I just use my windows partition for gaming. But I downloaded a program and now my windows partition has a crap load or viruses. It gave me all these malicious message warnings and said it had to restart, now it won't come on at all. Will this affect my Mac OS X partition? What should I do, erase my windows partition and start over? And how do I go about doing that? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I hate windows!!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Windows partition has virus!! Help!
- Thread starter Silverbird0000
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Why didn't you download AVG free anti-virus software in the first place?
I don't know that it will affect the Mac OS X partition, but there are some clever people out there.
Download the software from http://www.grisoft.com/ and clean up as soon as possible.
Also, do u have a firewall installed on Windows? Comodo Firewall Pro is good.
I don't know that it will affect the Mac OS X partition, but there are some clever people out there.
Download the software from http://www.grisoft.com/ and clean up as soon as possible.
Also, do u have a firewall installed on Windows? Comodo Firewall Pro is good.
I really never used my windows partition for anything other than games, but I downloaded a program and it was one of the only times I actually lets windows access the internet and bam!!! It got me!! When I try to restart into Windows it won't start up anymore, I can only get into Mac OS X.
You should be able to boot up in safe mode.
If not use the boot camp utility to nuke the windows partition and reinstall.
Install avg and zonealarm on the windows install as well.
It won't even boot in safe mode, so I just used boot camp assistant and returned my hard drive to one partition, just Mac OS X. I will have to get the windows CD back from my dad and reinstall. Windows Vista Ultimate tried to put up a fight, but after a minute, it failed and just died. Windows sucks!
LOL just need to set up the proper security measures and windows runs fine (my pc went a few years without any problems) just make sure u have these programs running.
AVG free (anti virus)
Zone alarm firewall / SPI firewall on router (firewall)
spybot search and destory (spyware killer)
CCleaner (reg and cookie cleaner)
running these programs will probly make ur system pritty safe and as long as you scan all them files you are downloading from torrents and p2p ( we all know most viruses come form there
and them pesky keygen websites) you will be fine worst case situation, just tell windows to boot from last known good configuration usually solves any problems it's got but i think u got to enable it first as it is'nt on default
AVG free (anti virus)
Zone alarm firewall / SPI firewall on router (firewall)
spybot search and destory (spyware killer)
CCleaner (reg and cookie cleaner)
running these programs will probly make ur system pritty safe and as long as you scan all them files you are downloading from torrents and p2p ( we all know most viruses come form there
and them pesky keygen websites) you will be fine worst case situation, just tell windows to boot from last known good configuration usually solves any problems it's got but i think u got to enable it first as it is'nt on defaultNobody twisted your arm and made my download "a program" Also I'm pretty sure you had no antivirus. Heck maybe you dont have a hardware firewall / router on your machine either.
My father has been running XP since 2004 on his computer and if he who knows nothing has not gotten infected, then....
I dont even run antivirus on my machine but I dont have 'warez' or look for any. I dont use P2P programs either. 99.9% of probs come from free stuff which is not really meant to be free. Window is like living in a big city. You wouldnt walk downtown at 3am and walk down some mystery alley would you? Also since 99.9999% of people have heard that there are a lot of viruses for windows so usually antivirus is the first thing they think of putting on. Just seems logical. As its been said, AVG free edition is a good one and Avast is also good (free as well)
Also I'm pretty sure you had no antivirus. Heck maybe you dont have a hardware firewall / router on your machine either.My father has been running XP since 2004 on his computer and if he who knows nothing has not gotten infected, then....
I dont even run antivirus on my machine but I dont have 'warez' or look for any. I dont use P2P programs either. 99.9% of probs come from free stuff which is not really meant to be free. Window is like living in a big city. You wouldnt walk downtown at 3am and walk down some mystery alley would you? Also since 99.9999% of people have heard that there are a lot of viruses for windows so usually antivirus is the first thing they think of putting on. Just seems logical. As its been said, AVG free edition is a good one and Avast is also good (free as well)
Wait, you were running Vista?
I thought Vista was supposed to be able to cope with viruses a whole lot better than XP was?
Install it again, and if AVG isn't enough if it happens again, install Avast!. It does an excellent job of fixing what AVG can't.
I thought Vista was supposed to be able to cope with viruses a whole lot better than XP was?
Install it again, and if AVG isn't enough if it happens again, install Avast!. It does an excellent job of fixing what AVG can't.
There are some viruses (especially rootkits) that cannot be removed, period.
Delete your Windoze partition and start agin.
Or even better, buy a cheap PC for gaming and keep your Mac pure.
Cheers.
Delete your Windoze partition and start agin.
Or even better, buy a cheap PC for gaming and keep your Mac pure.
Cheers.
I second that. The only way windows is running on my MBP is through a VM which I can backup and restore as necessary. Somehow knowing that windows has access to your hardware gives me the chills. I remember WinME messing up my MBR before (I was dual-booting Red Hat Linux and Windows)