

[Edmond]

Oi !!!!!!


How rude.................