Remove Virus without Booting into Windows Vista

Remove Virus without Booting into Windows Vista​

   Information

This will show you how to scan the system for viruses when Windows Vista fails to boot, or the system keeps restarting and not allowing you to do anything.

STEP ONE

Reboot to the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Recovery Environment (WinRE)

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1. Restart the computer.​

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2. Tap the <F8> key during startup until the Windows Advanced Options menu appears.​

NOTE: If the Windows Advanced Options menu does not appear, restart the computer, and try again.​

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3. Press the <Down Arrow> until Repair Your Computer is highlighted, and press <Enter>.​

A) The System Recovery Options window appears.​

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4. Click to select your language, and click Next.​

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5. Log in as a user with administrative rights, and click OK.​

The Windows Vista Recovery Environment appears.​

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STEP TWO

Enable Networking and Download Mozilla Firefox® in Windows Recovery

NOTE: To start the system in the Windows Recovery Environment, perform the following steps:

1. Press the <Windows> key (the key between the <Ctrl> and <Alt> keys) and press the <R> key.​

A) The Run window appears.​

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2. Type cmd and press the <Enter> key.​

A) The System Recovery window appears.​

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3. In the System Recovery Options window, click the Command Prompt option.​

A) The Command Prompt window appears.​

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4. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press the <Enter> key after each command.​

C:\​

cd windows\system32 ​

wpeutil initializenetwork​

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5. Download Firefox by typing the following commands at the C\Windows\System32> prompt and press the <Enter> key after each command :​

NOTE: The download process may take several minutes.​

ftp ftp.mozilla.org​

anonymous​

lcd c:\​

cd pub​

cd mozilla.org​

cd firefox​

cd releases​

cd 2.0​

cd win32​

cd en-US​

get "Firefox Setup3.0 exe"​

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6. When Firefox finishes downloading, continue to type the following commands in the command prompt and press <Enter> key after each commanf.​

quit​

cd\​

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7. Execute the Firefox installer by typing: Firefox Setup 3.0.exe​

The Firefox Setup Wizard appears.​

Install mozilla firefox.​

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STEP THREE

Set Up Mozilla Firefox in the Command Prompt Window

1. In the Command Prompt window, type c:\program files\mozilla firefox\firefox.exe and press the <Enter> key.​

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A) The Mozilla Firefox window appears.​

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2. Click Tools and click OptionsThe Options menu appears.​

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3. Choose Always ask me where to save files and click OK.​

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STEP FOUR

Download and install Avast AntiVirus with Mozilla Firefox

1. In the Command Prompt window, type c:\program files\mozilla firefox\firefox.exe and press the <Enter> key.​

A) The Mozilla Firefox browser appears.​

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2. Type in the following URL in the address bar: http://files.avast.com/iavs4pro/setupeng.exe and press the <Enter> key.​

A) The Opening Setupeng.exe window appears.​

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3. Click Save File.​

A) The Downloads window appears.​

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4. Click Open to launch the installer.​

A) The Open Executable File window appears.​

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5. Click OK to launch the setupeng.exe file.​

A) The Avast Setup window appears.​

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6. Leave the destination as C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4 and install Avast.​

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7. When the progress bar stops on the Installation Progress window, the installation is complete.​

A) A new window appears to ask if you want to schedule an antivirus scan of your hard drive.​

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8. Click Yes to restart your computer.​

A) The Seup Finished window appears.​

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9. Click Restart and click Finish.​

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A) Your computer restarts and completes the installation process.​

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NOTE: If any issues arise after launching Avast after it has been installed, navigate and load the following application from the Command Prompt window: C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashSimp2.exe.​

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The computer will restart and will perform a boot scan.
Thats it,
Dinesh.

 

[truthkid]

Great tutorial for those stuck with a PITA virus. To make this simpler, couldn't one simply use one command:

cd pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0/win32/en-US

Instead of a list of cd commands? Seems slightly redundant to type seven commands instead of one. Also I'm curious, is "Firefox Setup3.0 exe" a file that is always going to be in that directory, or would one have to know to use the ls command and get the current firefox executable.

 

[dinesh]

Great tutorial for those stuck with a PITA virus. To make this simpler, couldn't one simply use one command:

cd pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0/win32/en-US

Instead of a list of cd commands? Seems slightly redundant to type seven commands instead of one. Also I'm curious, is "Firefox Setup3.0 exe" a file that is always going to be in that directory, or would one have to know to use the ls command and get the current firefox executable.

If you type the above mentioned command in recovery environment, you will end up getting an error saying that the system cannot find the specific file or path.

Also, the ls command doesn't apply for beta versions hence either you can type the release version that you know or simply follow the tutorial.

 

[truthkid]

Great tutorial for those stuck with a PITA virus. To make this simpler, couldn't one simply use one command:

cd pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0/win32/en-US

Instead of a list of cd commands? Seems slightly redundant to type seven commands instead of one. Also I'm curious, is "Firefox Setup3.0 exe" a file that is always going to be in that directory, or would one have to know to use the ls command and get the current firefox executable.

If you type the above mentioned command in recovery environment, you will end up getting an error saying that the system cannot find the specific file or path.

Also, the ls command doesn't apply for beta versions hence either you can type the release version that you know or simply follow the tutorial.

Did you actually try this or are you telling me I'm wrong? My reason to doubt you is you're connecting via the FTp protocol, therefore you're using FTP commands. I just tried "get pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/2.0/Win32/en-US/Firefox Setup3.0 exe" and strangely enough I have a firefox installer in the directory I chose during the lcd command (not a fan of saving to the root of C drive).

 

[dinesh]

Yes my method is tried and tested. If you would like to challenge me in this thread, post some screenshots with your proof so that i can trust what you say.

 

[truthkid]

Yes my method is tried and tested. If you would like to challenge me in this thread, post some screenshots with your proof so that i can trust what you say.

Not saying your method won't work, I'm saying you're using the change directory command 7 times instead of once. You could also actually try my method eliminating all need for bickering so I don't have to waste the time loading vmware and a copy of vista just to show you that MS's accepts ftp commands via its frontend for ftp. It's not like I'm suggesting you need to convert your keyboard to mandarin and start hacking away, it's a forward slash indicating a path name.

 

[dinesh]

ok let me try and see. i will post the results by tomorrow.