Possible Virus / restore problem

[tgalownia]

Pardon as Operating Systems are not my strong point.

I am working with a friend (OS is XP Pro) who thought he had the blaster virus. He didn't have Virus protection on computer at the time. I tried to run Blaster patch last night and that didn't help. Issues are below. . any clue what is going on or how to get restore to work?

He tried to restore to when computer was originally bought. AOL . Financial information etc was still on computer after restore so I don't believe the restore worked properly.

There are only three icons on desktop My Documents internet explorer and can't remember the third (sorry)

When putting a shortcut on desktop he is getting message that it is "Write Protected"

Task Manager will stay open for only approx 5 seconds

Starting up the computer gets C:\\Documents & Settings \Owner\Desktop is not accessible. Access Denied.

He tried to troubleshoot so I am not sure what all he tried (as he couldn't remember also) Some programs will open while others will not. Most will not

Sorry to be so cryptic but this is all the information I was able to get.
Any clue as to what virus (or him trying to get rid of virus) may have caused this? Any clue on possible fixes??

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

PS any clue on how to get restore to work properly??

 

[tgalownia]

Sorry for duplicate post as I thought I stopped it before it went through the first time. Tried to add information but I guess it went through. Again thank you for any ideas or assistance.

 

[mattjurado]

Download and run the Blaster removal tool, then immediately install the patch. You may have to run the tool in safe mode for it to finish.

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/FixBlast.exe

Matt J.

 

[smah]

Can that machine access the internet? If so, try a few of faq760-3862.

 

[tgalownia]

Thank you all for the help it is muchly appreciated. Something is telling me it is not the blaster virus however, going through all the papers and notes etc. . nothing in Registry or any place else had references to the things that were supposedly needed to fix the blaster virus. ( I know my friend didn't go in Registry)

I will read the FAQ's and will also print out all info y'all have given me so I can try to fix following your directions.

If it is not the blaster virus. . any clue as to what virus it is or what my friend may have done to cause any of these issues while he was trying to fix computer?

Once again. . .thank you all for your patience and help. I unfotunately can't be much more specific as I haven't been on his computer from begining of problem or virus through the attempt to clean or repair.

Y'all are great thank you.

 

[mattjurado]

You'll want to install a virus scanner tool and run a complete scan. There are some online based scanners, but I've found them to be unreliable. If you don't have a copy, go out and purchase Norton Antivirus.

Matt J.

 

[kiddpete]

Matt J., is Norton's package better than their on line scan capability?

 

[mattjurado]

You can run the online tool, it might work okay, but you won't have any protection after you are done.

Matt J.