Please help! Had Defender virus warning - Now desktop icons have vanished!

MikeWhitehead · 9 December 2008 at 9:46PM

redmandarin wrote: »

Please can someone tell me how to turn off the machine without the mouse and with no icons or taskbar? I will then re-start, follow the instructions to bring up the icons and taskbar, and then connect to the internet, update and then run Malware Bytes in safe mode, and tell you the outcome. Thanks!

Depends if you have the shutdown tool in your version of Windows but try the same run procedure but run "shutdown -t:10"

You can do it using keyboard keys by these key presses (while in Task Manager):

Alt+F
Alt+N
Enter the text
Return key

MikeWhitehead · 9 December 2008 at 9:47PM

Reluctant_spender wrote: »

press Alt and F and use the right arrow key and move to Shutdown and then the down arrow key to shut down

Task Manager doesn't have shutdown options (correct me if I'm wrong, maybe a different version than I'm used to does)

redmandarin · 9 December 2008 at 9:57PM

Great, thanks!

When I went back to the pc to follow the advice on how to turn off, there was nothing on the monitor - it was completely black! The light was still on the CPU, though!

I've now turned the power off. I'm now going to grab a bite to eat, then I'll scan and let you know the result - back as soon as poss!

Reluctant_spender · 9 December 2008 at 9:58PM

MikeWhitehead wrote: »

Task Manager doesn't have shutdown options (correct me if I'm wrong, maybe a different version than I'm used to does)

Your right, my mistake. Should have said Turn Off.

Cornball · 9 December 2008 at 10:00PM

MikeWhitehead wrote: »

Explain the start menu also not appearing - and don't say recycle bin . I'm an IT Engineer, I see the disappearing shell issue all the time.

explorer.exe

Oh haha sorry, I misread.

That didn't happen to me luckily!

MikeWhitehead · 9 December 2008 at 10:14PM

redmandarin wrote: »

When I went back to the pc to follow the advice on how to turn off, there was nothing on the monitor - it was completely black! The light was still on the CPU, though!

It probably shut off due to inactivity, and moving the mouse wouldn't help if it crashed out - pressing a keyboard key would probably of brought it back to life.

I'll be eagerly waiting for the results!

redmandarin · 9 December 2008 at 10:50PM

I restored the icons and taskbar, connected to the internet and tried to update MalwareBytes, but it stated “update failed” and displayed the following text:

“Make sure you are connected to the internet and your firewall is set to allow MalwareBytes Anti-Malware to access the internet.”

The pc was connected to the internet and the Connections tab in Sunbelt lists:
Local Point - MalwareBytes Anti-virus
Protocol - UDP

At the bottom of the dialogue box it states: Connected in - 3, Connected out - 5, Listening 39. Not sure what this means?

The machine is still on but I’ve turned off the internet, for the moment.

Any ideas on the above, guys?

MikeWhitehead · 9 December 2008 at 11:20PM

I can't help you when it comes to that software - I've never used used it personally.

Will need to wait till Reluctant_spender comes along again

redmandarin · 10 December 2008 at 2:12PM

Thanks loaner.

I'm reluctant to do a restore, at this point, as I seem to recall other posters advising against it, if there's a chance that your pc has a virus.

Can anyone advise on this, or on another way I can get MalwareBytes to update (so I can do a scan), please?