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BIOS virus

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by lynxspyder

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I can't get back into my system BIOS and the system just hangs on boot and sits there at a blank screen. It won't post or anything and I've been unable to get back into the BIOS. On first startup, I was able to get into the BIOS fine and specify system settings. When I saved to CMOS and exited, the system hung on boot and I've been unable to get into the BIOS since. I've tried clearing out CMOS, but that hasn't accomplished anything. I get the same blank screen every time with no BIOS access. What the heck is going on here? And this is actually the second BIOS I'm working on. When this happened with the previous, I was told the BIOS was damaged and I needed a new chip. Here I am back where I was before. I've never seen this happen before and given that I'm getting the same behavior with the new BIOS I was left to wonder if perhaps I had a virus on my boot drive that has now infected the BIOS. I can't boot from floppy or CD, so I'm really stuck here.

8 replies

by gbrownlee

There are only 2 ways of dealing with a motherboard virus that I know of. The first would involve flashing the bios, but given that you can't even boot with a floppy, so much for that. The second is install a new mobo.

Bios viruses are one of the most malicious of malware. If you 'google' bios virus, you will see what I mean.

Greg

by balbir

It's unusual to have the same symptoms with two different bios chips. It's worth plugging another PSU, as i have come across similar symptoms on Time/Tiny PC's (fans are going around,nothing happening) Also is the CPU clock (fsb)frequency correct?
You don't mention the Make of motherboard/BIOS
BIOS chips cost almost as much as a new Motherboard.

by willcomp

Check motherboard manual and see if you have a BIOS reset and/or flash jumper. Some mobos allow you to flash and/or reset (to factory defaults) BIOS without having an operable BIOS.

Instructions should be in motherboard manual or on manufacturer's web site.

Remove hard disk and scan for virii on another PC that has up-to-date anti-virus software.

Do not reinstall hard disk until after BIOS repair is complete.

Dalton

Dalton

by hawgfan

Is this, by chance, a Soyo motherboard? I have seen this on a Soyo and have yet to fix the problem either.

by carrera811bt

In my technical opinion there are malicious codes viruses are capable to do harm even phisically to components.But starting with the basic The BIOS is controlled by notherboard.It has been so many occasion that i replaced a mother board in customers system because of eletrical/electronic components failure like surges including the powersupply.The virus attack would be my last resort of determination.Where problems are extensively consume too much time and headache i take the shortcut and analize first then replace the motherboard (making sure that my powersupply and memory card is working corrrectly

by borginva

Some links from my personal collection:

4/23/05

To completely avoid spyware and viruses, turn PC off. Truthfully.
If you really want to use it, prevention with running programs are best. Read their docs on how to use them and update them. All these are FREE.
Oh, yes! KEEP WINDOWS UP TO DATE! Use the AUTOMATIC UPDATE feature.

ONLINE VIRUS CHECKS, no software install required other than an Active X component if required (some do removals):
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=QQWRORVWHFHMFNZMBBX
BitDefender
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
Panda ActiveScan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
Trend Micro Online Virus Scan
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp
Trend Micro Housecall
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
Virus Threat Center Blog
http://virusthreatcenter.com/?tag=zd.ft.fs.vtc
McAfee Virus Removal Tools
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=vrt

ONLINE SPYWARE CHECKS
ZoneAlarm Spyware Check
http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/promotions/spywaredetector/index3.html

REFERANCE
http://www.download.com/spyware-center/2001-2023-0.html?tag=note

ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE (again all FREE)
Free avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.asw.cz/eng/avast_4_home.html
AVG FREE
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php
AntiVir? PersonalEdition Classic
http://www.free-av.com/index.htm
BitDefender Free Edition v7
http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/products.php?p_id=24

by borginva

ANTI SPYWARE
About:Buster
http://www.malwarebytes.biz/index.php
Bug Off
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
CWShredder
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
HijackThis 1.99.1
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Ad-Aware SE Personal edition
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Microsoft? Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) [I believe updates are done through Windows Update)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Spybot Search and Destroy 1.3
http://www.safer-networking.org/
SpywareBlaster 3.3
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
X-RayPC Spyware Process Analyzer 1.001
http://www.x-raypc.com/

TO WATCH YOUR START UP PROGRAMS

MSCONFIG (not on W2k)
Use RUN and type MSCONFIG and then hit ENTER
Use these programs too
Startup Monitor
http://www.mlin.net/index.shtml
StartupRun v1.22
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/strun.html

FREE FIREWALLS:

ZoneAlarm (one of the BEST, even for free)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?lid=staticcomp_za
Sygate Personal Firewall 5.x (never used myself but it is a good one)
http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

AND MORE ONLIE FIREWALL TESTS
ShieldsUP!
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
LeakTest
http://www.grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=QQWRORVWHFHMFNZMBBX

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