Windows Boot Loop

Ok, so I got a virus called "Vundo" which constantly starts and stops explorer.exe and imapi.exe. It has also deleted all my system restore points, and I can't remove it manually.

Next step is to try a repair from my Windows CD, so I put that in, hit enter, selected my windows installation and hit 'R' to start repairing it. Took the dog out, came back and it had failed, due to being in safe mode. Said windows setup cannot run in safe mode. No problem I thought, I can just re-boot and uncheck the /SAFEMODE option in msconfig.

Wrong. I can't boot up at all. Its like its deleted all my windows folder, and didnt quite finish replacing them. So I restarted, hit F8 with the intention of selected last known good. Did that, safe mode, setup tried to continue and pop up saying " Set up cannot run in safe mode. Setup will now restart your computer " and it did. So I hit F8, and hit Start windows normally.

Problem is, while the /SAFEMODE tag is checked in Msconfig, starting windows normally is safe mode.

So to conclude.

*I cannot run setup in safe mode, it won't let me.
*I cannot boot in normal mode, because that is safe mode.
*I cannot boot from CD, becuase it just starts setup then says can't run in Safe mode and restarts.
*I can't edit boot.ini - no way to actually log in.
*I can't rename boot.ini - no way to access a command prompt (I can't even run the recovery console from the CD, it just tries to continue setup instantly without asking what I want to do.)

What the hell can I do? I need to find a way to stop the computer booting in safe mode, and run it in normal mode. Once I can run it in normal mode I can run the CD repair hoping it fixes the virus.

Any ideas at all?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Follow the steps for Vundo Removal :

• "Download VundoFix" to your desktop.
• Double-click VundoFix.exe to run it.
• When VundoFix opens, click the Scan for Vundo button.
• Once it's done scanning, click the Remove Vundo button.
• You will receive a prompt asking if you want to remove the files, click YES
• Once you click yes, your desktop will go blank as it starts removing Vundo.
• When completed, it will prompt that it will reboot your computer, click OK.
• Tick the check box and press ok.

Hope this helps,

After doing that you can Clean out temp files - ATF Cleaner:

Download ATF Cleaner
Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.

• Under Main choose: Select All (cookies optional)
• Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser

• Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All (cookies optional)
• Click the Empty Selected button.
• NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

If you use Opera browser

• Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All (cookies optional)
• Click the Empty Selected button.
• NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

Scan for malware:

Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (MBAM) to your desktop.

• Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
• Be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
• If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
• Once the program has loaded, select Perform Quick scan, then click Scan.
• Please make sure you get this next part right or nothing will be deleted!
• When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
• Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.
• When completed, a log will open in Notepad. Please save it to a convenient location. The log can also be opened by going to Start > All Programs > Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware > Logs > log-date.txt