Windows 7 Hit with Malware. Tried a system restore and now Windows 7 no longer loads

Hybrisma

New Member
Windows 7 64bit, homebuilders pack.

So I was hit with malware that tried (maybe successfully) to install something malicious on my machine. So as this was happening I killed the internet and rebooted in safe mode. Now I'm sort of new to Windows 7 so maybe I screwed something up. But I wanted to revert to a earlier system restore point. So I picked one (while I was in safe mode) that was 20 hours old and let the process run etc.

Now on reboot I windows 7 DOES NOT LOAD. I get nothing but BLACK screen. The only thing I can see is the mouse pointer. No log in screen. Can't access task manager. Just pure black screen.

Now this happens whether I boot up in safe/regular mode...I can still access the BIOS. I literally have no idea what to do here. Don't know if this malware related or if I screwed the system restore point process or what.

Please help. :(
 
Few ideas:

1. Try pressing F8 (like when you want Safe Mode) and choose Last Known Good Configuration.

2. Restore your Registry hives manually:
Replace the registry hives in "YourWin7DriveLetter:\Windows\System32\config" with the ones from "YourWin7DriveLetter:\Windows\System32\config\RegBack". The hives are the files with no extensions.

Can be done from command prompt, but it's easier to use a bootable app. with a file transfer Wizard. There's a good one on this freebie: FREE Rescue Kit Express | PARAGON Software Group ...

3. Try to use Windows recovery disk:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/
 
Last edited:
Things like that problem are no more important than breaking a finger nail, when you have a Backup Image file of your C drive safely stored on another hard drive or burned to DVD's.

Just about a week ago, I had a problem with a bad piece of software that I'd downloaded. It was supposed to be an Anti-Trojan program, but, it tried to eat my windows. I couldn't even shut down Windows because it had already eaten "Shutdown.exe".

So it was first finger on the power button for ten seconds and DOWN she went.

I rebooted with my Ghost 2003 boot disk and restored my last Ghost Backup Image File.
Ten minutes later I was back in business,, no harm, no foul and NO cries for HELP.

Even a hard drive crash, becomes nothing more than an inconvenience when you have a recent backup of your C drive, "In The Can" as they say in Hollywood.

So backup your C drive at least once a week and thumb your nose at HD problems, software problems and just about any other problems you can think of.

I use Ghost to back up my system. I've been using Ghost since it was first released in 1997. I've upgraded it a few times since then but I still run the DOS version, Ghost 2003 booting from a DOS boot floppy disk formatted under Windows ME.

There are many other perfectly good backup programs floating around out there and some you can even get for FREE, but I've never found anything as quick, simple and flexible as Ghost 2003.
Ghost 11.5 (2005) comes close as it runs exactly like Ghost 2003, but it's too large to fit on a single floppy disk....but it will back up and restore Windows Vista and Windows 7 32/64.
I run it from a bootable flash drive or CD when I need to use it.

Sorry, I'm beginning to ramble. We Old Timers tend to do that sometimes.

Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?

Old Timer :cool:
 
Back
Top