A Sick Computer Fix

I recently (read: today) contracted a virus over instant messenger and I'm pretty sure that it's been fixed here, so I thought I'd pass on the solution to you guys in the event you get it.

First, and #1 rule for this virus: If you receive a message from somebody, even a friend you know, that says something about a picture or whatnot, don't click the link! I, like a fool, just clicked the link thinking, "Cool! Pictures!" only to curse myself half a second later. So yeah, check with your buddies if you get links out of nowhere.

If you're unfortunate enough to contract this virus, here are the steps that got me clear...

First go to Start --> My Computer --> Your C: drive and see if you have a file in that directory called XZ.bat or something like that. Don’t double click it if it’s there, just leave it for now. Then go to Start --> Run --> msconfig. When the window loads go to the Startup tab (furthest to the right of the tabs). Then find all the things that look like they could be viruses (that is, weird names like mc-62-602-0000156.exe) but which is NOT in the Windows directory (which you can see in the “Command” column). Things in the Windows directory tend to be important. Anyhow, uncheck the items that you think are viruses (I had the mc thing, something called pokapoka, lockx, and a few others). This keeps them from loading on startup which is why you can’t normally get rid of them through anti-viral software or manual deletion.

So, now that our files are unchecked restart the computer. Before Windows loads you want to enter into Safe Mode by hitting F8. There are several “Safe Mode” options, but just go with vanilla “Safe Mode”. When you’re at the desktop go back to the C: drive where we found that XZ.bat file. Now you’re able to delete it. Restart Windows normally and run anti-viral software, you should be able to get rid of everything now.

I hope this doesn't help anyone, but if it does than that's great. It cost me an hour today that I'd love to get back.

"Infiltration hits your station / No Microsoft or Enhanced DOS will impede / Society thinks they're safe when / Bingo! Harddrive crashes from the rendering"