Hi, I recently got infected with a virus disguising itself as an antivirus program called "Antivirus Action". I looked up some info online and followed the directions that I found here: Remove Antivirus Action (Uninstall Guide). I ran Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware and deleted the files it told me to.
It detected the Antivirus Action and about 10 other files so I deleted them. I tried to make sure that no important files were being deleted, but I don't know much about computers so maybe it did. When I restarted and logged onto my account I got a few notices saying these (and other) programs had stopped working: WMI Provider Host, Windows Explorer, Microsoft Sync Center. I can't remember the other ones but those are the ones I wrote down. When Windows Explorer stopped working my desktop icons and taskbar disappeared. I tried restarting again and this time Windows Explorer didn't stop working, but whenever I try to open something like Task Manager or Word Processor, I get the same 'stopped working' error message.
After one particular restart I also got a notice saying "logon.scr - Application error. The application failed to initialize properly. Click OK to terminate the application" but that has happened only once so far. Sometimes after restarting, Windows Explorer and some other programs stop working immediately and all I'm left with is a black screen and I have to force shut down but usually Windows Explorer won't stop working until a few minutes after everything starts up.
After restarting a few more times in safe mode and re-running Malwarebyte which didn't find anything, I restarted in normal mode. Some programs stopped working again, and I still can't start task manager. At the moment, Windows Explorer has stopped working and my desktop icons/taskbar are gone again so I can't access any other programs (I opened Firefox before Explorer crashed). Whenever I try to open Task Manager using ctrl shift esc, it crashes before it opens. Not even the alt + tab window switching thing works.
Everything works fine in safe mode, no 'stopped working' notices or anything so is it possible that I still have some sort of virus/malware, or maybe Malwarebyte deleted a vital file? Also, for some reason I don't have any system restore points to go back to. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to provide as much info as I could.
I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer. I'm starting to get desperate since it looks like I'm going to have to reinstall Vista.
It detected the Antivirus Action and about 10 other files so I deleted them. I tried to make sure that no important files were being deleted, but I don't know much about computers so maybe it did. When I restarted and logged onto my account I got a few notices saying these (and other) programs had stopped working: WMI Provider Host, Windows Explorer, Microsoft Sync Center. I can't remember the other ones but those are the ones I wrote down. When Windows Explorer stopped working my desktop icons and taskbar disappeared. I tried restarting again and this time Windows Explorer didn't stop working, but whenever I try to open something like Task Manager or Word Processor, I get the same 'stopped working' error message.
After one particular restart I also got a notice saying "logon.scr - Application error. The application failed to initialize properly. Click OK to terminate the application" but that has happened only once so far. Sometimes after restarting, Windows Explorer and some other programs stop working immediately and all I'm left with is a black screen and I have to force shut down but usually Windows Explorer won't stop working until a few minutes after everything starts up.
After restarting a few more times in safe mode and re-running Malwarebyte which didn't find anything, I restarted in normal mode. Some programs stopped working again, and I still can't start task manager. At the moment, Windows Explorer has stopped working and my desktop icons/taskbar are gone again so I can't access any other programs (I opened Firefox before Explorer crashed). Whenever I try to open Task Manager using ctrl shift esc, it crashes before it opens. Not even the alt + tab window switching thing works.
Everything works fine in safe mode, no 'stopped working' notices or anything so is it possible that I still have some sort of virus/malware, or maybe Malwarebyte deleted a vital file? Also, for some reason I don't have any system restore points to go back to. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to provide as much info as I could.
I'd appreciate any help anyone can offer. I'm starting to get desperate since it looks like I'm going to have to reinstall Vista.
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